TeamTo make it clear from the start—music is not a business. Music is an art. The ‘business of music’ is where someone comes up with a creative idea inside the music that earns money. However, being a musician makes it indispensable to embrace it as a business and see yourself and your music through a particular lens to succeed in the industry. The business side of music is sometimes being approached informally through apprenticeships which are now getting outdated. There’s no doubt that music and business share some fundamental concepts. Well, here are a few tips for successful business wannabees can learn from music.
1. Be bold and creative
Other than trying old methods, it is wiser to be flexible with your boundaries. Daring is a good alternative, so build your confidence and consider revenue streams you have not ventured on them before. Sometimes it may be so intimidating but here are things you can do to succeed:
- Identify a need or a desire among people.
- Develop a product that meets people’s desires.
- Market your product to the people who need it.
2. Embrace new metrics
Do not rely only on traditional ways of finding potential outcomes- go digital. Some artists struggle to sell a dismal number of CDS although streaming has become the most popular thing to the young generation. Your music should also carry a message to a message that can be consumed by a vast population of audience, i.e. not limited to one community. Similarly, you have to embrace the new-age business methods.
3. Be inspired by the high standards of creativity of others.
Refers to the convergent and divergent thought processes, coming up with new musical products that are both attractive and useful in making fans curious. Therefore they try as much as possible to pay attention to your target market in order to refine your products or services better.
4. Reviews do not translate into sales
Having so many reviews can only be a picture part of it, but even if you get 40 reviews, that does not matter since the numbers and ratings notwithstanding, you should work hard to change those reviews into money. Otherwise, they will be a useless blip on the screen.
5. Talent doesn’t mean anything without hard work.
At the entry into the music, industry talent can propel you into unexpected levels of success, but you can reach a point where your talent can no longer carry you if you cannot increase your efforts. Talent without hard work can be so much disappointing. For a while, you can maneuver your way through but can eventually get to a point where people can not overlook your weaknesses
7. Music is a product that potentially meets that need
Music is both a desire and a need to the people; it is a source of inspiration and entertainment. Earning a living through music is only achieved when you treat music as a business. You are the product yourself. You should therefore blend your music best for the consumption of your fans. The same goes for business.
8.Flexibility
First, thinking that music is not a product that can create financial reward is wise; therefore, music is neither a CD nor a download. Some people, though, make valuables to sell and expect success. Music is all about being more creative and wise such that in case of a crisis, you can easily adjust.
Overall, it is interesting to see how music and business can be connected. It calls into question how we can draw lessons and leverage experiences from one field to grow the other. From the initial thought to the first performance, there must have been critical assessment and planning, without which success may be elusive.
