The Business Mindset 🧠

I'm going to bang this drum til I'm blue in the face: thinking of yourself like a business in the music space is insanely important.

This is a true story: a guy DMed me this week saying he had no money but asked me to listen to his song. I explained that so many people ask me to listen to their songs, I run a business helping artists, and asked him what he wanted from me listening to his song.

After telling me he'd guarantee we'd make a lot of money together (eye roll) and that if the song isn't good it's on him, I decided to listen to the track. It wasn't for me.

I told him this and he blew up at me. He started cursing at me and said he'd remember this moment. Told me to f*ck my greed and talking down on my business, that he's a creative and music is his passion. Same bro, same.

I told him this: that's why you're never going to make it as an artist, because you don't think of yourself like a business.

It's called the music business and it's a multi-billion dollar industry. Artists who want to be successful but think the only thing they need to do is make music don't understand the business. (In my defense, the song really wasn't very good and needed a lot of work).

The more I talk to artists every day, the more it's obvious who understands the industry and who doesn't. The ones who understand how it works will be more likely to succeed, because they understand all the work that goes into being a successful artist. My three pillars of focus, helping artists think of themselves like a business, are: 1.) Good branding, 2.) Quality products, and 3.) Top-tier sales and marketing. If you get good at these areas, you're way more likely to hit your goals in music.

As much as we're creatives and pride ourselves on our art, it's so essential to think of the other pieces of the pie and give those things proper attention. The sooner you think like a business, the sooner you'll succeed in music.