How to Write a Business Music Plan

1. Engage Your Business Mind: I believe every person has a money mentality. As a matter of fact many people who are not academically educated are very good with money. In the same way the artist/band/musician has the innate ability to understand money if they choose to engage that part of their brain. Can I ask you to please do away with thoughts like, "I am only doing music out of love". These are the major barriers to thinking in a profitable manner. At the basic level you tend to think about what you are spending and what you are making. So if you spend £10,000 making an album and £5000 promoting it then I must make back money in excess of £15,000 if I am to be in business profitably. Such simple facts must be allowed to permeate your mind. Be careful to think about being profitable so that we do not end up like those other artists who sell millions of albums but end up in council flats and who were cheated out of millions by managers and labels because they chose to remain the uneducated artist.

2. Write How You Think: One of the main stumbling blocks for musicians when it comes to writing a business plan is the feeling of having to write the business plan in a corporate, business language. I think such thoughts are not only untrue but cause many people to give up even before they start writing. For a start, most business plans should be used for running the business so no matter the way it is written the important question to ask is whether the people concerned are capable of understanding what is written within the plan. Furthermore, if you write a business plan in plain language and you feel it needs to be much more formal with business jargons then there are many services to help you put your plan in that context. But all the main ideas would have to come from you!

3. Follow Your Own Ideas: Although it is important to read many other people's approach to a music business career or release, the plan you write must be built with your own ideas. This means that although other people's strategy and approaches can be included, they should never be the dominant ideas to run the business. What I am saying is that unless an idea fits into you or you are very confident you can achieve it, the idea should be held in a second. The reason for this is that what worked for someone else may be devastating for you. In other words, following the pay-what-you-like model implemented by the Radiohead may be disastrous for a small label whose fans may not be as loyal or inclined to offer fair prices.

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Writing a Music Business Plan That Works

So let's break this down. Remember that the main aim of any business should be to create and sell products for a profit. Contrary to what some artists/bands say; they actually need money. Making music should not be ONLY for the love of it but it should be about using your skills in a profitable business manner so that you can live on your gift.

Back to writing a business plan that works; In essence, a business must be penned around the 3 ways to grow a business mentioned earlier and the successful workable business plan must be primarily focused on these 3 elements including a few other essentials.

The next question you may ask is, "How do these 3 ways to grow a business relate to writing a workable business plan?" Here is the answer:

1. Increase the number of customers buying your products. No music business can survive only on a handful of fans unless your price points are £1000's. It is therefore crucial that the business plan outlines all the means and methods through which the business plans to grow its' fan base. This is not just listing a few ideas but flesh out in detail how you, as a music entrepreneur, plan to bring in the necessary number of fans to make the business profitable.

2. Sell More to the Same Customers. The customers that buy your first album can also buy your T-Shirt and pay for tickets to the gig. Later on the same clients can also buy the DVD of the event. Your business plan should detail the process through which products can be created as well as means of making the clients purchase these products. The business plan should also be focused on why people will buy the products and the likely quantity of purchase.

3. Increasing The Sale Value of Each Product. I believe Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails made the process of selling different priced products to fans very popular. He gave away 9 tracks as a free download, sold 36 tracks for a few dollars, with the top products selling for $300 a piece, making nearly $1m in just a few days. For any independent artist/band, the business plan must be persuasive in the manner it presents the way it plans to sell products of different values to the same customer. It could be that you create different sets of products that can be sold to the same person. This could range from the download, to the physical CD, then a box set, a leather jacket with your branding, and so on.

Remember that writing a business plan that works must be focused on creating a business that works, so time must be taken to research the industry and bring together the right ingredients to ensure success.

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The Challenge of Making It In The Music Business

I am the first to agree that there are just too many songs released today. As my friend Rupert Withers from Vigilante Music says, "Just because you can make music doesn't mean you can." What he is saying is that the ability to make music (i.e. having the technological tools at your disposal) doesn't mean you are capable of making good music.

In my opinion, the greatest challenge facing any artist/band is the ability to make music that sells. Sooner or later if you make music that has the ability to sell within a particular genre no matter the number of releases, your music will come to the attention of the buyers. Every time someone finds your music they will inform their friends and the opportunity to go viral is at the highest.

The problem is that most artists/bands do not make music that can sell within their genre but blame the lake of money for promotion as the reason for poor sales or they also blame someone who was in charge by stating they failed to carry out their duties properly.

No matter what anyone says, those who dominate a genre must be making music that appeals to the buyers within that genre.

Let me explain what I am saying. I recently went to CD Baby to purchase some R&B Gospel songs. As I went on to listen to many songs I came across a song by "Jai" called "Pray". No I had not heard about her before, but the song was just so catchy that I bought it. The only promotion that the song needed was to just ensure I could listen to it.

If you are not selling your music you need to reconsider your creation or creativity process.

So what can help us ensure we create music that sells? Here are my suggestions:

1. Be ready for the long haul. Longevity is one of the essential keys to success. The longer you engage your creative process, the more creative you become. So be prepared to do as many tracks as possible before you get the one that would be sellable or getting the formula that creates music that sells.

2. Work with a producer that makes music that sells. Before you pay any producer, the foremost question on your mind should be, "How many records has my production sold?" If he/she has not made any music that sells, then don't gamble your money with this producer.

3. Work with a focus group. A focus group is a handful of people that have experience within the music business and are capable of offering constructive criticism. Your focus group should include DJ's, Record store Sales Staff, Pluggers, and a Promotions Person.

By the way, do you want to learn more about making money with your music? If so, download my brand new free course, "How to Make Money With Your Music" here: http://www.musicbusinesstools.com/

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