No One is More Invested in Your Success Than You Are, So Invest in Your Success.

The past two weeks I discussed how it is going to be a lot of work to reach your goals in the music industry. Contrary to popular belief most musicians are not lazy. They work their tails off sacrificing many things to make gigs, rehearsals, songwriting and recording a priority. A musician will work for many concentrated hours to get that bridge just right, stay up all night trying to master the impossible guitar lick that is the only one that will work in the song. Musicians are not lazy, their drive is just extremely focused. Focused on making music. So there is no doubt in my mind that when I wrote,"These days you have to work and you have to work hard" most every musician that read that post greeted it with a "Where do I sign up?" attitude.

Guess what? It's also going to take money.

I'm sorry is your pen broke? Can't sign up today?

Why is it that in an "It takes money to make money" society, musicians always seem to baulk at spending money on anything other than their tone? If you visit Discmakers website you can see that 1000 CD's in jackets can be had for $790. I am going to make an educated guess and say that with shipping and tax the whole deal will cost your band less than $1100. Now, if you are selling your CDs for $10 at your shows all you need to do is sell 110 CDs to break even. This means that your 111th disc and every one thereafter is 100% profit! The question should not be "Can we raise the $1100 to purchase the discs?" The question should be "Can we sell 110 CDs?" If you can't with confidence say "Hell yes! We can sell way more than 110 CDs!" Then you need to go back to the ol' drawing board because you shouldn't be thinking about releasing an album yet.

FYI- in the above scenario, if you sell all of your 1000 discs you stand to make $8900 profit! This is possible, these numbers are real.

Shirts are another traditionally great way for a band to make money. It is possible to make over $5 per shirt profit if you are selling them for $10 or more. These days there are more and more possibilities for a band to create streams of income popping up everyday. I could go on outlining the potential profit margins of each of them but that is boring. What you need to know is that most of the profit margins are great for you if you are in control of the income stream. However, most every possible point of profit requires an investment on your part.

It is not a new distortion pedal that is going to make you more money, it is not a new drum set or a new bass amp. I don't care how much you hate the equipment you have, new gear will not bring you more money or greater success. Streams of income will. You are a hard worker, dedicated to your art form. Take some of your hard work and discipline and put it to good work. Start investing in your career, not in your gear, and I guarantee that you will be able to afford better gear down the line.

Not sure how to get started? Drop me a line, I can help.

jc@artisanslabel.com