What You Need to Know about The Music Industry

Article no. 013

A Few Home Truths About The Music Business

By Pior Gabby

Choosing any career path is a big deal, but deciding to take a shot at the music industry is an especially major step. Working in music is more than just a 9 to 5 job - it requires a lot of commitment, often for not a lot of compensation or recognition. It doesn't help that there is so much misinformation about there about how to get into the music industry and what to do once you're there. So, here we have a few home truths about the music biz. Some are for musicians, some are for people on the business side of things, and some are for everyone. Some are encouraging, and some fall into the category of reality check. They all, however, are pretty important to understand.

Knowing A Lot about Music Does Not Mean You Know A Lot about The Music Business

I hate to start out on a negative note, but this one is a really big one to get out of the way up front - and I say this because this is a lesson I myself had to learn the hard way. Having the pub music quiz on lockdown, going to tons of shows, being able to rattle off a list of labels - these sorts of things don't automatically make you able to book the shows, run the labels and so on. There are practicalities - financial and otherwise - in the music business that are simply not apparent until you actually have to, say, make sure the manufacturing is on schedule and the review is really going to be published when promised. Even if you understand the relationship between labels, distributors and retail or what have you, you don't really "get it" until you "get it" - and that won't be until you experience the process from the inside rather than experiencing it as a fan. The two worlds are VERY different.

Don't get me wrong. Loving music and know a lot about it is required if you want to do well in the music industry (well, not really REQUIRED - some people running music businesses don't know much about music and are just skating, but that house of cards always collapses). However, don't enter the music industry with the idea that a lifetime of music nerd-dom has made you a music biz expert. Not only will you annoy people, but you'll also be dead wrong and miss out on the chance of really learning what makes things tick.

Reviews Don't Translate into Sales

At least, not always. Getting reviewed all over the place may be good for getting your name out there, but even if you can point to 50 reviews that all say your track is the pinnacle of music making and no one should even try to record again because it's so impossible to beat, the percentage of people who run out and buy your record based on those reviews is going to be surprisingly small. Radio play is much more effective at selling music than print reviews.

Reviews are really only part of the picture. You can use them to generate interest from labels and to get shows and so on. But even if you get reviewed in all of the top publications and sites for your genre of music, don't assume it's time to go out shopping for the fancy new car. If you don't work to leverage those reviews into something else, they'll just be a minor blimp on the screen.

You Can Still Make Money Selling Your Music

Now, here's a controversial one. There is a big debate going on in the music industry about free music, and some people believe that all music must be free and that the only way to make money is merch and live shows. That's a little extreme. Yes, music sales are decreasing. Yes, free music is available. The fact remains that your fans want you to keep making music and they are willing to pay you for your services so you can keep it up. The trick is striking the right balance between enticing your fans with free goodies and offering them the chance to buy quality music at a fair price in the format that they want.

There's no blanket answer here for what will work for you. Trends in terms of releases and release formats are different in different genres of music. If your fans want vinyl, save up your pennies and give it to them. If they're all digital, all the time, then give it to them. If they want CDs, give them to them. (And yes, people still buy CDs. Really.) You have to know your fanbase. It might take some trial and error to find out what works. The one thing you can do, however, is dismiss the idea that your music is nothing but a promotional item created to sell t-shirts, coffee mugs and concert tickets. (Merch IS important - I'm not disregarding that for a second. It should be part of your plan.

You Can't Repeat The Past

You can probably think up a long list of musicians and labels who have pulled off stunts you think are great, from getting discovered on a social networking site to a kitchy marketing campaign that went like gangbusters. These sorts of things are great for inspiration. They're not so great for copying. Just because you can list 5 musicians that were discovered on Channel O does not mean you should expect it to happen to you, and just because artist Y ended up being profiled on TV for their marketing idea doesn't mean you can repeat their plan with the same result. There just isn't any rule book about how to be successful with your music, and past success is no indication of what will work in the future. You're best off learning from what others have done but coming up with your own road to your music goals. Don't let anyone sell you the idea that they know how to repeat these kinds of past successes either - beware PR people and others who want you to pay them to show you how to do what (insert favorite artist) did. 

 You Can't Do All The Jobs By Yourself

You do need experts to help keep business floating, like you need an accountant. If you direct all the money in the business account, your account will pay for your recording, travel,etc but only for business purposes. Many artists fail because they take all the money as theirs, buy a fancy car, go visit Europe etc; remember if you have a business account that account will pay you by directing the salary into your personal account and you may also need a manager to manage your bookings and ofcourse assist you to market your music. Furthermore you may need your personal photographer who will always reside with your fans especially  when you are busy, he/she will tweet and post for you in the social networks. Basically those are people you need to manage your business as wrong as you promise to deliver the best whoever you may also employ one or two of the three.

A Record Label May Be Able to Help You

Since the music industry is in flux, there are a lot of people out there promoting the extremes, like the idea that record labels have nothing to offer musicians, period. Although there are more tools and avenues than ever for a musician to release their own music and manage their own career, that doesn't mean it is the right choice across the board. Not every record label is run by frothing morons who want to steal your money. The vast majority of labels are run by music lovers who want to make sure people hear your songs and who handle some of the business side of things that may be tough for you to do yourself. That's the last option if you can't have a team to manage your music but there is no like one man army at all.