In my travels as a marketer, and having a chance to speak to many successful and unsuccessful musicians, I have found that there are a couple of reasons why artists find it very difficult to sell music. Read each reason in detail to make sure you aren't making one of these mistakes:
Reason 1: Many artists and producers don't know the music business
This is something I find amazing. How in the world can you expect to make any money in the music business if you don't fully understand how to make money in the music business. I had a discussion with a hip hop artist from NYC a couple days ago. He was upset because he wanted to buy a track from a producer, but the producer was unwilling to sign away full rights. As you know, this is common among producers. Naturally, they want to hold on to half of the rights, so they can collect royalties if the song sells. After I explained that to him, and he clarified several times that he was a serious business man, he said "What are royalties?"...
I almost hung up the phone on him. How in the world are you going to be in the music business and not know what royalties are? The sad part is that this is common. Many artists (you may be one of them) are running around claiming to be big time business men and women, but they don't know their ass from their elbow when it comes to the music business. How can an artist or producer have music on their MySpace page that's not copyrighted? How can an artist not know what a performance rights organization is? Ignorance of how the music business is one of the main symptoms of a broke ass artist!
Reason 2: Many artists and producers don't know how to market themselves
I have news for some of you...Marketing your music does not mean making 100 copies of your mixtape and handing them out at the local mall or supermarket. It also does not mean ordering 1000 flyers with your picture and handing them out at the local club. If you've been doing these things, stop right now! If you really want to market yourself as an artist and get people to listen to your music and become fans, you must target all your marketing efforts.
I could go into a long drawn out conversation about target marketing, but the more important question you should ask yourself is, "Who is my target audience?" If you answered with "all people like my music" you are on the road to faliure. All people may like your music, but you probably don't have the marketing dollars to market to everyone, so try to figure out who your target audience is. What types of people share your values? Who seems to really enjoy your music? Who could benefit from hearing your music the most? If you don't start with a target audience, all your marketing efforts will fail.
Reason 3: Many artists are waiting for a record deal
I'll be very brief, and make this point very clear. Record labels are fighting for their lives to survive because of the internet. Artists no longer need the marketing dollars of big labels, because they can reach fans worldwide because of the internet. Why in the world do artists always say they are trying to get a record deal? The chances of someone who has never had a record deal getting a record deal is one in a billion. Not one in a million, one in a billion. Stop begging the guy at the studio to get you a sit down meeting with Akon, because it ain't gonna happen. The only way you will ever get a record deal, is if you prove that you can sell a large amount of music on your own. Period! Wake up, and let go of the dream. Make your own record deal by starting your own record label, and selling your music online, and at shows!
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Are you looking for a music sales coach? I've helped many independent artists and producers find success by marketing their music online, and my services are free. Go to my website www.musicsalescoach.com to get started.
