music as a business

[cgs]

So I've recently discovered that my passion is music, and I've been dabbling with the idea of teaching guitar lessons. Any music related entrepreneurs/businesses here?

[justin]

Hey cgs--this isn't quite the same thing, but I too have a passion for music (it was once stronger) and worked in the business for several years. I started out creating a music community website local to the town I went to college in. It allowed bands to advertise shows, post news, find venues to play, network with fans, and whatnot. It became quite successful, with almost 10,000 members (over 10% of the population of the entire town!) and landed me my "dream job" at the time, which was booking shows as a promotor at a large, independent venue in town. I had fun with it, but eventually grew tired of the business and moved on.

The website was never a big money maker--more like a labour of love. Come to think of it, I never made too much money booking shows, either - but it was a lot of fun!

[Michelle]

I am a singer/voice teacher in Switzerland. Just opened my own studio this month with a colleague:

A Singer's Life - Keller 48

[NFX]

This more of a hobby but I created a website where I can post tutorials and help people trying to make hip-hop music. It's very fulfilling as a hobby.

Since most of my users are younger and don't work I don't get many donations but the AdSense more than pays the cost of bandwidth and hosting.

[Kristoffer]

In my work as a cameraman/producer I often need music for corporate/commercial videos. For copyright reasons this can be a tricky field. I have found some good music on line like this site for example.

An idea for an internet based business would be to create custom made music for film/video. Have the client upload or link to a draft of their film and then you do the music for them.

[Gautam]

I've been publishing music online for 3 years now, I had my first EP out this summer but it bombed big. I didn't really make any money out of it, but at the end of the day I enjoy my music just too much to be worried about reaping financial advantages from it.

I'm concentrating presently on starting my career as a designer, once I nail that down, perhaps I can get back to music and maybe someday I might just do enough to actually establish that as a source of income.

I guess its the Undeniable Love for Music that justifies it all.

[songwriter]

Well, there's a thread called "Who runs their own business?", I want to be a musician. It's not a company but it's my business, I guess.
I have to go now, because I have to go to the recording studio for the first time, a day all the musicians seem to remind especially.

[GenkiRichard]

Hi cgs,

I started out teaching music. It was fun, paid for college and kept me on my toes skills wise. My current job also has a big music element.

If you go into the teaching, make sure you have a passion for that as well as the music. I currently take 3 music lessons ( singing, drums, DJ) and you can really tell the difference. The drum guy gets a kick out his students picking something up and finding stuff to challenge them. The DJ is a top DJ, but hasn't quite got into his teaching groove yet. And the singing guy sometimes feels he is just going through the motions and wishing he wasn't there!

So if you've got passion for music and passion for wanting to help students get that passion as well, then go for it!

Be genki,

Richard

PS NFX, what's your website? I'm a big fan of the todaysbeats.com site!

[TheColonel]

I was a professional/semi-professional musician for 14 years. I played, sang, produced, engineered, taught and wrote. I've had songs on the radio. Not big hits, though. I've played with people you've probably heard of.

But looking back through the eyes of my current identity as a businessman, I wish somebody would have told me early on to seek out a niche. I was all over the board, and even though I was well-respected, my lack of focus kept me from more significant achievement.

[songwriter]

Well, I'm back from my first day ever at a studio.
And it was fantastic :-D.
I didn't enjoy much my first live performance. But this has been different.
I expected some man there behind a glass saying just "Take one".
But it was a very friendly thing. And that producer works with the most famous artists here.
He did an arrangement of my song that I didn't expected.
My demo was more like a intimate version and he turned it into a "band" song.
That shows more how my writing is.
I begun singing the song like if I was singing my original demo... but subconsciously I started to do different things with my voice.
At first I thought they were mistakes.
But what happened is that I was getting into the song. Or the song was getting into me. So I sang according to the mood and arrangement.
The producer liked that so much and me too. That's when I started to enjoying it.
I said to him: "Ok, I'll do it in a crazy way, like if I was in my home or so... like listening to Queen...". And that's when I enjoyed it and I did it better.
Forgetting about melodic patters to sing, etc. just letting the music get into me.

[scottyp]

I've done some music recording and other work on the side but it is a difficult business to get into. The best way seems to be networking with other people, something I'm not particularly good at.

I did start a website Geardos where I review music gear and write some music related articles. It seems to be off to a good start although I really need to motivate myself to do some more work on it.

[ScottLee]

I'm currently involved in being a one-man three-piece. I'm working on an album where I play guitars, drums, and do vocal work. I call it, "Eternal Exhaust." A chunk of people out there like my music, another chunk doesn't - I'm working on improving all the time. If you want to do 'music as a business' the thing I can say is that make sure you love music, and you're not doing it for the business. Do what you love, it rarely fails as a good piece of advice. I've got a decent group of listeners, and hopefully that group will grow as time presses on and I release the album one day.

[DmitryDavydov]

Originally Posted by cgs

So I've recently discovered that my passion is music, and I've been dabbling with the idea of teaching guitar lessons. Any music related entrepreneurs/businesses here?

You may find these stories inspiring

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How A Starving Musician With 78 Cents Started A Million Dollar Business

[kandystand]

New member here, lover of all things motivational and also running our own music business (dance music act)..

music as a business, i suppose i see it as any other business, target markets, what do your customers want, same as if I was making mugs, thousands of competitors, I just need to figure out my target market, my USP and why mine is better than others.

I think that as a musician its easy to get hung up on the 'artistic' side of the business, and thats where many ppl fail. I would love to get a record company to give me huge wads of cash, go off to a studio lock in and record my next masterpiece, but the economy and the industry (any industry for that matter, isnt like that)

as an independent band, I know that i have to work my butt off sending out promos, releasing my records on the net through itunes and cdbaby, and doing all the stuff a record label would do if it was supporting me.

its hard, but so is any startup. but how much do you really want it.

I keep myself fired up listening to brian tracey paul mckenna, tony robbins, anything that will get me to my goal.

Hard fact is also that in the music industry you must never forget to sell sell sell your music, its easy to forget its a product...

usual swat analysis strength weakness opportunitues threats also must be focused on.

our business isnt in profit yet, but we are gaining momentum (and its taken a long long time).

drop by http://www.kandystand.com to check our act out if dance music is your thang, we think our music is actually very motivational ourselves, and when we are working out on our crosstrainer it helps us get through the session....

keep the faith, keep learning, developng and growing, you can achieve your goals, and enjoy the journey,,,,,,

Off to look at the rest of this forum as I find it very interesting

Best wishes
DJ Alodis
Kandystand

[runningbird]

Originally Posted by ScottLee

I'm currently involved in being a one-man three-piece. I'm working on an album where I play guitars, drums, and do vocal work. I call it, "Eternal Exhaust." A chunk of people out there like my music, another chunk doesn't - I'm working on improving all the time. If you want to do 'music as a business' the thing I can say is that make sure you love music, and you're not doing it for the business. Do what you love, it rarely fails as a good piece of advice. I've got a decent group of listeners, and hopefully that group will grow as time presses on and I release the album one day.

I thought "Fog" was good. And "Old Friends".

[jdhesse]

First -- best wishes with the new endeavor!

My first business was an artist development company called GrooveRoots in Nashville TN. We lasted for 4 years but got really burned out on Artists (of which I am one myself!) Here is what we learned the hard way -- Artists tend to want to spend money on immediate gratification (new instruments, studio time, that awesome photo shoot), but often neglect investing in themselves. Our development products really suffered while the studio stayed relatively busy.

Teaching lessons does have a lot of potential - but as a previous poster commented... it's all about networking. Getting involved in your local schools could prove to be invaluable -- parents are often looking for summer lessons. Also, local music shops often operate on a teacher referral list -- some will even keep you booked for a percentage of the lesson.

All in all I really loved my time in the music industry -- but the profit margins just weren't there to justify the hours it took. I hope your experience will be different!

[chineerat]

I am in a Music Band.
I consider and treat it as a business that is why I have one person dedicated to managing the band "finance, bookings. logistic" and another dealing with the "artistic and creativity" side.

Please do not try to be a hero and do both. You will burnout within a few months.

[pastelprincess]

Hi cgs

I'm just beginning my career in the music industry aswell. I have taken lessons in several instruments in the past and a my dad runs a guitar tuition business full time from home. I have considered instrument tuition myself but my passion lies in artist management which is what I'm now pursuing.

The main thing that prevented me from starting my own teaching business was not having the space to teach (of course with a guitar you have the option of teaching students in their own home if you don't have your own space...this is not so easy with a drum kit)!

It also helps to be qualified. Apparently being a grade 5-8 in your instrument is about the right standard for teaching. You can also take courses specifically in instrument tuition if you want to take it seriously.

I believe the most important thing whatever aspect of the music industry you are going into is networking! Talk to and get advice from as many people as you can. I set up a couple of meetings with my drum teacher initially who gave me some great advice on getting started and showed me how to make lesson plans etc.

[Saxman]

My passion is with teaching music lessons. I'm a sax player (imagine that, based on my screen name!) and I'm still working on building a student base. I just wanted to reiterate something: NETWORK!

Networking is the real key to getting out there and making your music business a reality. I've put in a lot of hard work and I'm about to see it come to fruition. Ultimately, what helped me was the contacts I made while out networking.

If you want some tips on how to help market yourself as a teacher, feel free to send a message. I've got several that have helped me out.