“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
Plato
Here is the question. Do you want to be an artist, or do you want to eat? A lot of musicians hold so dearly to the idea of being artists that they miss the reality, you still need to eat. Music is a business. This is Eating vs. Arting. Any art is a business but music requires even more dedication to the business side because the margins are so small. A profitable music business requires constant attention and laser focus on the many moving parts. These many layers of the business enable you to eat from your art.
Seriously, this is about transforming your art to a music business and taking it to the next level. If you are up for that, keep reading. If you aren’t ready to approach music as a business and do the hard stuff that that involves, then thank you for your time. Please pass this along to someone who’s ready to get to work. If you are ready to dig down and work on the nuts and bolts of your business – I mean REALLY dig in and get into the weeds, then let’s get to work.
It’s also important to note that this book is for MUSICIANS. Those people who really play, live, breathe and exist for music. Let’s talk about the various areas that will be covered throughout MusicMakers.io and in this book.
Story
Story is the boss of marketing because once you have defined your story, marketing and branding become subservient. Brands like Coke and Pepsi are all static. Whereas, musicians grow and evolve as will their audience, which means you’ll always have fresh content to share. Your story is told through your art and through your marketing and we’ll offer you guidance on how to best tell your story. With the right questions posed, you will begin to create your own story. Self-reflection, honesty and hard work are the ingredients needed to get your compelling story out there, with the goal to draw in your tribe!
After you’ve defined your message and your story, you’ll then define your brand. Your Brand is everything from your logo to the very essence of your imagery. We offer you direction in how to create the synchronicity needed between your story and your brand. From there, we’ll guide you on how to create your own marketing plan.
Registration
Hold up though, Is your music registered? Do you know how and where and why you need to register? If not, let us give you guidance not only on registering but licensing, copyrighting and metadata too. These areas get gritty and take time and patience – but that’s what it takes to start making money.
Speaking of making money, we provide information on Forty Different Revenue Streams, FORTY!! Most musicians are not opening these money-making doors because they don’t know about them or if they do, they don’t know how to get involved. Let us guide you on where to find money-making opportunities. Keep in mind, there are many more ways than performing live to profit from your art!
Booking & Balance
Speaking of those live gigs, we have the lowdown on how to become successful at booking! As most musicians know, booking is a tricky business and there are general expectations involved throughout the process. Just as there is with distribution. There are many different distribution outlets open to those who will put in the work to get their music out there, to the world.
Alright, assuming you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and do the hard work, are you also ready to face the difficult personalities within the industry? Are you ready to work harder and longer than you have before for anyone else? Great, now you need to learn how to balance all that hard work with enjoying life and maintaining your health, so let us give you some techniques to keep thriving as a musical entrepreneur.
