The Artist Rise #035

Welcome to your weekly resource for all things branding, release strategy, and overall artist development.

Every week I'll help you strengthen your artistry through sustainable strategies that will help you build your career rather than force you into burnout.

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Let's get into it.

The Industry

The music industry is confusing.

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The technology has developed to bring the barrier to entry down to its lowest point, which has enabled a lot more artists to begin their careers.

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But big labels still exist, taking up the majority of the market share, and platforms like Spotify have simplified the payout down to fractions of a cent for someone to hear your music.

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So as the industry has evolved, the path to financial freedom has suddenly become a lot more difficult.

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There's two sides to it, saying that anyone can carve their own path, but there's also a challenge in doing so, especially in a way that reaps any financial reward.

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The point is, the music "industry" feels less like an industry and more like a community or marketplace (minus the 'market' aspect).

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It's a borderline free supply of entertainment.

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But what does every artist want?

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To make music their career.

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Monetizing Artistry

So with streaming taking over the music marketplace, how is an artist supposed to make any profit off of their music?

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iTunes isn't standard anymore.

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So instead, we have to get creative.

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Methods like merch, private communities, other creative ways to engage fans and monetize the fanbase.

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And most artists see those pathways as "nice to haves", things that create the opportunity for monetization.

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Basically executing without a strategy or real focus in turning that opportunity into results.

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The gap?

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Artists don't treat their music like a business.

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But we are in the music business after all.

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Making Art Business

To truly take your artistry and turn it into a business is more than just adding merch to your release plan.

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It's having structure, outlining a release cycle and sticking to it, prioritizing the time you put towards your music.

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A business means strategy, making decisions with intention, trying to reach certain points.

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Because if you want something to succeed and bring in revenue, you have to make intentional moves and take it seriously.

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Following your creativity and writing "when you want to", treating social casually, not moving with any aim or intention, those are the worst things an artist can do for themselves.

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So what steps do you have to take to turn your artistry into a business?

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1. Develop a release plan that'll last you a year
2. Create a social media strategy that supports your brand
3. Build out fan funnels & revenue streams like merch & live shows

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It's not that complicated, it's not that different from how you're likely operating already, it's just a mindset shift.

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Treating your artistry like what you want it to be:

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The foundation for your future.

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If you want your music to be your career, you have to treat it like it is a career.

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Approach your music career like it's already alive and thriving.

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Don't ignore the "business" of the music business.

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Want to go further?

If you want more guidance in developing content strategies that work for you, book a free intro session and see what a game-changing social strategy can look like for you and your artistry.

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Until next time,

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-Ava

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That's it for this week! Hopefully this helped you take the next step in developing yourself as an artist and a brand. Stay tuned for more next week.

If you have any topics you want to see more of or any questions you'd love for me to answer, simply reply to this email.

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Keep learning and growing,

Ava Rose Lynch

When you're ready, here's what we can do for you:

• Lock into your next project with me

Book an intro call here​

• Come on our podcast

Submit to be our next guest​

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