Bands Finding that the New Music Business is Not What They Signed Up For

Posted on 15. Apr, 2009 by refe in MUSIC INDUSTRY

There are huge opportunities out there for independent artists to find an audience and build a successful career thanks to free digital distribution, but it isn’t without a catch. Because things have changed so much, many artists are entering the music business without any clear idea what the career they’ve chosen actually looks like.

The music business isn’t just about selling records anymore, and that can be disappointing to some. Many artists want to sell records. I can relate – I’m a huge studio rat, and if I had my way I would spend all my time recording new music and bypass everything else. That just isn’t possible anymore. As recorded music becomes increasingly accessible and therefore less and less valuable, genuine artist experiences become the most important product in the business.

That means that the artist has to learn to sell much more than just music. Live performances, t-shirts, merchandise, and personalized attention have become the most important products an artist has to offer. The music becomes a way of promoting these other products. Let’s face it, though – not every artist signed to be in the t-shirt business.

As some of you already know I do some consulting for independent artists, record labels and music venues. I help them to make sense of the new music business and put together a plan to get themselves where they want to be. I had a great first session with a new artist today and we had talked a lot about this topic.

This guy is a very talented, very creative individual, and I knew from previous conversations that he is a bit of a hopeless romantic. After we had talked a little bit about the new music business and established some realistic expectations about what his career would probably look like and how the majority of his time would be spent, I asked him the question: do you still want to do this? Now that you know the real product that you will be hawking, are you comfortable selling it?

If you are an artist I encourage you to think about it – and it’s ok to be a little conflicted at first. What’s most important is that you know what you are getting yourself into when you decide to pursue music as a full-time career, and that you are able to fully commit to the new realities of the business.

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Tags: bands, business models, music, MUSIC INDUSTRY

One Response to “Bands Finding that the New Music Business is Not What They Signed Up For”

Suzanne Lainson

30. Oct, 2009

Thanks for posting this link on Twitter. I’ve been writing about the same thing. People outside the music business have been saying that all the musicians have to do is start selling something other than recorded music. And they point to artists like Amanda Palmer as an example.

I think what Palmer does is great, but not every artist can or wants to make money the way she does. A lot of artists got into music to make music.

My advice is that if they have a day job that can pay them more money than selling T-shirts, for example, perhaps they should use the day job to pay the bills and let music be their outlet for self-expression, creativity, and community. If they aren’t counting on music to pay the bills, it can be quite liberating. They can play the music they want to play. Sure, they won’t be perceived as rock stars, but even full-time musicians aren’t likely to be rock stars either.