Music Business Plans Archives

Killing Me Softly With His Song: How the Social Media Strategy Is Killing Some Bands

Abraham Maslow stated in 1966, that if the only tool you have is a hammer, you would be tempted to treat everything as a nail.

Such is the case with social networking. If all you strive for are “followers” and “likes,” you are using the social networking the wrong way. You are using it as a hammer to pound non existing nails.

Such is the jest of the article Are you Guilty?–4 Ways Indie Musicians Are Killing Social Media by Joshua Smotherman. Smotherman exposes the practice of “Me, me, me Marketing.” No social conversation, no interaction, and most of all, no benefit to the reader.

Regardless if you are a band or a bar, you must engage your audience in something that can help them. It might be something educational like videos of band rehearsals, or the manufacturing of your product. Your reader (or viewer) walks away a more educated person.

Don’t make yourself the center of the hub because you are selling yourself. Instead, be the center of aiding the reader. “Seduce” readers into your world, don’t force them. If you offer something for them to use, they will find YOU useful. If you offer them only you, they will find you boastful.

Become the expert, not the exhibitionist. Advise others who seek your expertise, don’t pitch them for their attention. Your assistance will make you the expert, and you will build a loyal following.

The trick really is to weave what I have stated into your web page, blog, social network, videos, and appearance into your marketing strategy. Everything should be interrelated and substantially greater than if you did each one independently. Everything must tie into every “other” thing. You should not have a piece of the tactics sitting out in left field not integrated into the rest of the strategy. If you can’t integrate it, dump it.

Musicians and other business people must understand this going forward because at least one of your competitors will.

My High School Science Project and One Key Metric for Success

Back in the mid 1970s, I entered my invention, the mobile power pack, into my high school science fair. The goal of the pack was to provide a portable electrical plug outlet to plug in lamps, radios, or any low wattage appliance where no electrical power was available. The problem was, I was 17 and was not an engineer. In fact, I struggled in physics. But, I was determined.

I asked questions and found out there was 2 types of power, AC/DC. DC was from a car battery, and AC was used in a house. I needed to produce AC. I also needed to store power in batteries. I found in a catelog (yes, there was no internet) and a DC-AC converter. So I built a pine box with two car batteries, the DC/AC converter, a battery charger, and an electrical outlet.

The project was a resounding success. Not because I came in second place and went to the Los Angeles County Science Fair, and not because it looked funky and was original. No, the “metric” that determined that I was a success is that at the high school fair, they ran out of outlets and extension cords for all of the students’ projects. Instead, a number of students plugged their projects into my power pack, and it worked.

This was the metric that measured by vision. But, I started with a vision and a strategy. This is a different concept than Clyde Smith’s article, Finding the one key metric that matters for your career as a musician. Here, Mr. Smith tries to apply the “one key metric” concept to musicians. In other words he argues that musicians are using the wrong metrics like “Facebook likes,” “Twitter followers,” etc.

I agree with Mr. Smith that the metric(s) that new artists are following may be meaningless, but so is the concept “one key metric” if it is the starting point. Instead, one must start with a true strategy before deciding what metric(s) should measure it.

Strategic planning can get complicated, but here is a quick idea of how you can proceed:

What is your vision? What are you trying to do specifically? Where do you see yourself twenty years from now? This has to be something far greater than being rich and famous.
List your assumptions. What are you assuming exists in your world that can help you achieve your vision?
Who are you trying to benefit? You are the obvious one, but really, are you trying to provide a new type of service, art, or product that will change the world?
Now list your metrics. What metrics would you list that would render you a success. Now, this is not only achieving your vision, but the different measures along the way. You can work backwards from your vision and set up milestones that you have to keep to make it to your vision.
List our your strengths (internal); your weaknesses (internal), your opportunities (external), and the threats (external) that could keep you from achieving your vision.
The result of all of these steps is to write out your strategy. How are you going to travel this journey to his the milestones which take you to your vision.
Last, list the specific tactics and actions you have to perform on a daily basis to get there. Working back from 7 to 1 should build up your whole strategy, the actions, and the metrics.

Whether an entertainer or an entrepenuer, you will have a much bigger chance at success if you follow a concise and well-thought out strategy before deciding how to measure success.

Artists’ Business Strategy: Give Them Something To Talk About

Sometimes the hardest part about struggling to reach your dream are the people around you. Dreama’s article, 5 Annoying Conversations Non-musicians will have with you talks about humorous questions insensitive people ask musicians who have not yet realized their dream. I think most people are not deliberately insensitive, they just don’t understand what it is like to be a struggling artist.

I was speaking to a good friend of mine, Dean, last night who is pursuing his Christian Music dream while balancing his “day job.” He agrees. Just because you are an artist doesn’t preclude you from also having (or seeking) business skills. There are so many sources (like this site) where you can learn basic business principles. Here are a few tips to get you started:

The world doesn’t think they owe artists anything. Some musicians/songwriters (prospective clients) I meet think that because they are “the next great” artist, the world owes them them a livelihood so they can create. Some of these mooch off their parents, friends, or anyone with an extra dime that will pay their rent. History doesn’t support this frame of mind. The first step is to take responsibility for your own support. If you have a spouse that is willing to support you, great, but treat him/her like you would an outside investor where you must work hard to provide a return on his/her investment. It may save your marriage.
Understand the business. There are many books, speaking engagements, and associations that can inform you of where the “business” is at the current state. Especially in Los Angeles, organizations that I belong to are always clamoring for new attendees for our speakers. Connect to various social networks and seek them out.
Create Real Business Alliances There are people people who believe in you, but less than you think. I have been in the industry for about 27 years, and I cannot stand insincere people. For example, a producer who gushes over an actress telling her she is great and are just around the corner from stardom. When the actress tries take the next step with the producer, the producer is inaccessible. Likewise, bands who find “investors” for their great new project are told they are only in need of a business plan. When they approach me I drill them about their investors before taking a penny from them. They tell me that the investors are ready to write the check but only need a business plan so they can understand the vision. So, the band member pays us to design a business plan. The investors seem surprised because they didn’t think the band could deliver. The result is the investors back away and sever the relationship for no apparent reason. What I suggest for artists is to take baby steps. Don’t go for the whole investment but work your way to it with little investments, and a return. This will serve two purposes: 1) You will see how sincere your investor is, and 2) You will build a real business relationship based on a history.
Be a creative artist with a creative vision You are creative. That doesn’t mean that you are limited to comedy improv, or jazz riffs. You can leverage that creative energy into your business vision, once you followed the steps above. This is an area where our society is deficient. People seem to bifurcate artists and business. Right brain, left brain. There is nothing stopping you of using your whole brain. Build a foundation as stated above for the business side and let your creativity soar.

Business Plans. The greatest of the Great American Novel. (I’ve done both.)

Business Plans. The greatest of the Great American Novel. I should know, I’ve done both.

I came across this timely article A Music Business Plan from Music Think Tank. The author made an honest attempt in trying to simplify a slippery subject while plugging his business plan book. That is OK, I didn’t mind. But, the article really didn’t tell me too much. The example he displayed was what I call a Red Ocean business. In other words, using the Blue Ocean Strategy theory, his business plan did not render the competition irrelevant.

Irrelevant competition is the goal, not the business plan.

The lack of ingenuity in business plans concern me because the music industry has always been one of the most creative industries. Others are taking a risk and trying to achieve this. See a prior blog where this is happening.

So, instead of telling you how to write a business plan, I will provide some tips on strategies:

Don’t follow the pack. Yes, I know, record companies, literary agents, and Mother Superior want you to follow tried and true practices. You can learn from the past, but you don’t have to repeat it, if it is not working. The music industry is currently searching for a new business model, but until they find one, they’ll keep doing the same things they have always done.
Focus your business plan on what your audience wants, but is not getting. During the 1960’s, is the reason why the Beatles rocketed to fame(beside their great rhythms) is because they portrayed themselves as cultural leaders to a generation that was searching for an identity? Just look at the impact they had on my generation with Helter Skelter, Eleanor Rigby, Hey Jude, Come Together, Revolution, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and many more. Some impacts were positive, others not.
Utilize every talent you have for your business plan. Can you draw? Can you write poetry? How about cook? I don’t know, just take stock of your core competencies and see how they can send your music and strategy in a new direction.

As a professional that writes business plans, I cannot tell you the answer. You have to discover that yourself. My job, is to lead you in this strategy as a sounding board, and then quantify it into something others will understand.