How To Write Your Music Business Plan 26Nov08

I had a request recently on how to write a music business plan. Heres the format I recommend
my clients to follow. all it a template. ! music business plan "ives you a sense of leadership#
strate"y and direction and I discussed it briefly in my free e$boo%# How To Design A Winning
And Profitable Music Business.
If youre still not convinced on the importance of writin" a music business plan for your career#
heres a very simple analo"y& If I were to as% you to come to my home in 'ondon# Id tell you
the address and point you to (oo"le )aps to "et your directions from where youre startin" out.
If you didnt have those directions and my address# itd be very difficult to "et here without the
map. *our business plan acts in the same way for your music career.
+hether you are a band# solo artist# son"writer# instrumentalist# producer# mana"er or any other
music industry individual# you need a plan to help you achieve your "oals and be fulfilled. ,he
template below will help you create one. In helpin" to ma%e this template real# Im "oin" to use a
fictitious -./0soul artist called ,ina.
)usic business plans can be created in many ways# but there are four core components that I li%e
to advise people to write up& Operations 1the activities you do in your music business2#
Marketing 1how youll "et those activities out to more people2# Financials 1how youll spend
and ma%e money2 and Action 1your time$line for "ettin" thin"s done2.
overin" these four sections creates a very simple and e3cellent plan for your business. If you
are loo%in" to create a business plan that will help see% investment in your music business# you
may need to "o to more detail li%e analy4in" your mar%et# understandin" your infrastructure# etc#
but that is not the purpose of this article.
'ets loo% at the four sections mentioned in more detail.
OPERATIONS
5or this operations section# write about the activities you will do in your music business. *ou can
brea% them up into these two cate"ories& Income$"eneratin" 6ro7ects and Non$income$"eneratin"
6ro7ects. ,he first cate"ory includes your "i" pro7ects# music products# wor%shops and any
teachin". /asically# thin"s you will do that ma%e you money.
In the second cate"ory# list down and write about everythin" else you will do in your music
business that doesnt ma%e you money immediately. ,hin"s li%e administration# recordin"# band
rehearsals# etc.
,he "oal is to "et down in this section everythin" your music business does. ,hin% throu"h every
sin"le thin" you do and ensure it is written down. ,a%e as much time as you need. !s the focus
of writin" your music business plan is about achievin" in 2008# ma%e sure you do this&
'oo% at all the activities you are doin" and as% yourself these three %ey questions&
What from this list is not making me money and can get rid of!"
What from this list do not want to continue doing in #$$%!"
What other acti&ities do want to instigate in my music business in #$$%!"
,hen edit the section properly.
,a%in" our fictitious artist# ,inas income$"eneratin" pro7ects includes a re"ular monthly "i" at
lub 9achet. 9he has a "ood relationship built up with the venue and promoter and now mana"es
to "et a "ood followin" and pay. 9he wants more of that but yet doesnt have the a"reement.
9he also has a : out which she sells on avera"e ;00 a month. ,ina is "oin" to "et rid of her free
monthly "i" at the -hythm afe which she feels is not helpin" and "oin" to start "ivin" vocal
lessons to only five very committed students that should help her brin" in an additional stream of
income.
,inas non$income$"eneratin" activities include her wee%ly open mic "i"# her administration and
her fortni"htly boo%in" of a room for band rehearsals.

MAR!ETIN"
,his is everyones least favorite section by a stretch but probably the most important. In this
section# we are loo%in" at everythin" you need to do to "et your activities out to more people. I
prefer to call mar%etin" and sales <ustomer !cquisition and ustomer Nurturin". !cquisition
is all about "ettin" people to your fan funnel 1concept discussed in this free e$boo%2 and
nurturin" is all about buildin" trust# trainin" your audience# and "ettin" people on a 7ourney on
your website.
Heres what you need to do in this section&
;. )a%e a list of all the thin"s you are currently doin" to promote your music.
2. 5or each one# write down what you feel has wor%ed well and what has not wor%ed
well. /e honest and it will serve you well. :ont "loss over the results even if you
en7oyed usin" the specific strate"y.
=. ,hen "oin" forward# decide which three %ey strate"ies you will continue to use as you
"o forward in the first >; of 2008. If you want to try new strate"ies# then you are
welcome to add them in. I would only choose two new ma3imum. ,he %ey is to have =
that wor% and 2 new you will test. :o more than that and you will overwhelm yourself
and spread yourself too thin.
In this section# also consider the followin"&
POSITIONIN" How are you positionin" your art in the music industry? ,here is no space for
7ust another pop or -./ sin"er# 7ust as there isnt for a simple 7a44 musician. +hat is your niche
or specific focus area? /ecome the "o$to musician in that niche and you will "row and "et
e3posed much faster. /ased on your e3perience# s%ills and fle3ibility# you will always be able to
carve out a niche for yourself.
MAR!ETIN" MI# ,his is all about ensurin" that the strate"ies you choose to pursue above
are a variety that allow you to "et e3posure in multiple ways. +hether it is news releases# video
on the internet# blo""in" or podcastin"# flyers# networ%in" or anythin" else# be sure to ensure its
somethin" that you %now already wor%s or somethin" youd li%e to try.
SA$ES /e aware that "ettin" people to %now about your stuff is one thin" and "ettin" people to
buy it is another thin". 9ales is all about comin" up with the portals# systems or methods to "et
people to buy your music# merchandise or other offerin"s whether its by distribution or at your
website. +rite up a section on how you intend to do this in your music business.
'ets loo% at this section from ,inas point of view. In 2008# she has used news releases#
blo""in" and social media to "row her profile. +hen she has played "i"s# she used flyers to
promote locally as well. 9he has seen that her blo""in" and social media is pic%in" up and she
can see it wor%in" slowly.
,he news releases arent wor%in" effectively so she has decided that "oin" forward# instead of
postin" a release once a wee%# shell post one every three wee%s. ,hat will allow her to measure
the effectiveness of havin" an online 6- account. ,he flyers wor% to brin" in a small number of
people but is not worth the investment so shes "oin" to stop doin" them unless she has more
funds to spare when promotin".
9he wants to use video as well and so will be ta%in" videos of all her "i"s and uploadin" them to
*ou,ube. 9he %nows the effect video can have as it is visual# auditory and perhaps %inesthetic so
will use that to further "ain more e3posure as a new strate"y.
@verall# she finds herself sin"in" -./ and soul. It is a common niche that shes ta%en space in
but is not yet thin%in" of international wor%# 7ust stuff on the Aast of B9! so she is happy with
that positionin". 1I still feel that there must be a way for her to differentiate herself from others in
order to ma%e her more reachable for the "eneral public2.
!s for sales# ,ina is currently sellin" her : at cdbaby.com. 9he is not sellin" at her website and
rather directin" people to that website. 9he has three different pa"es on her website that sell the
same : and she is currently testin" which one sells better so she has a better conversion rate.
,ina is not so mar%etin" savvy# which is why she sou"ht whatever help she needed and was open
to doin" that.
FINAN%IA$S
In this third section# we analy4e and plan the financials of your music business. ,he %ey to your
music business succeedin" is that you try to spend less than you ma%e all the time. Its the same
in life too# ri"ht?
6art of the financials is understandin" your on"oin" e3penses as well as where your income will
come from. ,he music business is usually unstable 1for most musicians2 as they "et paid per "i"
or per : sold. ,hey have no way of creatin" sustainable income and so I want to address that
briefly.
5irstly# thou"h# list down all the e3penses your business is "oin" to ma%e on a re"ular basis.
Bsin" my own ,abla career as an e3ample# I pay a monthly fee for my e$mail mana"ement
system. I also pay for a rehearsal room once a month. !part from that# I have no other re"ular
e3penses. ,hen list down potential ad$hoc e3penses for 2008. 5or me# this includes flyers#
business cards# payin" accompanists# web desi"n for ', and much more.
!lso list down your pro7ected income# i.e. where you thin% income will come into your music
business from and an estimate of how much. 5or me# I e3pect about C;0#000 from corporate
wor% in 2008. I also e3pect to record a new album and ma%e C=#000 sellin" =00 :s at C;0 a
piece each month# so thats C=6#000 in (-@99 in the year. 1)aybe C=0% as I wont sell for two
months of production and pre$mar%etin"2.
@nce youve done that# you will have a "ood "roundin" of your realistic business outcomes ne3t
year. ,he %ey is that it is -A!'I9,I. 1I feel I can sell =00 :s because I have the mailin" list
and %now$how to do so. If you dont realistically believe you can shift =00 a month# dont put
that fi"ure in2.
Bnfortunately# I cant "uarantee that I will shift =00 :s a month until I set up and there is still a
few months till I launch the album. *ou may probably be in the same space too. 5or that reason#
youll need to find a way to create a pro7ect that allows you some re"ular income on a re"ular
basis and that you are aware of it. +hether its loc%in"$in to a re"ular "i" at a venue and creatin"
several pro7ects li%e that or decidin" to teach and havin" a few re"ular students to ma%e you
money# thin% about how you can do this for your music business.
'ets loo% at ,inas financial plan now. ,inas e3penses include a monthly fee for the e$mail
mana"ement system she uses $ DE80month. 9he also pays for the rehearsal room twice a month
totalin" DF0. 9he pays for her news release service at D800month. ,hats a total of D;G8 per
month in on"oin" e3penses. 9he also adds another D;00 for miscellaneous stuff.
Her income loo%s li%e this& ;00 :s a month at DG a piece "ives her DG00. Her re"ular "i" at
lub 9achet "ives her D200 a month. ,hats a total of D800 a month in income. @ther income
could come in from time to time such as corporate "i"s or wor%shops but she has not accounted
for that possibility yet. 9he is also loo%in" to ta%e on five vocal students for which she will
char"e D80 per student for four hours. )ultiply by five and it "ives her DE00 for her coachin". 9o
based on the above# with five students# shes ma%in" D;=00 income# D2G8 in e3penses and
therefore D;02; NA, per month.
A%TIONS
6robably my most favorite part of the entire plannin" is ta%in" all Ive done in the first three
sta"es and puttin" them into a time$line to help you formulate a schedule for achievin" your
"oals both for the lon" term 1=$to$F years2 as well as the short term 16$to$;2 months2.
,he best way to approach this is to first list down your "oals for the lon" term and short term.
,hen for each "oal# ta%e the time to create a time$line to achievin" it# startin" from where you are
today. +hat do you need to do to "et the tas% achieved? 9pace the actions out appropriately to
reach your end$"oal so that you can also accommodate other "oals.
Back to Tina. ,ina has the followin" three "oals for 2008&
;. ,o "row her fan base to F#000 by =;st :ec 2008.
2. ,o "et three additional re"ular "i"s boo%ed in by )ay 2008.
=. ,o be sellin" ;F0 :s a month by )ay 2008 and 200 a month by :ec 2008.
,ina reco"ni4es the value and importance of "rowin" her mailin" list before doin" another
recordin" so shes decidin" to spend 2008 focusin" on that# with her bi""er plan to release a new
album in 20;0. ,hat may also wor% to her benefit if the recession really %ic%s in. 9he will
continue to write and release new stuff but will not "o all out with a new album production
pro7ect.
,a%in" one "oal of hers as an e3ample# lets loo% at her "oal time$line. ,o "et three "i"s by )ay
2008# she will shortlist ;00 venues and send out a mail shot to them by =0th Nov 2008. 9hell
follow up by =;st :ec 2008 with all of them and boo% in the first "i" with as many as possible.
,ar"et boo%in"s& ;F "i"s. 9he will allow for a contin"ency period throu"hout Hanuary to continue
followin" up as she %nows :ecember is always a hectic period.
/y Hanuary shell have at least = "i"s boo%ed# althou"h her tar"et is ;F. @nce the first "i"s are
done by !pril 2008# shell sit down and try to "et another "i" with each of them. +ith some
venues she will 7ust boo% another "i"# and with others# if she senses both parties are ready# she
will as% to have some %ind of verbal 1or written2 a"reement for a monthly "i".
,his is 7ust a simple time$line that ,ina has charted for her second "oal. If she focuses on "ettin"
it done# it will naturally result in a "ood amount of additional income for her. ,his is her bein"
productive.
:o the same for your "oals too.
I
-emember# this is a basic template of how to construct your music business plan for the comin"
year and Ive used ,ina as an e3ample. If you are see%in" investment for your music business#
this template is not sufficient and there are other thin"s you should add in for which this len"thy
article is not the sub7ect of. I will cover the specifics in a future article.
+ritin" a music business plan is not easy and it will ta%e time so be sure to "ive it the time it
deserves. :o each section individually and allow yourself ample brea%s so you can be creative
and clear in your direction when plannin". It is easy to "et overwhelmed and followin" this plan
will ma%e it easier for you. I have consulted with many musicians on this process and it has
ta%en an avera"e of one month to "et it down in its entirety# followin" many drafts.
(o ahead $ start the process. *ou will be "lad you did.