Backstage Secrets From The Music Industry To Grow Your Business 
By Christian Fictoor
Are you a musician, an artist, in a band, a composer, a sound engineer or do you play any role in the world of music or performing arts? Great, then this chapter is for you, and ofcourse there are tips any enterpreneur can use.
Have you ever thought, ”I’m just one song away from success!”
A lot of us think that way when we begin and we very soon realize that things don’t actually work that way. The music industry is about much more than composing great music. To succeed you need to have a real strategy, one that works alongside your artistic skills.
After you have written your song, after meticulously arranging the chord progressions, adding the right instruments, vocal pieces and producing your music, now the reality check begins.
Why Great Musicians Fail
In today’s world you just can’t blame poor results on a lack of opportunities, as there are more ways to promote your music than ever before. It’s all about having the right approach, understanding what works for you and how you can build on it.
I would like to take you through the stages that iGNITE! Music takes our musicians through to build and grow their businesses in the music industry.
Coone, The Hardstyle Pianist & David Spekter special act during the “Hard Bass 2018” event with over 25,000 people (photo credits: B2S).
As an example, one of our clients Jisk (pronounced Yisk), known as The Hardstyle Pianist, is a classically trained pianist from the Netherlands. In only two years, he managed to grow from posting acoustic versions of Hardstyle hit songs on YouTube, with a few hundred followers, to a sought after musician who plays at the biggest Hardstyle Events in Europe such as Hard Bass and Defqon.1.
Stage 1 – Getting to Know Your ‘Scene’
To grow your music business, you’ll need to grow a solid fan base. Selling your album to a few people isn’t going to earn you a living. You’ll need to cater to a larger audience while ensuring sustainable growth.
The only way you can succeed in growing your fan base is to really know your target audience; knowing ‘your scene’ , as it’s referred to in the music industry. This might sound easy and too obvious but this is what most people skip, as they tend to jump to the next steps too soon, and then fail.
The term ‘authenticity’ is used as a buzzword but it’s actually a very powerful strategy to use when growing your business, especially in the music industry. The reason is simple; sincerity comes through when you engage with your audience, they tend to trust you sooner and are more open to try your work.
In Jisk’s case, he picked a scene that was close to his heart. As a teenager he visited several dance events and knew people in the scene. He understood the tone of voice, the look, the trends and the common topics people in the scene talk about.
Stage 2 – Becoming Part of ‘Your Scene’
When you identify the scene that fits you and what you offer, the next step is becoming part of the scene. Please don’t announce to your audience right away, “Hey I am <enter your name here> and I’m here to sell <your offer>.” No!
Engage with these people on social media and other relevant online platforms by joining conversations about popular topics and voicing your opinion. It’s important you realize that it’s better to give something of value to your community first, before selling your product right away.
For a more personal relationship, it’s preferable to use your personal social media accounts for this, not your fan page accounts. Get out and engage with your scene in real life, go to events where the people in your scene meet. Talk to them, learn from them, ask them what they think is hot and what’s cold.
Make sure you are making notes of the feedback and input you receive, and build a solid understanding of what’s going on in your scene, who the leading players are, who’s losing ground, and the basic numbers in terms of market potential.
The key factor is to find that one thing which resonates with the people in your scene on an emotional level. In the Hardstyle scene, which is a subculture genre of the Dance Music genre, people feel strongly that they’re part of a tight and respecting community; they call it their ‘Hardstyle Family’. This is a perfect example of something that resonates on an emotional level.
Now that you have a fair understanding of your scene let’s get ready to build your fanbase.
Stage 3 – Building Your Fanbase
Jisk knew there were already several famous acts in the Hardstyle scene, which was good because it showed there was a proven market. We also understood that in order for Jisk to stand out in his scene, he had to bring something unique to his audience. Jisk was also very particular about wanting to connect with his fans on an emotional level.
Combining his classical piano skills and his own love for the music genre he started to post YouTube videos under his artist name, ‘Hardstyle Pianist’, where he displayed his own musical arrangements of famous Hardstyle hits.
“The key factor is to find that one thing which resonates with the people in your scene on an emotional level.” #TheGrowthHackingBook #GrowthHackingMovement #GrowthHackingDay
Jisk didn’t stop there. He went on to tag the original artists of those hits. Over time, some of those artists began sharing his version on their social channels. As his YouTube channel started to gain traction, he added a Facebook page, an Instagram account and a website, to build a concrete online presence. What’s important here is that he really engages with his audience and doesn’t use social media as a one-way communication channel to broadcast music.
Every time he posts a video, it’s like he’s giving his audience a gift. Sometimes he asks them which song he should cover next.
People in his scene appreciate his original mix of classical music arrangements, and he is now very popular and well known to people in his scene.
Jisk was invited by Q-Dance, the leading worldwide Hardstyle event organizer, to play his first performance during the ‘Freaqshow’ event on New Year’s Eve of 2016-2017.
Jisk knew that to grow his fan base further and turn his fans into lifetime customers, he had to go beyond just recording videos and taking up sporadic gigs at events. He had to scale up.
Given the combination of his knowledge of his scene, the online metrics he collected and our music marketing experience and expertise, we began working on building his recognizable and sustainable image. More importantly, we constantly used feedback from his ever-growing fanbase to tweak and fine tune his messaging and outreach.
Stage 4 – Selling, Scaling and the Patience Game
Let’s discuss in detail, the ways artists generate revenue. This is the stage where you take your show on the road, grow your fanbase, sell tickets and increase the frequency of your new music releases. To do this you need to test your creative ideas, validate them and team up with the right people .
Main Sources of Revenue
Don’t try to push the market or fans too much. Make them want you and love what you do, and they are more likely to become loyal fans. This is the stage where you need a lot of persistence, patience and perseverance as well as a great team.
You need to identify and partner with people from your existing audience, professionals from the music industry and experts who will voice their opinions and give feedback on your new releases, live shows and tour ideas.
Every element in your show, from the music, to the sound, lights and video, and to other show elements like clothing and special effects, need to come together to ensure that fans can relate and are touched on an emotional level. This will make your act an integral part of the scene forever.
Action Steps
Stage 5 – Keep That Buzz Going, Never Sit Back and Relax
Once you get a few shows right, you’ll get more invitations and requests to perform and collaborate with established professionals in your scene.
Never take your audience for granted; you’ll need to constantly innovate and stay relevant if you want a long sustainable career as a musician. Always be introducing new and original show elements and release interesting music to make sure people keep coming back to you.
Be talking to people in the scene to make sure you know what your audience wants, and you don’t become a one-hit wonder.
There’s no status quo. You either innovate and grow or decline. Growth is a continuous process and you can’t ever afford to sit back and relax.
Lastly, if you’re an artist and you want to grow your business, feel free to get in touch. I’ll be more than happy to help you!