Navigating the Music Industry
by Harry Martin
1. There are so many ways to navigate the music industry.
There are many routes to success. Fast routes and slow routes, straight routes and meandering routes. Hopefully they will all take you to the ultimate destination of a successful career in music.
Be your authentic self on the journey.
2. Maintaining a good work ethic is essential.
Everything comes down to the song and the recording. Spend time on it, refine your art. Without that, a successful career probably isn’t waiting for you.
3. If you’re a solo artist, the music industry can be a lonely place.
I would recommend you find another solo artist to share the journey with and talk to. There are great learnings to be had from sharing experiences.
Even if you are in a band, there would still be great benefit in sharing your experiences with musicians and artists outside of your group.
You don’t have to be alone.
4. Be patient.
It may take some time before your career gets fully underway. For example, Leonard Cohen was 33 before he released his first album, and it wasn’t immediately successful either. His career turned out ok!
5. On an optimistic note, if your work is good and finds an audience, you can get paid for the rest of your life.
On the subject of patience one should remember that remuneration will be slow to come too.
A plumber or a teacher, for example, completes their work and they get paid for it at the pre-agreed rate. As a musician, you have no pre-agreed pay rate. You’re doing all this work now and you’re not getting paid for it, or if you are, it’s minimal. Don’t despair though.
If you write or record a song that finds a large audience, your royalties will flow in for a long time (and indeed long after you depart this world should you be the writer).
6. In the Streaming era, you will most likely need a significant body to generate even a basic income.
This will require patience again, and probably some assistance with funding or some of the other income streams help plug that gap.
Roughly 100,000 streams will earn you in the region of €300-€400. You will need to get a strong body of work together, be that recordings or compositions.
If you are a singer-songwriter, you could consider writing with or for other artists too. They may actually release that song. That will add to the body of work which one hopes will get you towards a basic living income.
7. Manage your expectations.
There’s a lot of rejection out there waiting for you. Putting music out invites people to form an opinion on it and share that opinion. It may not always be an opinion you want to hear. Music is subjective, who’s to say what’s good or bad? I would suggest you don’t take criticism to heart. Easier said than done.
A lot of labels, managers might turn you down. That does not mean you are not a good artist. You may not be a good fit for that particular label or manager.
Many of the most successful musicians have experienced rejection at some point, for example Ed Sheeran, U2 and even The Beatles. In these instances, I think it’s fair to say everything worked out ok.
8. Get informed.
You are most likely going to be your own manager, at least for the early stages of your career. I would urge you to get informed about the industry, particularly the local scene.
There is a lot of information available to us in Ireland to get yourself a solid understanding of the basics of the music industry. Minding Creative Minds, First Music Contact, IMRO, RAAP to name but a very few. They have excellent events, webinars and podcasts too.
If you do ultimately become successful, I would suggest you stay informed. When it comes to making big decisions about your career, do not fully abdicate that decision to a manager, label, agent or publisher to make on your behalf.
9. Lawyers & contracts
Never, ever sign any paperwork without having a music business lawyer review it first. If you are short of funds, ask the label/publisher to add an extra advance to cover this cost. It’s in their interests too to ensure that you have been well advised.
10. Accountants and tax returns
Get an accountant to help you. This will likely save you money in the long run if you do have a successful career in music.
Keep financial records. Get yourself Excel proficient and begin to record all income and costs. You will have to do a tax return. If you have income but no evidence of expenses, you will pay tax that you shouldn’t be paying. The Irish state has enough money!
11. Finance tip.
Take time to review all statements you receive from aggregators, publishers, labels, collection societies such as IMRO, RAAP & PPI.
Make sure all your works are listed. Make sure all the key music markets are covered. Compare them with the previous statements to see if there are any significant and unexplained changes
At the start of your career, you will want to ensure that all of the money due to you is paid, and in a timely fashion.
And lastly, just to reiterate…. Never sign a contract without having a lawyer review it. I mean, never!
Oh, and keep following Minding Creative Minds.