A Guide To Your Music Project — From Brainstorming To Pitching
Because ‘music doesn’t speak for itself’.
I’ve noticed that a lot of creative minds struggle with one specific issue: since they mostly think artistically and not analytically, they cannot ‘translate’ the brilliance that’s in their head into a tangible idea that is presentable to the world — and logically makes sense.
They expect — and maybe are convinced — that ‘their art will speak for itself’.
Why is this a con, you ask?
Well, because, first and foremost, only you know what’s in your head and others don’t; your vision needs to be transferred from the ‘idea space’ into the ‘real world’, where people can see it, read it, touch it, talk about it and 1reference it.
But, most practically, except for making music, you also need to get deals, talk with venues, negotiate payments, propose partnerships, get clients and ask for support (funding or infrastructure). You are a Musicpreneur. In the aforementioned occasions, business-oriented entities (such as venues, accountants, brands, and so on) often can’t digest creativity easily. They need a helping hand — and maybe a drop of rationality: analytical plans, coherent presentations, proof that your concept works, projections for the future, and, mainly, ‘what’s in there for them.’
Here we are. In a world where the creative/analytical sides are more and more and more intertwined, we creatives need to find the balance and convergence zone between them two. ‘I will do it because we have to’ is not enough anymore.
We Musicpreneurs need to embrace and develop our analytical thinking, not merely our creative thinking.
As a Visiting Lecturer in the University of Westminster, I learned a lot about the subject analysed in the current essay. Yes, I was experienced in managing my projects and putting my vision into words (as one musician said ‘You’re really good in taking big concepts and summing them up in one sentence!’), but teaching the subject helped me put together a sequence of actions for the music students to define, refine and present their musical projects. I was impressed by their progress.
I thought I should share this body of knowledge with you, since it has become more and more essential for modern musicians — despite the fact that it was unnecessary in the past.
If there’s a little voice in you, screaming that all this is pointless and you can do better without it, I’ll tell you one thing. The world is changing and we need to adapt to survive. Don’t close the doors of knowledge — there might be something interesting on the other side.
And, if you’re still with me, let’s find out. This is how you can ‘translate’ your vision for everyone to understand and talk about. Time to get analytical.
Phase #1: Define project
(domain: creative sphere / methodology: brainstorming / goal: de-clutter vision / tools: pen, paper, coloured crayons (?) / restrictions: no electronic devices)
Here we are, with a sparkling desire to take our ideas and put them into words (or images, videos, multimedia presentations etc.), for everyone to understand and talk about. If it feels daunting, I get you. Because it is — every start is!
But fear not. In this stage, pen and paper are your friends. No electronic devices are needed — they will work negatively and will disorient you. Your goal here is to connect with your creative brain and ask a few questions to it. It will respond to you only if there is elimination of noise — and being in a singular mode will help you a lot. Don’t feel ashamed to externalise your crazy ideas; the paper you will write on will be only for you to see.
The key idea at this point is: “How do I want to ideally see myself a year from now?”
Let’s do this.
Take an empty sheet and start writing ideas about your project. Nothing should be omitted at this point. The more you write, the better. Let your pen flow freely and write down every idea, word, sketch that comes in mind when you’re thinking about your project’s vision. You want to create a map of your brain, a cloud of words and signs and symbols that reveals what’s in your creative mind. No need for order at the point, just beautiful chaos. If you want to organise the chaos a little bit, start clustering these ideas together in groups that make sense for you.
Once you’ve exhausted writing your mind out, it’s time to give a working title to your project.
I’m sure you’ll change its wording completely by the end of the process. That’s fine. Your goal here is to put some words together, because they will help your project become a referable entity — names always help do that.
For instance, if your project’s vision is to get your next album released, you could call the project ‘Album release in 2016’ or something similar. As you see, there’s no need to be sophisticated. Be simple (even simplistic will suffice).
Now that you have a working title in front of you, it’s time to start questioning your project’s vision. Again, don’t get too strict here; only you are allowed to see what’s on this paper.
A few questions that will help you do that:
- What is the purpose of my efforts?
It will help you define what this project means for you. Did you have a life-changing moment and you want to honour it through this album? Do you want to simply discover yourself by putting together new sounds? Have you always delayed putting an album together, but now you’re determined to finally take action? You get the idea. Be honest, be vulnerable, be YOU, and write down the purpose of your endeavours.
- What is the main goal of the project?
In tangible figures, what would you ideally like to achieve with the project? Back to our album release again: is it to sell many copies (that’s a bit outdated ☺)? Is it to reach 10,000 new fans in Europe? Is it to get professional feedback by 3 music executives, so you can make your sound better? Write down one or two goals for this project.
- What makes the project interesting?
This is a tricky question. Most projects are valuable for us, but not so much for others; we find them inherently interesting, otherwise we wouldn’t have pursued them in the first place. Think about it: if there was an article headline about your project, would you click it? If not, what are the Interesting Factors of your project that would make the others notice it? Write a few Interesting Factors down.
Now that we have our purpose, goals and Interesting Factors, time to get a bit pragmatic with ourselves:
- Why will the project work?
I’m sure you start your project because you are confident about its success. What do you think the main drivers of your project’s success will be? Are there any particular strengths that will make it unlikely to fail: your ambitious character, the strong team behind the project, partners that are too big to fail, an innovative idea, available infrastructure that will make things easier?
Don’t focus on weaknesses; strengths will drive your project forward.
Every project, company or artist has weaknesses. Nobody’s perfect, after all. Even successful artists have tons of weaknesses. Guess what? They focus on their strengths instead. Do the same and write them down.
Great progress so far. Now, let’s see what’s next.
- What is your business structure?
Your project will bring lots of value to different groups of people. Who are the people that will benefit from your endeavours? What kind of value will they get? Will there be an exchange, mainly of value-for-money? Think about the project’s main goal, and write down how this exchange of value will help you reach that goal.
A basic business infrastructure will help your project stand strong in the real world as a commercial entity — because, one way or another, we all conduct commerce at some point.
Great, you’re written down lots of important elements of your project so far. We’ll keep being in a draft mode, but we’ll now brainstorm on more practical issues: resources, actions, proof, and problems. They will help us become a bit more realistic about our project.
- What resources do you need to get started?
For instance, money, team, infrastructure, network, patience, time etc. Do you have any disposable resources already? Time to question them: if you’re working 9–5, will you have enough time to spend on building your vision?
- What actions should you take next, before you get the project started?
You might not be ready to start your project, because you’ll need to fix some pending problems first, or get more experience, or improve your skills, or quit your job… You get the idea.
- What proof of concept do you need to show?
If your project’s goal is to get funded by a startup accelerator, they’ll first ask whether you’ve had business results in a small scale. Likewise, music supervisors need you to prove that your music is sync-able. If you want to build a bigger audience, you will need to prove that you are already liked by a small, devoted fanbase. And so on. Proof of concept helps people overcome their objections and get involved in your project.
- Any problems you might need to solve during the project?
Your vision’s journey might be unpredictable, but your project definitely has more well-defined boundaries, providing space for predictions. Can you make a list of potential problems that might appear along the way? This way, you will be able to identify potential threats and will be ready to make more well-informed judgments on your project’s feasibility.
Great stuff so far, you’ve done lots of progress. Well done.
You are a couple of steps before the end of this stage. At this point, it will be useful to identify how everyone else will be able to participate in your project. When you see a new app, it says ‘download on App Store’, when your favourite artist releases an album, it reads ‘buy now on www.awesomeband.com’ etc. My point is:
Make it easy for people to help you and get involved.
If you want a supervisor to listen to your music and give you feedback, you don’t want them to jump through hoops to do so. How easy is it for people to join your project? Is it clear, easily understandable, and maybe prominent?
Finally, time to finish our brainstorming session by reading everything we’re written before. Start underlining key phrases or words that your project couldn’t do without. Once you’ve done so, think about this:
- How could you describe your project in one simple sentence?
Can you describe its essence and make it sound interesting, informational and human-like? If you had 5 seconds to talk about your project, what words would you choose to use?
The initial attempt to write the 1-sentence pitch might fail, because it’s the most difficult concept of this essay. Don’t be discouraged, though. You’ll make it perfect as you come along. The whole point is to write something — anything — so you can get started and use it as foundation for future improvement.
And… that it! The phase of defining your project is over. By now you are more likely to have a better understanding of what you are putting yourself through ☺ To sum up, this phase includes:
- Brainstorm & mindmap
- Find main subject & working title
- Purpose, main goal, Interesting Factor
- Why it will work (main factors of success)
- Business structure
- Resources needed, actions to take, proof needed, problems to solve
- How do people get involved?
- 1-sentence pitch
That was the hardest part. Well done. Have a break, maybe a week off!
Back from your week off? Great. Time to start refining your project.
Phase #2: Refine/develop project
(domain: creative/pragmatic sphere / methodology: reverse engineering / goal: project break-down / tools: pen, paper, mastermind group, trusted professionals)
The information of the first phase is going to be used as the foundation of the second phase, where you will refine and develop your project.
This phase is designed to put things into perspective, give a hierarchical order to your project’s elements, and help you recognise patterns. Please make sure you answer the questions one by one, so you can use the answers for the presentation phase.
Let’s start.
0. What is your vision?
How does your project fit into the bigger picture of what you’re building?
Let’s play. Draw a big circle. Name it ‘vision’. This is your vision’s boundary defined. Within this circle, draw a few bricks in the bottom. One of these bricks is your current project. How does it fit into the grand vision that you have in mind? How does it contribute to it? And what does the vision look like, after all the bricks have been well placed together?
1. What is your pitch?
Can you sum up your project in one simple sentence, making it sound informative, concise and interesting?
This is a difficult part most musicians struggle with. If I ask you ‘what do you do?’, what is the shortest sentence you could respond with, including everything I need to know to be informed and get interested in your project? This is your ideal pitch. Remember: everything that can be removed, has to be removed. Concise, informative and interesting.
2. What is the final goal of the project?
Is it tangible, expressed in numbers and specific metrics? What constitutes success for you and what is project failure?
Most musicians and creatives simply choose to set vague goals (or no specific goals whatsoever), so that everything can look like success. This is pretty convenient, right? It helps them stop worrying — is that the point, though?
Setting concrete project goals does ensure that each vision-brick is a strong foundation to build upon, not just another ego-pleasing time-waster. You probably know that being vague is like a hiding place; we’ve all been there at some point.
3. Have you broken down the final goal into small, achievable steps?
You know what your goal is, what are the milestones towards getting there?
Following up on #2, I prefer to be honest (and harsh) with myself and set goals, deadlines, metrics and milestones. Before I sleep, I make a list of actions for the next day and set goals. Pretty analytical, don’t you think? The grand benefit: this helps me stay accountable to my vision, fix problems, and see realistically where I am at each point of my journey. Specific numbers make the whole procedure more tangible.
Here’s a rule of thumb on goal-setting: see what you’re comfortable with, and up it a little (you’d rather under-expect and manage your vision, than go for ambitious goals and get disappointed when not reaching them).
4. What potential problems will you encounter along the way?
Have you made a list of at least 10 problems in each step?
We are not perfect, let’s all shout it out loud. Not everything goes as planned — and surely we cannot predict every scenario that could possibly happen.
But — there’s always a but! — it’s better to be prescient and have a holistic view of the (music) battlefield, so that you don’t get caught by surprise when an unlikely event occurs (my army years have taught me that). Be realistic and vulnerable with yourself, and write down 10 problems you could encounter on your way towards each milestone.
5. Have you prepared a remedy for the problems?
What solutions do you propose, in case — God forbid! — problems appear?
This is a follow-up on #4. Great, you’re prepared that bug list of 10 problems per milestone. Now what? Go ahead and propose remedies for every single one of them!
I guarantee that this procedure will make you wiser (and fall in love with your project). It might also help you realise that you have been ignoring essential daily activities that you should really focus on. You don’t want to throw time and money in a bucket with a big hole in it, pretending that you don’t see it, right?
6. Who do you need to connect with, in order to complete your project?
Have you made a list of specific professionals/organisations/networks you should connect, collaborate with and get feedback from, in order to achieve your final goals?
I don’t need to stress the importance of having a team. Yet, many musicians choose not to delegate work and collaborate with others; they have the DIAY (Do It All Yourself) Syndrome.
Finding partners, getting a team together, creating checklists and delegating tasks might be the single most important set of actions to accelerate the grown of your project. It will also help you get 3rd party perspective on your project. Write down potential candidates for this list.
7. What audience do you need to get started?
If you need the public’s participation, what size of audience do you need for the project and where are they hanging out?
Professional feedback is crucial, but, as it’s been said, “when a plan hits the real world, all odds are gone.” We always forget the audience! The audience judges what stays and what goes. It’s survival of the fittest in the world of information; we pass on what helps us evolve — we collectively ignore the rest.
Your current project might seemingly not involve the audience’s participation (ie. you want to pitch your music to publishing executives for sync placement), but how do you know which songs are the best? Getting the audience’s feedback is vital. How many people would you need and where can you find them?
8. Do you need professional feedback?
What questions do you need to get answered? Have you prepared a questionnaire with 3 essential questions for your project?
Your audience will love your project, we’re sure of that by now. Don’t forget, however, that your idea also needs to somehow fit into the commercial world. Getting business-oriented feedback will make your project more complete (from an artistic, business and real-life point of view).
More often than not, we encounter unforeseen problems, or fail to spot obvious connections. That’s where a 3rd party perspective can help. After getting feedback, it’s your choice whether you want to implement the suggestions or not. At least now you have options.
And here we go. You’ve completed the development stage. The point was to gather information about your project, so you can make more well-informed decisions. The hard work is over, my friend.
Time to put this all together in a coherent way, shall we?
But first, take another break. It’s time for party. Have a pint. Or… ‘point’, with a British accent ☺
Phase #3: Pitch/present project
(domain: logical/emotional sphere / methodology: sequential narrative / goal: inform & persuade / tools: presentation software, visual & graphic elements, business model canvas)
You know what? That should be a piece of cake. After completing the stages #1 and #2, it is likely that you now have a clear understanding of your project’s image, how it fits into the world, its weaknesses, its allies and its purpose.
Things will get interesting now. Time to get a bit social. We’ll share the project with the world. After all, it’s awesome and the world would love to learn about it, right?
But first, I have some good and bad news for you.
The bad news first: your first presentation will suck. Draft presentations always do suck. But that’s the point; you can fine-tune them by practicing, getting feedback and tweaking them.
The good news? Everyone else sucks too, but they don’t do anything about it. That’s why you’ll be smart and persistent. You’ll learn to overcome your fear of public speaking (pub fact: it’s the #1 fear in the world!) and will make sure your fabulous project is communicated properly. Every great communicator and visionary has gone through this. After all, the first two stages gave you all the information and tools you need to create a highly persuasive presentation. So, no excuses.
After lots of practicing, pitching, learning through workshops, more practicing, more pitching, getting feedback, refining-studying-refining, messing up, getting disappointed, getting back to my feet again, pitching again, and so on, I discovered a sequence that works really great when it comes to talking about a project.
There are two templates: one for presenting and one for pitching.
Both of them end up with you asking your audience to take an action (Call To Action or CTA), with one major difference: pitching is a proposal for partnership or commercial deal with urgency embedded in it, while presenting is a narration that invites the audience to join a journey and engage in a long-term relationship.
As a rule of thumb, pitching is more rational and all about the benefits that the audience will get, while presenting is more engaging, creating empathy and connecting with the human side of the audience.
A crowdfunding campaign, a deal with a venue or a publishing contract proposal would be pitching, while asking to join a mailing list, give feedback, engage on social media or take part in a sequential campaign (free course, email sequence or viral campaign) would be presenting.
Let me remind you:
You will only include the absolutely necessary information in it.
This is just an initial presentation of your project; if the individuals are interested in knowing more, they can then engage further with you by taking the CTA you propose.
Another essential reminder:
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ presentation.
It always has to be tailored according to the audience you’re talking to. The same project could be pitching or presenting for different audiences. Examples: Venue owner — pitch to hire / Audience for free show — presentation to join. Publishing company — pitch for deal / Hardcore fans — presentation for feedback on demos.
Let me share these insights with you. Ready?
Pitching a project
[3 min. presentation/10 min. presentation]
- [10 sec./30 sec.] Greeting (logo, 5 sec. pitch)
This slide is minimal: “Hi [audience]. I’m [name] and this is [project]. We [pitch].”
- [30 sec./2 min.] Context (problem, something missing)
What kind of world do we live in? What is the problem/challenge you’ve noticed? What’s missing from the ideal world? What’s bugging everyone? Here you give context of the bigger image and show that not everything is ideal.
- [30 sec./2 min.] Solution (project = solution, interesting, familiar with a twist)
This is where your project comes in. The hero that solves the problem. The world can be better again. How does it work? What makes it interesting? You mention something familiar, so that the audience can relate to it, but you bring a twist to make it interesting and unique.
- [30 sec./2 min.] Business model, goals (the commercial side)
This is not just a romantic project — there is a commercial side as well. Mention: how the business side works, what your goals are, and what benefits it brings to the audience.
- [30 sec./2 min.] Proof of concept (why it works)
“And you know what? It already works!” Here’s some proof: people you’ve had commercial exchange with, people that used it, testimonials, collaborations, endorsements, accomplishments.
- [15 sec./30 sec.] Call To Action (easy, straightforward)
But there’s something missing for this exciting project’s next step. “You can help me at this point.” Mention: what they can do, in the easiest, most digestible and memorable way possible.
- [15 sec./30 sec.] Summary (bullet-points)
“Great, I’m excited to see happy faces. To recap, this is what I talked about.” Bullet-points and short sentences. This helps them put all pieces together. “Questions?”
Presenting a project
[3 min presentation/10 min presentation]
- [10 sec./30 sec.] Greeting (project, 5 sec. pitch)
This slide is minimal: “Hi [audience]. I’m [name] and this is [project]. We [pitch].”
- [30 sec./2 min.] Context (vision, big picture)
Creating empathy, mentioning your vision, the purpose of your endeavours, what you’ve sacrificed so far and how you imagine your journey to be.
- [30 sec./2 min.] Current project (why this project, interesting, familiar with a twist)
How your current project is another brick on your way to build the vision, what it involves, why it’s interesting and beneficial for the participants, what makes it unique but also easy to relate with.
- [30 sec./2 min.] Structure and goals (what unites the participants)
How you’re funding the project, why this is the only business you want to devote yourself to, and what your goals are. “United, we can collectively hit the goals.”
- [30 sec./2 min.] Proof of concept (why it works, problems solved)
What momentum you’ve built so far, what accomplishments you’ve achieved, what problems you’ve faced but solved, what challenges will appear in the future, and why it has received much love from the audience.
- [15 sec./30 sec.] Call To Action (easy, straightforward)
‘We’re in this together’, what the audience can do to join and how awesome it will be once they ride the journey’s wave. Again, clear and simple as it can be.
- [15 sec./30 sec.] Summary (narration or bullet-points)
“Let me quickly sum up, so you can see the big picture.” Narration in a single paragraph or bullet-points. “Questions?”
And here we go. You’ve completed all three stages, from brainstorming to having a complete presentation of your project.
In other words, you have managed to put your creative ideas into words for the world to understand!
Good luck with your presentation. If it doesn’t go as planned, try again — you learn by doing.
Needless to say, this presentation could be a video, a story, an article, spoken word and so on. The medium can change according to your own or your audience’s requirements.
I hope the knowledge you just acquired will be used for good purpose and brilliant ideas — no-one likes manipulative projects.
Now, my question to you:
What is your experience when it comes to talking about your project?
Do you strive and gulp when you hear the question “so, what do you do”? What is your biggest struggle when you present/pitch your project or vision to other people, professionals or audience? What are YOUR burning questions?
Get in touch with me at tommy@tommydarker.com to let me know or leave a comment in the margins. Let’s start a conversation!
Tommy Darker is the writing alter ego of an imaginative independent musician and thinker about the future of the music industry. His vision is to simplify scalable concepts and make them work for independent musicians.
He is a writer about the movement of the #Musicpreneur and founder of Darker Music Talks, a global series of discussions between experts and musicians. He and his work have been featured in Berklee, TEDx, Berlin Music Week, ReThink Music, Midem, SAE Institute, University of Westminster, Hypebot and Topspin Media.
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