The Business Side of Music
How embracing the business side of music can lead to your success.

You love music. That is an undeniable fact. You're great at making music. That's another undeniable fact. If you're an artist, however, music isn't just a passion or a hobby for you. It's your career, a source of income, a business. If you focus on the passion part and neglect the business side of your music career, you might end up being an extremely talented artist who never lived up to their full potential. I don't want that for you.

Most indie artists ignore the business side of music because they think talking about money makes you a sellout. It doesn't, it makes you a smart person who has a plan to be profitable. You don't have to "trade your soul to the devil" to make a good living off your music. Let me explain...

Business ≠ Sellout

As an indie artist, you have a message in your music. It could be a message of love or hope, inspiration or mental health, or whatever else you want, but you have a message. If you ever abandon who you are and what your music is about to land a record deal, you've become a sellout. When the only thing you consider before making a decision is the amount of money involved, you're bound to become a sellout.

Business is different. When you make a profit from selling your music, get paid for performing at a show, pay for production services, or any other activity that involves money, that's business. Without the business part of music, there would be absolutely no financial reward for your efforts. To be brutally honest with you, that would make all your musical talent a cute hobby at best, and waste at worst.

Business doesn't make you a sellout. It makes you profitable and productive.

Why You Need It

You now understand how paying attention to the money side of music doesn't make you a sellout, but you might still be on the fence. After all, your manager can handle all that. Let me show you why you need to understand it.

Not everyone starts with a manager

If you have a great manager, they'll probably do a good job handling your business. A manager doesn't come cheap, though. Can you afford it? The odds say you can't if you're just starting. So who'll handle the business side of things until you can hire someone to take care of it? I think that's you.

You have to take care of your music career well enough that a manager will find you an attractive prospect. In business, you'll learn that everyone looks out first for themselves. That doesn't make them cheaters or dishonest people, but the goal of business is profit. So if you don't look like an artist with a bright future, a manager won't waste their time with you. Knowing what the music business is will help you set yourself up as an attractive option for people to work with.

Legal complications

I've seen way too many young artists end up in bad situations simply because they didn't understand a contract. Again, every entity is looking out for itself before anyone else. People will pay you as little as you let them because it helps them maximize profit. Others are outright trying to scam you into being a servant, and they often succeed with artists who have no idea what's going on.

You don't have to study law but know what copyright means. You don't have to get a business degree but understand how royalties work. You don't have to take the bar exam, but be able to read a contract and smell when something's off.

You need to stay in the loop

Once you do get a manager, it'll serve you to remain in the loop of what's going on. You don't have to spend hours poring over the accounts or contracts anymore, but it'll serve you to stay in the loop. The first reason is that the only person you can trust completely is yourself. Not everyone is trying to take advantage of you, but some people are. If you're unfortunate to get in bed with someone like that, you'll need your business understanding to help you sniff them out before it's too late.

How to Master It

I've talked at length about why you need to understand the business side of music, but how can you do that? I can't teach you about it in one article, but I can suggest places you can go to learn about it.

Take a course

One excellent way to understand what the music industry is all about is to take a course in the music business. It doesn't have to be a complete college degree, you can start with an online course. Learn a little every day. Before you know it, you'll be so good at this business thing you might quit singing to become a manager.

Understanding any concept from the basics is always the best. Taking a beginner course, for example, will help you lay out the fundamental parts of the music business and build on them.

Stories

Understanding the theoretical aspects of the music industry is one thing. Life does not happen in a classroom, however, so you need real-life examples to help guide you. What better way to do that than the stories of artists who came before you? Read their biographies, watch movies or documentaries about them, and get a taste of what life was like for them. Learn from their mistakes, and adopt some of their tricks. It'll do you a ton of good.

Get a mentor

Academic learning is mostly theoretical, stories can be old and the lessons obsolete, but a mentor is a perfect answer to these flaws. A mentor is as real and practical as anything, and you have access to them right now. So they know what's going on in your time. They can help you apply those theoretical principles and story lessons as you should.

Final Thoughts

Business in music is essential. Don't shy away from it. You're not a sellout if you care about money, you're a sellout when that's the only thing you care about. So make sure you give time to learning about business in music. It will help you stay profitable, but more importantly, it will keep you out of trouble.

One day you'll thank me, but for now, just trust me.