With the start of another new year right around the corner, the time to set goals for a better, more productive career is right now.
People have long viewed the start of a new year as an opportunity for change. More diets and exercise plans are started at the beginning of January than at any other point in the year. Likewise, more attempts for better financial planning and creative endeavors begin around the time as well. Setting goals for the new year as December ends is practically a tradition, but without serious change, the next year of your music career is bound to be like any other.
On the latest episode of Music Biz, our music education video series, host James Shotwell shares five achievable goals that all musicians should set for themselves in 2020. These goals are applicable to all areas of music, as well as artists at any level of success. If you are touring the country regularly, we can help you land better opportunities next year. If you are making pop music in your bedroom, we can help you get more fans. Just watch the video below:
Prefer to read? No worries. Here are brief explanations for every goal mentioned in the video above:
Write better songs
The first goal you should have is also the most obvious. You need to write better songs. Every artist needs to write better songs. The best way to ensure successful songwriting in 2020 is by getting into a routine of writing daily. It doesn’t matter if you can commit an hour every morning or fifteen minutes at night, make sure you spend a little time each day working on your writing. Don’t stress about creating a great song each day as much as you do writing anything at all.
Maximize your revenue streams
If you read enough books about millionaires and billionaires, you will learn every successful person has five or more revenue streams. Many artists have at least five (tour sales, merch sales, physical media sales, streaming royalties, and their day job), but there is always room for improvement. Fan clubs (AKA Patreon) can be a great way to make guaranteed money, as can adding VIP opportunities to your performances. Take time in 2020 to review the ways you make money and seek out ways to improve your income.
Gain 100 dedicated fans
We wrote about this last week, but don’t allow yourself to believe you need hundreds of thousands of fans before you can achieve a sustainable career in music. The smartest artists know you only need one-hundred devoted followers before you start seeing progress in your career.
What are devoted fans? You need people who care about you and your music as much as you do. People who will go out of their way to buy tickets to your shows, buy physical copies of your music, and tell everyone they know to do the same. If you can gain a hundred people who feel that way, the next thousand won’t take long to acquire.
Educate yourself
Success is rarely the result of chance. In today’s competitive marketplace, the artists most likely to succeed are those who make time to understand how the world works. Take time in 2020 to study social media, digital marketing, and music distribution. Review the latest trends in business and ask yourself how the efforts made by big corporations could be used in your career. You are a business, after all, so make 2020 the year you approach your job as a professional.
Collaborate and Network
Musicians tend to isolate themselves from others when pursuing their art. Too many artists believe they have to leave the world at large to create something uniquely their own when that is rarely, if ever, true. Collaboration and conversation can provide a better perspective on art and business, which in turn can help you lead a better career in music. Don’t hide from the world next year. Go out and embrace your fellow creatives. Learn from them and share your knowledge. Together, we can all create a better music business.
