Every music artist must stand and stick out from the crowd to be successful. In the age of the internet and better recording technology, there are more producers, songwriters, and performers in the marketplace than ever before. Competition is fierce and anybody can be replaced at any time. Nonetheless, there are things that you must do in order to keep your brand afloat. Though one can make a long list, I’ve come up four things you should consider in your journey in this thing called music:

  1. You are an individual profit center, slash, business: being an artist isn’t enough. Unless you want to do this as a hobby, you have to change your mindset from just being an artist to an entrepreneur, self-starter, and a business. You are a product and your ultimate goal is to create a demand for yourself in exchange for customers buying you. Furthermore, since you are a business, it is a necessity to learn the basics of being a business owner. I’m not going into depth with these things today, however, the internet is your gateway to knowledge. My best advice is to use it and learn how to become or better yourself as a business.
  2. Unique selling proposition: I think every artist and producer should focus on defining what their ultimate purpose is and how it separates from the rest of the competition. For example, the unique proposition I use for my business is, “We are a one stop shop for music licensing and custom production.” This is also my mission statement, as it lets my team and prospect know who we are and what we do. This sets us apart from million producers out there and production companies out there with no leg to stand on. Set yourself up for victory by defining who you are. Stand out from the crowd.
  3. Free content creation: Developing free content today on social media is not an option, it’s a must. Creating content around you unique proposition or mission will further develop you as an authority. For example, my blog is where I give you my insight and experience. My goal is to make valuable content, which I hope will help you on your journey. This helps me build my brand, thus, creates trust with you as an authority with what I do now and in the future.
  4. Jab, jab, jab, right hook: I’ve seen many artists on the internet selling their music or product directly, without establishing authority in what they do, what they sound like or who they are. Instances like these are only missed opportunities to build a credible fan base. It is why the industry promotes singles and hype an artist up in order to create demand for an album release. Nonetheless, the beauty of mobile and social media is you can do other stuff to develop your brand (hence why I brought up “free content creation.”) Once you’ve been able to create that demand, go ahead and sell the s**** out of people. If your content is good enough and it’s sincere, there’s no reason why one can’t develop a loyal fan base who will buy from you.