Record labels, the “corporate gate keepers” continue to fade away more and more as we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century. At the same time the music and recording industries are expanding! Why? Because recording artists, producers, songwriters, musicians and engineers are now “becoming” the new music industry! This gives artists control over their product (music). They are now the one and only voice saying how the music should be written, recorded/produced and performed. They are also the ones in charge of how it’s marketed and distributed. Since the early days of modern music, this is what artists have been waiting for, total control over their creations!
However, one major element has been left out. Recording artists know little to nothing about business. They never had to think about creating a marketing campaign, or who‘s the best radio promoters to hire? What distributors should be used? What is my target market? Or even how much should I sell my music for? All they had to think about was writing songs, making a demo and shopping it around in hopes of securing a record contract. If they did not get signed, most artists settled for a good paying job or selected another career and music became their passionate hobby. If they were lucky to get a record deal, the label took care of all the business, and took all the money! In fact, artists were told, “you just worry about creating your music and we’ll handle the business.” Or they’d hear, “how can you create a ‘hit’ song if you’re dealing with the business? Leave that up to us and our people! In this new era of modern music how does an artist go from being a totally creative person to handling all of their music related business? You don’t, you can’t do it overnight! It took time, months and years to perfect your musical skills and talents. And every day you continue to learn, practice and stay on top of the often-changing skills needed to be creatively competent.
The only way to begin to understand and take control of the entrepreneurial and business aspects of your music career is to “go back to basics.” Today’s recording artists must educate themselves to reach their career goals in the music and recording industries. The record labels are no longer your support system. “Sex, drugs and rock and roll” is dead! From this day forward no one is going to tell you to “just create your music and we’ll handle the rest.” You cannot afford—and I do mean financially afford—to lock yourself in the studio for years creating a masterpiece! You must acquire knowledge; you have to understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Gathering information about the product (your music), protecting it (legal), creating systems around it to continue to produce your product (system), marketing and selling your product (communications) and maintaining a cash flow (cash flow)
Knowledge is the only master key to your success as a recording artist, not necessarily the music! While creating a brilliant piece of music has great value for the heart and soul. We have seen time and time again pointless songs making millions of dollars. Why is that? It’s because the business minds behind that song understood that with the proper marketing campaign put in place you can sell any type of song/music and make a ton of money! Look at history, hell, look at the “pet rock!” What value was in that product? For my taste I’d say none what so ever. But the pet rock was a major success. It was nothing more than a rock, in a box! But the entrepreneur who came up with the idea understood how to create it, market it and sell it! He made sure he had the knowledge needed to go into business. He made “millions out of a rock!”
Getting the knowledge is another problem for today’s artist. How do you write, record and perform music and hold down some type of job to pay bills and finance your projects and learn to be an entrepreneur all at the same time.
It’s not easy. There are more tasks on your plate than months in a year! Take baby steps, purchase a book on entrepreneurship and read one book a week or set aside several hours a week and search the Internet for information. Once you’ve done that attend two workshops or seminars every six months. Next sign up for a college course on business, marketing, accounting or whatever you feel you need at that point in time. Then seek a mentor someone who has gone down the road of entrepreneurship and business and who can steer you in the proper direction.
Yes, for writing purposes I’ve boiled this down and it all seems simple and easy! I guess it’s as easy as going from childhood to adulthood! But if you take the time to understand and act on what I’m suggesting, you’ll see in a short period of time your knowledge has increased. You’ll begin to know how to take action and apply what you have learned. Most of all you’ll see it working for you!
Your entrepreneurial, business knowledge and skills will be at a level where you will be able to take action and you won’t just be moving ahead blindly based on what you think you should be doing. You will be growing your music business and career in a professional manner. Remember, the 21st century’s most successful recording artists and musical entrepreneurs will be those who seek the most knowledge first and then use it!
About David C. Knight
David C. Knight, is a composer, producer and musician of over 30 years. He began his musical journey in 1976 when under the influence of Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards and Stanley Clarke, he began playing the bass guitar. After more then ten years of playing the bass professionally. David opened his project studio, Full Range Recordings where he recorded and produced for the up and coming independent artists of the generation.
His career as an event producer began in 1999 after assisting the founder of the New York Music & Internet Expo, Steven Zuckerman with his first large-scale expo. In the years that followed, David Knight played the role of associate producer, than producer for the 2001 New York Music & Internet Expo held in Madison Square Garden.
