Independent music artists tend to spend a lot of time working alone. And while there are occasions to interact in collaborative ways with other artists it isn’t an everyday thing. For the most part, it is you against the world inching along one step at a time. So, what can be done to achieve more? And what are some goals an independent music artist should set for themselves?
As an independent artist you are responsible for taking care of your own interests. So, finding ways to work more efficiently is in your own best. By setting goals we commit to an effort of working towards them. The goal defines a destination. This is essential to navigate the steps between where we are now and where we want to go. Without assessing what our goals are we proceed without aim.
Setting a timetable in which to actuate the goal defines the deadline. And having the deadline serves to motivate a consistent effort.
Every time you reach a finish line have a look back over what you have accomplished to determine what in the process has worked and what hasn’t. Doing so will serve to highlight areas to make betterments.
Remember there isn’t any need to reinvent the wheel. This is a simple matter of goal setting and accountability. Set goals on a long-term basis and write them out for yourself. Break them into incremental steps to undertake throughout the year.
Create a listing with categorical headings that best represent the various aspects of artist management.
Headings should include but are not limited to the following:
- Songwriting
- Recording
- Distribution
- Management
- Promotion
- Sales
To succeed we have to wear many hats. Our goals as Independent music artist should be composed to serve the progression of each of the hats we have to where. Before advancing any farther write the aforementioned headings on to separate pages or spreadsheets. Follow that by listing goals and actionable steps towards reaching them. After you’ve had time to consider and refine this list you’ll be on your way.
Create A Manageable To Do List
On a daily basis make a manageable list of things to do. Use that daily list to manage progress towards your long-term goals. Making yourself more organized is the key and this is an effect management. In terms of thinking of yourself as an artist, you could say that this is DIY artist management.
Some artists may be repulsed by doing anything aside of creating music. Especially clerical things they may find mundane and repetitive like setting goals as Independent music artist. The ordinariness of having to do them makes them feel like they are failing their music. But, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
It would be better to think of this effort more holistically. As artists, we are lucky to be alive in an era that we can actualize and coordinate every step of the music process with a computer and an Internet connection. In affect an artist can be their own record label. With just the slightest bit of determination, and without having to rely on anyone else we can succeed. There is a lot of power in that and its up to each of us to take advantage of it for ourselves.
Organized Schedules And Goals
Be sure to have designed, organized and scheduled goals that work for you as an independent music artist. Don’t over reach and create a sense of failure. Push your boundaries and expectations slightly at first and more as you can. Acknowledge small steps of success and build upon them. At certain increments of time, evaluate the results and make adjustments to your workflow accordingly.
You owe it to yourself to strive toward better positioning your career. You owe it to yourself to increase the chances of exposing your music to others. And you owe it to yourself to make a living doing so.
So lets talk about some goals you could set and some steps you could take to achieve them. Lets talk about turning this into a process. Lets talk about turning the process into your art.
Goal #1: Conceptualize More Songs
Song Ideation is the process of conceiving a song, or having the idea. The process of song conception is not topical to today’s discussion but rather the frequency that you spend in that process is. The important takeaway is consistency.
I have heard people use the word factory as a metaphor to describe this but I prefer to use the word farming. You have to plant seeds. Song conception is not the song in its entirety. It is the initial idea. So to keep in line with that metaphor, the song idea is the seed not the harvest. Every time you conceptualize something new and save it away you have planted another seed.
Make a goal of doing this with regularity. Plan a routine around it interwoven with a timetable. Maybe you sit down once a month, twice a month or every week whatever it is be sure the expectation you set for yourself is realistic with the demands of your everyday life.
Stockpile these song concepts created during your designating writing times. Save recordings of the ideas for future reference. These can be saved on a voice recorder or you could open a session in your DAW to track in the basics.
Imagine doing this once or twice a week. At the end of the year you would have a collection nearing one hundred. That would an asset. Into your second year you could continue that same idea conception schedule while at the same time beginning to mine your stockpile for gems. When you compile a selection such as this It should never be that you don’t have a song you could be working towards completion. Those seem like some great goals for an Independent music artist.
Goal #2: Finish Writing More Songs
After you have a chance to begin to mine through your songs you will start to identify winners and losers. Save your song-concept files with two visual designations. The first designation should indicate how exciting the song is or isn’t and the second designation should indicate how far along the song is in production.
I suggest using either a numeric evaluation or some color-coded system to allow for quick visual reference of your files. On my computer I have hundreds of sessions saved in just such a way. It doesn’t take long before the amount of saved song ideas gets too large to remember exactly what is what.
When we record music we can really burn ourselves out by looping the same session over and over again hours upon hours each day. There is no better way to start making bad decisions then allowing yourself to become fatigued.
In my experience having one or two songs to work on per week is Ideal.
- I work until I’m exhausted with one and then switch to another with fresh ears.
- I will do this for one week after which I will close both and open up two others.
- I will spend the next week working back and forth on them in the same way.
I’m pretty strict about not reopening the previous weeks tracks again for quite some time. When I finally do the pay off is big. It’s like I am hearing the songs again for the first time. This helps me to assess what needs done next.
This is just one example of how you could systemize your own work. Regardless to whatever approach you choose, the most import thing is follow through. So make a commitment to the number of songs you intend to finish this year and then succeed at meeting your goal. Do you want to complete one a month, six a year, or two or three a year? Whatever you decide make sure that it works for you and get them up on YouTube and Spotify.
Goal #3: Publish And Promote Effectively
To some extent this goal is interwoven with the last. After you have built your songs and once they have been recorded mixed and mastered you will be ready to release them for the consumption of others. If you have decided to finish one song a month you may have amassed enough to release an entire album. If you are focusing on the regular release of individual singles through Internet streaming platforms you will need to have signed up for a distribution agreement with one of the online distribution companies. Once you have done that and the song has been uploaded for release it will be up to you to promote the songs.
You can also set up a website. Which you should do. It can act as your home-base online. It should include all of your new songs, embedded videos from paying video platforms and a digital store front. To stock your store, use a print on-demand partner. You can sell a product from your website and they will send it out for you. If you are interested in learning more. Here is the link!
The most important thing to build your following is consistency and regularity with new music launches and promotion. This is to better engage with those who are following you and what you are doing artistically. It creates a certain reliability that they can come to expect. Rely on your circle of friends to help you hash out strategies for now sand as you grow you may want to hire a virtual assistant to help you manage those social branding tasks.
Here are three promotional goals to consider:
- Submit your music to music blogs for review
- Make and release Music Videos to correspond with single releases
- Take interviews to help promote your work
There are thousands of strategies for music release; focus in on the ones that best work for you. Define each as a goal and work to see those goals met.
Making regular videos is a great idea. If you are interested in knowing more about why you should make videos and what goes into that; Read this article!
Goal #4: Break Out Of The Box
Every month assign yourself some new songwriting challenge. Choose one day or a few hours throughout the month to spend on a quick composition that forces you to get out of your wheelhouse. Whatever it is you create shouldn’t be something you intend to release but rather something that gives you space to breath as an artist.
In a lot of ways the routine and repetitious workflow of writing in one genre and in one voice day after day can become monotonous. So allotting some time to explore new songwriting techniques and approaches can be a wonderful way to refresh and reconnect with the art of songwriting in a very pure and comfortable way.
Whether the approach is completely whimsical and silly, or fantastically complex and disjointing the outcome is the same. You have a break that makes you learn and consider things that you ordinarily may not have given yourself time to.
Just because this Out-of-the-box-song isn’t likely to fit in with the repertoire that you are known for doesn’t mean that it won’t bring that repertoire benefit. The skills and confidence you gain from forging into uncharted waters will become a part of the intuitive capacity you draw from when writing songs that will end up in the repertoire.
If you are ready to create new album or an EP and you need some help knowing how best to do that. We have recently published an article that goes into depth on a making a great EP specifically. You can read it here!
Here are three challenges to undertake:
- Write in a new scale that is unfamiliar
- Spend a day using a songwriting generator for fun
- Write a song with words that are unassociated.
Things like this will keep you engaged and sharpen you up for the heavy lift of a regular writing and publishing schedule.
Goal #5: Develop Professional Skills
Every year you should try to identify some ways to evolve into a more refined and knowledgeable incarnation of yourself. Perhaps it could involve taking a class, absorbing technical videos or reading a book. There are lots of ways that information can be delivered so choose the method you will actually make time to weave into your schedule.
Here are three goals for skill growth.
- Read some books about recording and mixing songs.
- Watch some tutorials about how to shoot low budget music videos.
- Sign up for a class about online marketing.
Do whatever you can make time for. You don’t need to over extend. By doing just one new thing you’ll have added some wonderful new tool to your arsenal. Target areas that are most valuable to achieving your goals. Find the best resources to inform you and take steps to integrate whatever you have learned into your process.
One great resource is this informative guide on knowing When Why and whether you should produce a Music Video or a Lyric Video to promote your new song. I’ve included a link here. If you are interested in growing your reach; Give it a read!
Goal #6: Better Connect With The Community
While completely zoomed in this entire thing may appear to be you against the world. And that ‘s exactly what it is and that’s cool! You are taking the bull by the horns, holding on for dear life and in doing so I am in awe and admiration. But what if you zoomed out just a bit and started to carefully consider that while you are indeed on an island, that island happens to be nearly surrounded by thousands and thousands of other islands. Lets start bridging divides and trading resources.
Reaching out and forging professional relationships with other people who fill various roles in the industry will only serve to better integrate you into the slipstream forward. There are many people whose job it is to reach out to artists like you to interconnect and cross promote any number of ways. Don’t be afraid to source out these opportunities. It can help to contribute to your efforts in meeting your goals as an Independent music artist.
Don’t be afraid to look into some of the other artists who are climbing up the ranks like you. Reach out and invite them to discuss the possibility of collaborating on a song or two. Make an effort to do this on a regular basis. In addition to making allies of the artists, both you and they get the opportunity to share the collaborative music with each of your respective followers.
Here are three simple suggestions to better connect:
- Join writers groups and collaborate
- Join industry associations
- Attend and participate at relevant conferences
If you involve yourself into the journey of others there will be those who involve themselves in yours. We certainly will rely on our friends and family for emotional support. One or two of them may even be willing to get their hands dirty and really chip in.
But even with all that love you could still use adding some depth to your circle of support. You could especially use depth from those within the industry. Having other artists and professionals looking out for you and cheering you on in harmony with your people back home is exactly what you should strive for. So make goals to reach out and connect in a warm and genuine way.
In Conclusion
Do your best, and be sure to take some of the pressure off whenever you can. You don’t want to be in this so desperate to succeed that you miss out on enjoying any of it. If you can make measured incremental steps toward your goals as Independent music artist and if you can balance your joy for doing it as you go you are doing well. Hopefully some of the insight will be useful to you in some small way. I know what its like to be in it for the long haul and I know just how tattered the sails can get at times. So for all of you so dear and diligent to have read to the very last word… Thank you, I wish you the absolute best.
Now go and get to it!
Good Luck.