Don’t Go At This Business Alone 

The music business is like no other business out there. The only benefit to it is you have an actual soundtrack to your day, unlike other people with a 9 to 5. I was actually thinking today as I was doing visa work for a new artist of ours that at least that artist’s music can motivate me through the work. Those who do visas for software engineers for example don’t have a soundtrack. But anywho that isn’t my point here. With a small business for example you get it started, you hustle to get clients in your area of expertise and then hopefully new clients keep on coming in or your base customers keep coming back to you, then the work is to maintain that cycle.

Now an artist can have this lifestyle as well and if they are comfortable with this many can have a great career this way but at times a lot of local acts using this example will get pushed out by new talent or they will remain the opening act for a very long time, so naturally the idea to be successful is to become a regional act and then work your way up to a national act.

A lot of people don’t know the day-to-day work of an artist. If you think about it is it a lot to take on for one person and then think about the usual type of person who becomes an artist, to keep it simple, Excel spreadsheets are not their jam. Music needs to be made, they have to create content for their fans for socials, then need to do other fam reach outs, if they are touring then they are on the road. I don’t know about you but when I travel I get rinsed. After a plane ride and a 2 hr car ride the last thing I want to do is edit footage and film a cheery video out on my socials. But yea not done yet. Those tunes need to be picked up by labels and someone needs to be speaking with those A&R folks. Shows also have to be booked and someone needs to keep those relationships tight, oh, and if you do get put on a show someone has to manage the calendar and send off contracts, then deal with deposits and balances being paid. Oh, you got merch too, well inventory needs to be kept up on and if someone orders a shirt or even a sticker, gotta ship that. This is all before we had a chance to talk about keeping up on emails oh and remember that thing called friends and family.

So artists even if you don’t gig, all creatives your work is super hard, don’t let anyone tell you that your job is easy. Sure it has its benefits. When I close out my monthly expenses I don’t have a few hundred or a thousand people cheering at me, I mean the little voice in my head does let out a lil – yip – but not as satisfying for sure.

You need help and don’t be afraid to go out there and find it. There are loads of people out there that can lend a helping hand that aren’t total scum bags. You don’t even need to look for a manager at the top management company you just need a person that is a little more connected than you or just a hard-working person who digs the journey and that will get more connected than you because he now has the status that you gave to them.

You have to break up your work and find people that can help you with the things you aren’t good at. If you can’t stand accounting and keeping your books then get an accountant or a bookkeeper- sure someone you know knows how to use Excel or QuickBooks. Then for bookings, if you just want to play gigs then you need to find an agent if you are agency ready as agency owners and people that work at agencies are very strange and we love some Excel grids, contracts, and fighting for your flyer placement, so yea we also earn your hospitality rider when we come and see your shows, ok! Haha

Even for my graphic designers and other creatives out there if you don’t enjoy the side of the business that involves customer service, quoting, invoicing, and all of that there are people that can handle this for you you just have to find them, and trust those people to do the job.

Funny enough we can do this type of thing for you under our consulting arm of CGAgency – https://www.cybergrooveam.com/consult but not here to influence you, I am here to educate.

At the end of the day, a lot of the mental health issues out there are caused by people trying to take things on their own and not asking or knowing when to ask for help. When I was the only agent in the agency it was nonstop emails, posts, and everything that came along with it and I was burned out at the end of the day, I always had a full-time job as well so I know what the artist life is like since it is like running a full-on company that never sleeps and that has a countless amount of people trying to take your spot.

So network and get your team together. That is really the advice I am giving out right now. If you need pointers in the right direction you can for sure reach out to us and we can assist, we would be thrilled to hear from you.

Links:

Check Out My Substack – a lot of the same, just there