Your Band is a Brand
Learn how to make money doing what you love by growing your band as a business and creating a brand you can be proud of.
Your band is a brand.
Your ability to run a business has a bigger impact on your odds of success than your talent does. Your music is your product though, so don’t think you can cut corners. Even the best business can’t sell a subpar product.
It’s time to think of your band as a business. You are the founder of a startup. You are starting from zero and working to create something valuable that people will pay money for.
It will be hard, but it will be worth it.
Your Band is a Brand is a blog & podcast established to bring bands, brands and businesses together to help independent artists grow and scale their business in the music industry.
My name is David and over the past ten years I have played various roles in the music industry including touring musician, artist manager, tour manager, marketing director, concert promoter & more. I work with small businesses and entrepreneurs everyday to build their brand, grow their reach and ultimately, drive revenue.
My goal is to leave readers & listeners informed and inspired by the stories and strategies shared by our guests. I’m also going to share my experiences and speak to those of you who are looking to pursue music as a full time career.
I will be speaking to a variety of professionals inside and outside of the music industry to provide insight on what I believe to be the 6 core principles to growing a band as a business:
1. Writing & Recording Great Songs
What makes a great song is subjective. Although there are important steps you can take to make sure you are set up for success.
Find a great producer. Start with someone within your budget, but do not sacrifice quality for quantity.
Being prepared with lots of ideas and being well rehearsed will save you time and money. Expect to pay anywhere from $500-$1,000 for a quality recorded song. If you are starting with no budget, reach out to the local recording school and see if their students are looking for bands to record.
Co-write with other artists. Writing with others is the best way to sharpen your skills and learn new writing strategies. When you’re in the studio, remember that you’re looking for the best idea, not your idea.
Write a lot. There’s no way around it, you will need to write a lot of songs to find your best songs. Stay inspired by experimenting with different sounds and styles early on.
Try using writing exercises both written and musically. Write the verse first, write the chorus first, take a song you’ve written and try to re-write it. Write a story and then create the lyrics from the story. Make a list of words or phrases related to the idea or feeling you’re trying to capture. Find a song you love and let it influence your next song. Imitate, don’t copy!
2. Designing and marketing your brand.
How do people feel when they listen to your music? What themes can be found within your music or lyrics?
Developing a brand can be hard. Coming up with a band name is your first hurdle. If you’ve found a good one, consider yourself lucky. Creating album art that unites a collection of songs is easier said than done. I encourage you to have multiple logos designed. Don’t just go with the first one and don’t let a tight budget be the reason you use a bad logo for the next year or more.
We will talk with branding professionals from designers to publicists about how create a product that looks great and accurately reflects the brand you are looking to create. Hear from advertisers and product marketing teams about the strategies they use reach new audiences and drive revenue.
3. Building the Right Team
You will want to find a manager, a marketer, and an agent; in that order. An effective manager should be able to help you find the other two people.
For the first 6-12 months you may not need a manager. Learn basic marketing skills and how to book your own shows. Take this time to create your vision and set your goals. Once you find a manager they should help you create a business plan to accomplish these goals.
An artist manager should be focused on increasing your revenue and seeking out opportunities for bigger, better shows. Managers will typically be paid on a 10-15% commission - avoid paying a retainer.
As you build your team, remember that this is your business. Only hire people you can trust representing your brand. Much more on this later!
4. Playing Bigger Shows
When I started a band I would visualize a large venue full of people having a great time. I would think about how it would feel to be on stage enjoying the shared experience with my bandmates and the audience.
Wether your goal is to play for thousands of people at a music festival or a hundred people at your local dive bar, take time to picture it in your mind. Think about what your definition of success is. What will it look like? What will it feel like?
We’ll discuss how to make this vision a reality. Your goal should be to make genuine connections with local venues, promoters and other bands. If you want promoters to give you bigger opportunities with national acts, you will need to learn how to build a local audience and find creative ways to get people to your show.
Get engaged in your local music scene to build support, deliver a great performance, and above all, be consistent! Be punctual, respectful and give your fans a positive experience.
5. Getting Your Show on the Road
Prior to the adoption of streaming, touring was the best way to build an audience. It’s a dream for many bands and still a great way to grow your fanbase, but now, you need to build the audience before you tour.
Many agents won’t sign a band without a fanbase and landing an agent is the best way to get your show on the road. With that said, you may need to take action into your own hands. When I started out, I learned how to book tours by watching Youtube videos and listening to podcasts. You can do it too and I want to help!
First, you want to make sure you can sell out a show in your hometown. Start playing shows regionally and build relationships with bands in those markets. (If you’re in PHX, go play LA, SLC and Denver before you try and hit the east coast)
We’ll talk with bands who have had success in becoming a touring artist, tour managers with great advice for running a business on the road and booking agents on what they look for in a client.
6. Selling Merchandise
Merchandise is the secret to success when it comes to making money as an artist. We’ll explore building other sources of revenue, but this should be your focus early on when royalties and performance fees are relatively low.
If you have 1,000 dedicated fans that will spend $100 on merch each year, that is $100,000.
Listeners can expect to hear from industry professionals on how to level up your merch game. Learn about the best e-commerce platforms to use, how to print on-demand with dropshipping, and how to leverage your profit margins & cash flow.
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Very informative. Thanks, David.