Eight Essential Music Business Principles You Need To Know

Challenging as the music industry is, abiding by these basic business principles can give you a fighting chance at beating out the competition and making your music career a success.

Guest post by James Shotwell of Haulix

No industry is harder to conquer than music, but following these basic business principles will help anyone stay ahead of their competition.

Don’t let the glitz and glamor of superstars lead you to lose sight of the truth — music is a business. Like any other industry, the music business makes, packages, and sells products to consumers. It is not that far removed from fashion, tech, or even pharmaceuticals.

Too many people, ourselves included, lose sight of the business element in music. We want to believe that success is a result of creativity and that the most artistic person is the one who ultimately gets ahead. But we all know that is a lie. We know that the best songwriters and most skilled musicians rarely reach the top of the charts. Even when they do, they often align themselves with a person or group that culture sees as a hot commodity. Talent alone is rarely, if ever, enough.

It’s important to view music as a business because there are countless principles that — more often than not — dictate who succeeds. These are rules and theories that any person studying business in college would learn, and they’re widely available in countless variations published through any book promising “get rich” tips and “guaranteed success.”

In this episode of Music Biz, host James Shotwell shares eight timeless business principles and how they apply to your music career. He offers examples of success and explains where people often make mistakes. There are many more principles to share, and we will continue to post them here as time allows.

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

James Shotwell is the Director of Customer Engagement at Haulix and host of the company’s podcast, Inside Music. He is also a public speaker known for promoting careers in the entertainment industry, as well as an entertainment journalist with over a decade of experience. His bylines include Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Substream Magazine, Nu Sound, and Under The Gun Review, among other popular outlets.