Using Your Education To Build Your Music Business

TThe typical musician, especially the type of independent musician who is trying to make a career without signing to a record label, has a career that goes a little bit like this:

Stage One: I’m really good at this music thing! I can make money doing this!

Stage Two: Okay, now I’m making more money. I wonder what it would be like to go on a short tour.

Stage Three: Wow, that tour was crazy. I had no idea it would cost so much! My music career is growing, though. I have all kinds of new fans. I know how to book shows and promote my own stuff. Maybe it’s time to quit my day job and see where I can take this.

Stage Four: Okay, I’ve quit my job. Now I’m running my own music business. Except… I have no idea how to run a business!

That’s the point at which many nascent music careers fail. The failure doesn’t have to do with lack of talent; it has to do with a lack of business knowledge. Going from being an amateur musician, even a very talented one, to running a full-time music business is a huge step, and one that a lot of musicians aren’t prepared for.

Photo credit: infodad on Flickr

Luckily, there is one clear solution: go back to school and learn about business. A business program, especially one that focuses on entrepreneurship, will give you the skills you need to actually run your music business, instead of running it into the ground. You’ll learn how much you need to charge to break even, how to protect your personal assets by forming a sole proprietorship, general partnership, or LLC, and how to handle the increased tax burden that you’ll have as a business owner.

How do you get the education you need? An online college degree program is a good start. Although you do not need a formal degree to be a professional musician, going through a degree program is a good way to get the full breadth of knowledge you need to succeed as a business owner.

Your business degree will also put you in good standing if you decide to stop performing as a full-time musician; you can continue to work in the music business as a band manager or record label executive, or you can take your business skills to another industry or field. You can even use what you learned as a musician/entrepreneur to start a new business. Many musicians find that their business skills come in handy when it’s time to start a teaching studio or go into professional freelancing.

How do you choose which online college degree program to pursue? Start by looking at the courses offered, as well as the school’s mission. A look at bryantstratton.edu/online, for example, shows you that their program values mentoring, community, and finding the best possible educational program for each individual student. Other online programs may value graduating quickly, or may be specifically designed for students who have full-time jobs. Look for a program with values that match yours, and look for courses that are going to be useful in your future as a business owner.

There are a few key skills you’ll need to learn when running your music business. When you start taking your online courses, if you don’t see these skills presented in the syllabus, you need to ask your instructor for additional resources. Here are a few business skills directly related to working as a professional musician:

• Person-to-person selling (how to get people to buy your albums and merch after shows)
• Mailing list campaigns and increasing engagement
• Handling sales tax when selling in multiple states
• Planning a budget on variable income
• Negotiating with vendors and getting deals on bulk merchandise shipments
• Social media management and social media promotion
• The economics of touring — this will make or break your career

You can probably think of ten more business-related skills you wish you were better at, so make a list and make sure you learn each of them. The harder you study while you get your degree, the better prepared you will be to succeed in your own music business.

Lastly, a word of warning: getting the online business degree should only come after you have proven yourself as a performing musician on at least a regional scale. Many people jump straight to the “quit my job and start a business” stage before they know if they have the musical chops or the stage presence to command an audience’s attention. Make sure the music part works before you try to make the business part work, because you need the music to be solid first and foremost.

Have you ever taken business classes to improve your music business? Did they help? Let us know!