Drowning in the ocean of the music business: what to learn from the 1%

There’s quite a heated discussions over income inequality. The statistics are starting to become dazzling in terms of numbers, There’s big revenues and profits to be made, in almost every industry. The enabler of all this is technology. What is called “the second machine age” has permitted every industry to move money towards very few (the infamous 1%) and left the remaining 99% battling for a slice of the cake. The music landscape acts in the same exact way. Not for nothing is called ‘the music business’.
But what else has changed within the music industry thanks to technology? Mainly, the way musicians get discovered. Any artist has the power to go from a Soundcloud niche to platinum selling, within a fair amount of time.
There’s a couple of tricks you can learn from those who did sell a million copies. It isn’t easy. You’re a just a fish in the ocean. But here’s what you can learn from that:

1. Understand your fans, and then connect with them on a personal level

Fans don’t really buy your music, they buy you. They buy your story, your message and how your personal struggles have affected your music. It pays to be known for something unique. The only way to do that is by getting that message across to as many people possible. In the most genuine way possible. They’ll love you if you give them love back. For example, you remember when Taylor Swift invited her most hardcore fans to her house, made them cookies and then made them listen to a premiere of her new album? Exactly. If you thought that posting updates on your social media channels was enough, then think again. If you wanna make it in the ocean of the music industry you need a step forward on the relationship you have between you and your fans. Nobody gives anything for nothing.

1. Knowing a lot about music doesn’t mean you know a lot about the music business

It is indeed a common belief that if you know how to make music you will, by causality, be successful in the music business. That’s not really the case. Instead, the very fact that you know basically nothing about how the music business works, makes you depend on external parties for your career. You rely on other people’s expertise to fill in the lack of your own. Every extra hand you ask for to help you publish, distribute, brand, etc. will want a cut of your income. Take example from Frank Ocean. He managed to maneuver himself out of his previous record label (Def Jam records) so that he could publish his stunning new album Blond independently. The outcome? He made a million $ in one week. Not so bad, huh?

1. Be bold. Pull the plug if you feel you’re being mistreated

You’ll learn sooner than later that nobody is really in it for your own interest. Actually, it’s very likely that your own interest clashes with theirs. So you have to make sure that you take ownership of what you create. In the end is your music. Have the upper hand in any saying and, if you feel that you don’t anymore, be bold enough to not shake hands for the deal. When the Radiohead’s singer Thom Yorke published his new album Amok with his other band Atoms for Peace on Spotify, he soon realised that there was something fishy about it. As a matter of fact, he pulled the plug soon after, making Spotify (and all the other streaming platforms) shiver of insecurity. He then proceeded to link with a start-up company called SoundHalo, which permits users to download video of their live shows. Previously, he released the album ‘In Rainbows’ on his own website, on a ‘pay as you want’ deal. The outcome? Most of people took it, of course, for free. But for those who paid, since there was no gatekeeper in between the fans and Radiohead, they made more income than any other album.
In conclusion, the business of music is a hard knock life. However, if you do your homework and are prepared for what is to come, it could be smoother than you think. Mostly, you can actually make a buck out of it. Here at Volareo we believe in the genuine force music brings to each one of us. If you think the same click here and get weekly content on the topic.