You shouldn't be doing it all yourself! That's right as an artist you should either be in partnership with other music organisations and/or be outsourcing all the stuff that you don't personally want to do. I, personally, am fed up of seeing DIY marketing kits for artists created by people who have no financial literacy. They say "get more fans!," "reach the media" and "get exposure."
Have they ever actually run a campaign for a frontline artist across a continent?
Marketing and PR is the process by which we bring in leads. Leads are what we turn into sales. All the exposure in the world doesn't always equate to profit. They don't teach you that because they don't understand money themselves. If you don't understand personal survival budget, profit and loss projection, cashflow and balance sheet then chances are you don't understand your own spending habits and if you don't know your own spending habits you wont know business and if you don't know business - music business will be even more of a mystery - even if you have an well informed opinion.
You can spend bucket loads of time and therefore money on getting exposure and you might not make a penny. There are plenty of major label artists that this has happened to - guess what? They get shelved - as in they're loss making.
DIY is a cyclical trap unless you understand that it is a stepping stone. Please don't fall into the way of thinking that you have to do it all yourself you don't have to. You shouldn't have to.
I remember when I first started up in business I went to a number of start up network sessions. No one had any budget and as a major label exec I was familiar with the concept of having budget to pay for stuff and also how much time things take to do. Many other networkers attempted to barter services with me all of which I refused because it wasn't a fair trade in terms of my time. I soon decided that to be in business you have to do business with others which means paying for the jobs you need to get done. You see when you get used to the idea of outsourcing you will make the money so that you can outsource. As long as you do everything yourself you will never be in the position to make the money. After all how can you expect people to pay you for your stuff if you don't pay other people for their stuff?
So by all means start DIY we all have to but know that it is temporary. Find suppliers, get quotes and make the money to get out of the DIY trap as fast as possible. If you build that kind of music business around yourself as an artist/entrepreneur I guarantee you will attract better and more partnerships with some great firms. You will get that manager that you really want and you will be able to pay people for their time because after all that is only fair.
Grow your music business enterprise. We need more artist/entrepreneurs. People using their music as a vehicle for enterprise and contribution. A good place to start is by making money to create jobs.
You'll never make a comfortable living from your music or go beyond that if you decide to stay DIY.
Have they ever actually run a campaign for a frontline artist across a continent?
Marketing and PR is the process by which we bring in leads. Leads are what we turn into sales. All the exposure in the world doesn't always equate to profit. They don't teach you that because they don't understand money themselves. If you don't understand personal survival budget, profit and loss projection, cashflow and balance sheet then chances are you don't understand your own spending habits and if you don't know your own spending habits you wont know business and if you don't know business - music business will be even more of a mystery - even if you have an well informed opinion.
You can spend bucket loads of time and therefore money on getting exposure and you might not make a penny. There are plenty of major label artists that this has happened to - guess what? They get shelved - as in they're loss making.
DIY is a cyclical trap unless you understand that it is a stepping stone. Please don't fall into the way of thinking that you have to do it all yourself you don't have to. You shouldn't have to.
I remember when I first started up in business I went to a number of start up network sessions. No one had any budget and as a major label exec I was familiar with the concept of having budget to pay for stuff and also how much time things take to do. Many other networkers attempted to barter services with me all of which I refused because it wasn't a fair trade in terms of my time. I soon decided that to be in business you have to do business with others which means paying for the jobs you need to get done. You see when you get used to the idea of outsourcing you will make the money so that you can outsource. As long as you do everything yourself you will never be in the position to make the money. After all how can you expect people to pay you for your stuff if you don't pay other people for their stuff?
So by all means start DIY we all have to but know that it is temporary. Find suppliers, get quotes and make the money to get out of the DIY trap as fast as possible. If you build that kind of music business around yourself as an artist/entrepreneur I guarantee you will attract better and more partnerships with some great firms. You will get that manager that you really want and you will be able to pay people for their time because after all that is only fair.
Grow your music business enterprise. We need more artist/entrepreneurs. People using their music as a vehicle for enterprise and contribution. A good place to start is by making money to create jobs.
You'll never make a comfortable living from your music or go beyond that if you decide to stay DIY.
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