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- How To Grow Your Music Business Like a PRO - For Little To No DOUGH
How To Grow Your Music Business Like a PRO - For Little To No DOUGH
Welcome To The NEW G.A.M.E.
(The Grassroots Authenticated Music Experience)
As an Artist/Musician in the Modern Music Business, the core principle of the GAME is to develop our S.T.A.R.S, (self/brand, team, assets, resources, systems) hold down our 6 corners, (on-person, platform/business operating system, onstage, merch-booth, trunk, street team) and grow our Content Business by focusing on our Core Activities, (Main Moves) so that we can enjoy long term freedom and fulfillment, doing what we love, on our own terms.
That's the foundation, and it's why modern musicians get more done, earn more revenue, have more fun, and enjoy greater fulfillment, connection and engagement with their tribe than any other type of artist or musician.
I want to change the way you think about growing your career-as an Artist in the modern world.
In the old world, the Traditional Music Industry, the massive amalgamation of manpower, tools, technology, touch points, and overhead now reduces down to little more than an internet connected home recording studio with a few web service accounts.
In the modern music business we operate and grow our career in Projects, Processes, Launches and Campaigns.
In a completely connected world, everyone gets a voice. This is the beautiful opportunity for each and every artist on the planet.
The web can simply amplify your brand across the global community.
Today, the marketplace, the platforms and communities where your potential fans hang out-is the digital equivalent of your locale.
The good news is that now you are not limited to your own geographic location or budget to reach new fans...
But It can be overwhelming and sometimes seemingly hopeless when you think you need to generate huge numbers, have a massive hit, carry more than you can hold just to get in the game... So why try right!?
Don't give in to that. It’s part of all the reasons your mind will come up with for why something won’t work, it’s designed to keep you right where you are at, and to disempower you from advancing and getting the fruits of what you truly deserve.
But while we can easily become overloaded and frustrated it's also true that the solution is usually right there within reach as well...
Sometimes you have to look a little deeper, but if you look close enough, the simple truth will almost instantly emerge.
How To Grow Your Music Business Like a PRO - For Little To No DOUGH
The old game, the traditional music industry-used to be about top down, mass marketed, anonymous fan relationships…
The new game is about owning the fan relationship and engaging with your audience directly, connecting and creating your career on your own terms.
The Grassroots Authentic Music Experience = The shared journey and direct to fan relationship developed through active, ongoing engagement between artist and supporter.
The new game is mastery of the fundamentals and how we truly put the music back into music business. It’s taking a step back to a time where music and artists were the uniters and storytellers for their tribes, and marrying that with the sophisticated communications technology we have available in every format…
What your true fans are craving is emotional connection and real experiences.
Although their are many many ways to reach people today, all these tools have largely commoditized music.
Grassroots Career Development, the G.A.M.E., is back to grassroots growth, a local/tribal culture when artists were a valued part of local culture, a treasured member, often times-leader of their tribe.
The Grassroots Authenticated Music Experience is the foundational philosophy for Grassroots Career Development.
It is grassroots growth from the ground up, building a rock solid foundation, starting with the factors of success or failure, elevating up the levels of consciousness, on the pathway to self actualization, enlightenment, and complete music business liberation. The knowing doing gap closes with Grassroots Career Development - aka The GAME because it is the GAME of learning and implementing with commitment and consistency. It's the integration between what you know and what you do.
We believe music’s most valued in the form of a personal connection and experience to both the art AND the artist. That begins and ends with relationships.
The new game is about a lesser need for more “exposure,” and a greater need for real relationships with a group of core fans and supporters…
It’s about sharing a journey and providing meaningful experiences. The tools are their to share the content, but without context, without story and relationship to connect that artist to the listener, it is just more noise. I believe this is the key to long term success in the modern music industry.
Instead of 100,000 casual listeners whom you don’t know and whom don’t really know you-Except for what they read in the tabloids… Instead of 1 million views, or even 10,000 one time concert attendees… 1,000 true fans… Even a 100 true fans in some cases can work as well-it really comes down to the alignment of your targets, your vision, the strategy and of course how we setup your FEE Structure.
Grassroots Career Development, married with the power of the modern world.
We do this by leveraging technology in a simple but sophisticated way.
Make something cool, something great, and then share with whoever cares.
Leverage the tools and tech in the right way. The individually most appropriate way for YOUR career…
But we don’t forget the fundamentals, 1+1 = 2. The battle must first be won internally, then at the street level. Start small, test small, assess the results, etc… Crawl, walk, run. Inner game, local/core group of true fans, then build up from there.
I don’t enjoy saying it, but I see artists and bands focusing on the wrong things, and thinking there is a way to skip these steps without consequence. But these are scenes in all of our journey that we need.
What do you think?
STEP #5: Embrace grassroots career development, and work up from where you are right now.
What exactly do you need to learn and do to live from your highest self and build the career and life of your dreams? Grassroots Career Development is building a solid foundation from the ground up, to sustain long term freedom and fulfillment on OUR TERMS, doing what we love. We complete each step of the journey one mission at a time. Thus circumventing a whole host of complications and problems with the overabundance of information and inputs and conflicting advice from every which way… etc. RULE #5: Think Global, Act local.
We call this breakthrough Analog thinking in a digital world
The next Breakthrough Modern Musicians make is the shift From Top Down thinking, inefficient, impersonal, expensive, mass marketing... To.... Bottoms Up thinking, planting seeds, grassroots authenticated career development, the ripple effect.
This is the new Game. And the strategy we’ve found most effective over the last 10 years. This is back to fundamentals, organic growth we call Grassroots Career Development.
Building a rock solid Foundation, learning how to leverage the tools and resources. Developing the skills, habits, and mindsets with sequential learning.
No matter what, you have to build a grassroots fan base first.
Bottom line, before you have this... do not pass go, do not collect 200. Before you have this... You do not need a manager, or a label, or a promoter....
How to get out of overwhelm and focus on the next right thing to truly move the needle forward on your career.
No matter what your goals are in the future, we believe this is the place to start. If you don’t have a Core fan base built before you try to get signed, then you are putting yourself at a huge risk, a disadvantage, and have a ways to go.
I don’t mean to sound harsh. My tone isn’t negative. It’s just that in the modern music industry - that’s the bankable asset that makes you appealing to any professional organization. Not to mention that foregoing the phase of developing your content and building that grassroots following, that loyal base of core fans that you truly connect with and experience your career with, then you are in some ways skipping parts of the natural process of Modern Musician skills development, it won’t be Complete Artist Development.
Empower yourself NOW. Honor and embrace the opportunities around you right at this moment. Today. Start from where you are and build up. Realize that you have what you need to make progress now. That you don't need to feel trapped between where you are now and where you want to be. It will start with a shift in your thinking pattern or perspective, and then you’ll be on your way to growing your career in the modern music business.
The new G.A.M.E. = Modern Music Marketing and COMPLETE artist development.
Rule # 5 - Is the name of the GAME itself. Grassroots Career Development
The Career Growth Strategy to grow your content business more effectively than a label could, without losing a percentage or giving away your copyrights.
STEP #5: We build from the ground up, and we always complete the mission. One Mission at a Time.
Effective action + committed follow through = Mission Completion
Making the breakthrough of focusing on the minutia, the mechanics, the reactive state of partial focus, multitasking, putting out fires, and ending up in an idea tailspin or worse a negative tailspin... to proactively, completely engaging with intentional, single minded focus, completely immersed in that one thing, clear on what you need to do before hand, and then going in and performing at optimal capacity through to completion of that one mission...
The foundational strategy underneath it is really just an organic process of growth and development cycles. It’s not flashy or complicated. It’s fundamentals and natural progression transferred into the digital world and modern music business.
Unfortunately, common sense is not always common practice especially when there is so much distraction.
Mastering THE FUNDAMENTALS Working from the bottom to the top, not the other way around.
What we call Mastering the G-Code means doing the right things. the right way. at the right time.
But just like we took a step back with what we were creating without a game plan, remember that sometimes we have to take 1 step backwards, to take two steps forward.
We achieve 3Dimensional success by following a process for getting there. For both internal and external achievement. We want both. Modern Musicians develop both. The specific strategies and tactics that will be right for you vs another artist will often vary as well as the specific activities and objectives.. However the underpinning principles and process for that are what i’ve been teaching you here.
If you follow the program, you cannot fail but by your own volition.
Additionally, there is a third dimension that they are mindful and attentive to as well.
The 3rd dimension is the systemic dimension which in this case refers to our working habits and overall workflow structure. This is the invisible dimension that often goes unnoticed and where unless we are paying attention to it’s importance long term can lead us astray through the default development of unhelpful habits and environmental factors.
As we’ve touched on, the new Game is about what we call Complete Artist Development.
Mastering the G-Code is becoming an inherently self reliant, independent artist who makes their full time living doing what they love, for those that love what they do, and doing it on their own terms.
In business and in civilian life we can all sometimes lose that HUNGER and/or our focus along with our attention to detail... But unless we regain the proper mindset, figure out what we want, and then resolve to go and learn how to do it, we can’t be successful.
When it comes to the business side of the music business for most musicians, the Mastery Mindset for some reason gets replaced with a... “Ya well i’ve already got a website, if people don’t find me and realize how great my stuff is, then that’s their loss...” Attitude.
Or, i’m not technically savvy... I get confused and frustrated with all the SEO, keyword research, content marketing stuff, and so I get overwhelmed and thus don’t do much more than publish a blog post every now and again.
Sort of like a Treadmill. Where we’re moving constantly but ultimately we end up in the same spot.
But you CANNOT fall victim to an attitude of indifference, give in to overwhelm, or let yourself get stuck in “hamster wheeling” your “responsibilities” IF you want to grow your brand and do what you’re here to do, at the level you are capable of doing it...
In order for you to be successful growing your career in the modern music business, you need to re-adopt the Mastery Mindset.
Just ONE thing at ONE time.
You know this, and i know you do. Things pile up and i certainly get it...
You really do have to filter your inputs with consideration to maintain focus and priorities amidst all the data, ideas, and messages coming at you each and every day.
But it IS your choice to reclaim the mastery mindset and the results that come with it.
The Mastery Mindset is all about getting BACK TO BASICS.
It’s all in the fundamentals, and we can sometimes lose sight of that, especially when we are working online.
You need to commit to me and most importantly to yourself, that you WILL do what it takes, and follow through.
You already know what it takes, you know you should be trying things with an open mind, and then improve by testing, tracking and experienced trial and error.
You’ve been successful in many other areas of your life, so isn’t it about time to really step your music business game up FOR REAL?
I encourage you start with re-embracing the Mastery Mindset as you learn the G-Code and hone your chops with the modern toolset.
Your mastery is not necessarily with any ONE of the particular skills, rather with learning how to use all the tools well enough to create and communicate content that moves people. That truly connects with your tribe.
End to end experiences that hit the spot.
That expresses exactly what you mean to say, exactly what your audience needs/wants to hear, and how they'd love to experience it.
Once again, let me turn the microphone over to you.
Please add your voice to the conversation below.
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