“You Can Go Your Own Way”…As Long As It Takes You Through Business School.

The concept of an independently functioning artist is not particularly new, but the term ‘Indie’ is thrown around so much these days that it has somehow elevated to proper noun status, while remaining almost completely undefined.  Lately, it seems like the definition of an Indie-movie is anything funded by George Clooney and featuring a repurposed sitcom actor, while the standard for Indie-rock seems to be any band who lands a song in an iPod commercial.  But recently, a new term has emerged which describe what being an Indie musician (probably) used to mean. 

 The term in ‘Musicpreneur’ and the skill set involved is becoming increasingly important.  The word ‘business’ probably sounds pretty ugly to you and other artists of integrity, but having a firm grasp on this aspect of the music world is vital for anyone going the DIY route, whether it be by choice of necessity.    

Do you think that your band is ready to launch yourselves into the mainstream?  Yes?  What’s your business model?  Digital downloads are all the rage, but maybe you want to go the NRBQ-route and tour for two or three decades before anyone knows who you are?  Unless you can answer that question and define the following terms, you might want to keep the catapult in your garage for a few more months:

Assets: Not the kind you can bring to the pawnshop.

Leads: Try to forget about Jimmy Paige for a second.  Think more along the lines of Glengarry Glen Ross.

Funneling: Not just for beer anymore!  This skill/strategy will help you squeeze every penny you can out of your fans, without losing too much sleep over it.

The bad news is there’s more.  But not to worry, below is a glance (part one of three) at some of the attributes and skills that describe a Musicprenuer.   

To read the original article click here.