The music industry can be a lot of fun. If you do it right, you can achieve the dream of fame. However, there are also pitfalls for new artists to avoid. It’s not as simple as making great music, putting it out into the world, and watching the fans roll in. The inner workings of the music industry are complicated, and most successful artists had to learn some painful lessons. Here are 7 essential tips for a musician, producer, singer, or rapper getting started on a successful career in music. Enjoy!

7 Essential Music Industry Tips for Artists

1. Study the music industry

As soon as a music artist creates a song or a beat, they’re thrust immediately into being an entrepreneur. Study the business side of the music industry to learn how it works. This includes marketing, promotions, distribution, publishing, royalties, radio promotion, digital marketing, etc. Moreover, master the art of building a brand, content creation, and social media marketing. Music is an industry where what you don’t know will hurt you.

2. Form a business in your artist name

Incorporate your artist name as a business to separate your business assets from your personal assets. Never buy personal items with your business account and vice versa. Whether you incorporate your new company as an LLC or a sub-chapter S corporation is a discussion to have with your accountant. Still, it is a crucial aspect of being your own business entity. Additionally, you will need a Tax ID number (also called an EIN) from the IRS and a corporate bank account.

3. Trademark your name as a performer and copyright your music

A trademark is a name registration with the U.S. government that protects your right to use your stage name in commerce. It also protects you in case someone tries to use the same name. You can trademark your artist name, the name of your label (if you own your own label), and your name and likeness on your merchandise. Regarding copyright, you technically own the copyright to your music as soon as you record it. Still, a copyright should be filed with the U.S. Copyright Office so that you can collect damages and legal fees if you do have to file a lawsuit for someone infringing on your work. While you can stop someone from infringing upon your song without filing officially, you can’t collect damages without a filed copyright. This is technically the only public way to verify your copyright.

4. Sign up for Performance Rights Organizations (PROs)

Sign up for the basic accounts that track royalties and income beyond the money your distributor collects for you. These include a Performance Rights Organization (PRO) like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC; Sound Exchange; and a Publishing Administrator. The PROs collect money from radio plays and public performances. Whereas SoundExchange collects money from the websites and internet radio stations that stream your music, as well as a portion of your income from Pandora (your distributor pays the rest).

Your Co-Publisher, if you have a publishing deal, or your Publishing Administrator collects your publishing royalties for you, keeps their contractually agreed-upon share, and pays the remainder to you. Co-publishing deals are often 50/50 splits in income and ownership. Administration deals usually consist of the Publishing Administrator keeping 10-15 percent of what they collect. However, they traditionally keep none of the ownership. 

5. Build a Team

The typical artist team consists of a Manager, an Entertainment Lawyer, a Business Manager (or an Accountant), a Publicist, and an Internet Guru. Your Manager is the person who helps structure your career and image, sets goals, and handles your business for you. Aside from being someone you trust, they should also be experienced in building artists’ careers and well-connected in the music industry. Managers usually earn 15-20 percent of your total income.

An Entertainment Lawyer looks over and/or creates contracts and negotiates deals for you. They are paid either by the hour or receive 5 to 10 percent of the deals they negotiate on your behalf, such as a record deal.

A Business Manager handles the financial side of your life and your taxes. Most will give you a budget based on your income and help you plan your insurance, such as life, health, touring, and auto insurance. Some pay your bills for you while you’re on tour, and others help you secure loans to buy a home, a car, and musical equipment. They are often paid by the hour or receive 5 percent of your income if they’re handling everything for you

A Publicist is like a megaphone—they tell the world about you and what you’re doing. They get the blogs, magazines, and press excited to cover you and your movement. Some make sure you get invited to parties and events where you can be seen and covered in the media. Publicists are usually paid a flat monthly rate.

An Internet Guru helps oversee all of your social media platforms, website, and digital marketing. Specifically, they can help you with your internet content and bring attention to you via the internet for a flat monthly fee.

6. Hone Your Craft

Hone your craft so you can be the best at what you do! There are 20,000 songs uploaded to Spotify daily. Realistically, to stand out, you will need to be in the top 99 percent of artists. You need marketable, quality music that a large number of fans want to hear. A well-mixed and professionally mastered song matters. Also, playlists are becoming a huge part of discovering new artists in the music industry. Your songs must sound good when played back-to-back with well-known, established superstars. Outwork everyone else.

7. Build a Following

Lastly, it is imperative to learn how to build your fanbase by marketing and promoting yourself and your music. Buzz leads to income and fame, both of which create success as an artist. To share your music with the world and build awareness, you must learn tactics to get potential fans talking about you and listening to your music. Standing out in this overcrowded industry is vital. Work to build a fanbase and buzz through every available avenue. This can include social media marketing, touring, radio promotions, etc. Then switch your focus to retaining your fanbase while continuing to increase it.

Additionally, it helps to either have the financial backing of an investor (for a revenue split or equity split) or be signed to a record label. It can take anywhere from a couple hundred thousand dollars to millions of dollars to properly promote a rapper or a singer.

Conclusion

These tips are here to help any music artist set themselves up for success in the music industry. If you would like four more tips, read my full article in Issue 1 of crEATe Magazine!