I chose to write on the topic of being "The Executive Musician" because I know so many musicians, singers, artists and producers that have all of this great music but don't know what to do with it once they are done with the recording process. Most up and coming musicians or bands think that if they just put an album out, the music will just sell itself. I used to be a part of this mindset a long time ago. While working on my very first group rap album called "Effortless," I just "knew" that because the musical content was so "worthy" that we were going to sell a million records. Well unfortunately, that was not the case. We released our CD through CD baby, but with little to no marketing online or offline, we quickly realized that having a great album does not equate to great album sales.
I grew up at a time when there was a new shift in independent music. Artists were following the independent path because it made more sense financially. Master P started his World famous No Limit Records by selling his albums out of the trunk of his car. This seemed a viable path for the up and coming "musicpreneur." This plan worked great until the birth of iTunes, the death of the brick and mortar retail music stores, and the explosion of peer to peer file sharing sites such as Napster and now Frostwire. This article from musicthinktank.com talks about the rise of the "musicpreneur," which basically is the same concept as "The Executive Musician." The musician has to be just as dedicated to his business craft as he is to his music craft. Below are the 8 steps from the article musicians should make in order to properly market themselves.
- Start with great music.
- Build a portfolio.
- Invest in your branding.
- Form your online presence.
- Prepare an early insider experience.
- Invest in a good live performance.
- Focus on getting people on board. Strengthen the foundations of a real fan-base.
- After you've built sizable assets, take a person on board to help manage the business side of your art.
Of all these points, I believe that forming an online presence is probably the most inappropriately used part of the process. This is where interact with your fans. people want to be engaged not shouted at! Learn to be funny, engaging, and entertaining with your fans in order to gain their loyalty. Here is a video article that talks about reaching fans online.
In conclusion, the executive musician has a tremendous responsibility in order to stay on top of the business side of their music. Today's musician is now known as a musicpreneur. She must wear many hats in order to have a successful music career. ( read the full length source article here)
- Ontario "O.T. Griffin
