REQUIRED BUSINESS TOOL KIT FOR ARTISTS

It is incredibly easy for anyone to record an album and call themselves a “label.” What is even worse is when they use the moniker “digital label.” This designation is meant to imply that there is no release of physical products. But too often, it means that there is no real company supporting their releases. We live in a world of virtual reality, virtual assistants, and virtual companies. An unexpected result of the lowered barriers of entry to the music world is that many labels and artists do not have the basic tools necessary to be a music company.

So here is a list of the essential survival tools that every artist must have. (it does not matter if you are not a label. If you are in the music business then you need the same tools as any other business.)

Item #1: Microsoft Excel
The days are long passed when an Artist could wait by the mailbox to get their statements. If you are not receiving statements electronically, then you must demand that to change. The two most popular formats for statements are PDF and Excel. Practically every computer ever made has Adobe Acrobat Reader preinstalled. So, it is no problem to read such statements. However, the preferred format for Artists and Labels statements should (and is) Microsoft Excel. Many artists will shudder at the thought of buying a spreadsheet program that they view as used only by accountants. That is simply not the case. A digital royalty statement requires sorting and resorting in order to calculate any royalties due payable. Doing such sorting can also unveil valuable marketing data (e.g., which countries bought which tracks). If you get a statement in a spreadsheet format, don’t complain that you can’t open it. Buy Excel and you’ll thank me.

Item #2: Dummies Guide to Microsoft Excel
Excel is a very powerful program that can be counter-intuitive for many artists. In order to get up to speed quickly, it is important to buy such a guide and read it. If an Artist bought a complicated reverb machine, they would likely read the manual. Same theory applies here.

Item #3: “All You Need To Know About The Music Business” by Don Passman
‘nuff said

Item #4: Billboard Magazine
This is the source, as far as I am concerned, for all things music. It represents the mainstream music business which, for better or worse, always has an impact on everything else. If you subscribe to the magazine, you also get the digital version for free. If you can’t afford to subscribe, then make a weekly trip to your public library and spend an hour reading it.

Item #5: “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand
Buy the hard cover version of this book and then read it twice. Regardless of the political interpretations or leanings of Ayn Rand devotees, this book is a wonderful lesson in the dangers of entitlement.

Item #6: Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com)
Just about the best html newsletter system out there. It is affordable (starts at ~$16/mo) and very easy to use. It has some excellent features like adding subscription fields to your website, list management, safe unsubscribe, and more. If you are still sending out ASCII-formatted emails, then you need this service.

Item #7: “Kohn on Music Licensing” by Al and Bob Kohn
This is the Bible of all things music licensing. It may be a bit out of date with regards to very current Internet licensing issues. But if you get a request to use your song in an indie film, this book will have all the answers including sample license agreements.

Item #8: Paypal account
Sending checks around the world is unwieldy and expensive to process. In some countries, cashing a paper check is often more pricey than the amount of the check. Everyone who is collecting money from digital sales should have the ability to receive money electronically. Wire transfers are way too expensive and time consuming. There are competitors to Paypal (e.g., Worldpay). But Paypal is incredibly reliable and affordable.

Item #9: A Large Email InBox
There is no reason why an email should get kicked back because the recipient’s box is full. That is simply poor planning and bad business. Storage is cheap and there are many affordable (and some free) options for email accounts that are 1 gig or larger. You may think that this is overkill. Just send a few MP3 files back and forth without cleaning your in box and you’ll see how quickly a 200meg account can fill up.

Item #10: FTP Client (CuteFTP, SmartFTP or Fetch)
These are very, very simple programs that enable artists to upload and download large files via the ubiquitous “file transfer protocol.” Since item #9 is a common problem, many companies will opt to send and receive files using FTP. These programs are usually free or very cheap and easy to learn.

If you paid full retail price for each of the above items, it would total approximately $900 for the first year. With industry discounts and other bargain-hunting strategies, you could probably reduce this by $100-200. This may seem like a lot of money to some. But if you compare it to the money an artist might spend on recording, graphic design, manufacturing, and promotions, it winds up being a relatively small percentage of their entire costs.

It really comes down to the commitment level that one has for their business. If you are creating music and don’t really care about making any money, then you can disregard all of the above. But if you want to earn money or even sustain yourself with income derived from your music, then the above list are essential items to have.

(NB – In the spirit of full disclosure, the writer has no financial interests in any of the services or products recommended here nor will he benefit in any way if purchased.)

Comments

[jay morgans]

i completely agree on needing Excel, but not having to pay for it... go to openoffice.org and download Open Office, it's open source, free, reads ALL formats of Microsoft Office, and exports directly to PDF if need be. It also saves files to be compatible with any version of Microsoft Office imaginable, so there won't be compatablility issues if you have to send someone a file of your own. hope that helps...

[Steve]

excellent suggestion.

[James Geshwiler]

Excellent suggestions. There also are services that do a lot of this for you and can give you the customer data. Nimbit (www.nimbit.com) is one (and full disclosure: I am an adviser and backed the company because we viewed them as the market leader for the next generation of independent artist tools).

[Roshaun Clarke]

Great stuff!

Very informative. As an established artiste with a fairly young RECORD LABEL i can surely relate to all points given.

Music BUSINESS...is as it says. Business based on music so it's important to adapt a professional approach to the business side of things.

Thanks Steve

Bombrush Records