A Modern Artist's Guide
A guide for you to provide knowledge on various aspects an artist must follow and keep in mind
In this modern era of rapidly evolving technology, being an artist/music producer is not the same as it used to be before. The entire process and experience is different with different opportunities and possibilities but the art doesn’t change. Here I am, to guide you & provide knowledge on various aspects an artist must follow and keep in mind especially after this post-pandemic era. Some of the main aspects are as follows:
1. Maintaining a brand image on Social Media
This is one of the main factors to which your audience or fan base is attracted to, apart from your amazing piece of music. It doesn’t mean that you need to always have high-quality photoshoots on mountain tops or stay behind a mask (well that is of course subjective). The main point here is to have a clean look with great quality photos, a kind of way to interact and engage with your audience and provide some value for them. Having a press kit with a bunch of images is a must to provide your photos to other labels, event managers, booking agents and so on. Make sure your social media links are all easily accessible, preferably having the same username for every platform. Make use of every available social media platform to maximize your presence!
2. Communication with Record Labels & other Professionals in the industry
This one is extremely important, as it can make or break your career! Make sure to keep your emails short and sweet, especially while sending in your demos. Make sure to send them a Private Link either on SoundCloud or Dropbox. Small tip: Try sending a separate link for every label to monitor if the label has listened to your demo or not. Remember, don’t send a demo to multiple labels at the same time. In the case of other professionals and collaborators, don’t spam their inboxes with your links. That’s a big no. Try to build a bond between them and gradually put in your offers with something valuable they can work on!
3. Learning about Royalties
This is a really big topic with various factors involved but I will be discussing the important aspects about this. So what are royalties? Royalties are the revenue generated from digital streaming platforms produced either by a third-party distributor or the record label company themselves. These are calculated based on the revenue generated by each and every digital platform the song is distributed on, each of them having their own amount in any particular currency (usually USD) per stream/views/plays etc. Make sure that you read the contract with the particular record label on what % of royalties you will receive out of the overall revenue and if there is a “threshold” or not. Let’s talk a little bit about this. A threshold (in terms of streaming revenue) is an amount decided by the label/distributor up to which the amount doesn’t belong to you. Say, for example, a label has a 100$ threshold on your song. You can’t receive the amount in whatever % they decided for you and hence if and only if you reach about the said amount, you will be able to withdraw the amount. If the contract has no threshold written on it, it means that whatever overall revenue will be generated, will directly be shared with you with the % amount written on the contract.
4. Learning about the “number game”
This one is a controversial topic albeit I’m keen on shining light on this. The “number game” of artists usually talks about the streaming numbers or simply the number of streams an artist gets. While it is truly an important aspect as it earns your bread and you need to concentrate and think about it, don’t be too obsessed about it as it is simply only a small part of your whole artist career or brand. It isn’t as important as connecting with each one of your fans or making amazing art that truly satisfies your artistic desires. Never forget that you create the best piece of music when you truly love it.
5. Adding value to your content
It is extremely essential to not just keep making music and posting it blatantly, it’s equally important to provide value, something which people can take back and remember. It can be things as simple as teaching, giving back, products, self-made, unique content which people can use, remember when they think of your brand, so on and so forth. Some examples can be self-made tutorials, sounds/presets, sample packs, unique merch, NFTs and so on!
As human beings, we simply learn things over time. Experience definitely teaches us a lot with a pinch of salt. Try your best and make sure to keep learning. Having a small circle of like-minded people will help you go a long way. Ask for feedback as much as possible, it doesn’t hurt to get a good third-person perspective. Fail and repeat. It is a process. Success is always a gathering of failures and hurdles you have passed through.
In conclusion, I truly hope this helped you learn about some of the major aspects of development as an artist/music producer and I hope I was able to share some useful knowledge & I hope to see a great change in your professional careers and see you make large strides. Good luck & I wish you all the best!