Music Business Models
Case Studies | Archetypes
Case Study #1
Warhol Oliveira
Warhol Oliveira is an Argentinean acoustic pop musician. But not just any kind of musician. He loves poetry and often writes songs inspired by it. He’s also a cook. Warhol loves treating his friends with Argentinean delights, such as the famous Argentinean pizza, dulce de leche (think of Nutella, but way better) and picadita (an appetiser).
How did he make a profitable business combining his skills? He created what he calls the ‘Argentinean Pizza Supper Club’, which is essentially a pop-up shop in London. Warhol creates an experience.
The concept is fairly straightforward: his pop-up shop runs only on Saturdays and Sundays. Location is disclosed only to those who purchase tickets. 25 diners per night, preferably meeting each other for the first time. (It can get quite intimate!) Oli cooks (appetiser, main course, desert). Wine is on the house. The host also entertains the attendees, breaking the ice with jokes and acoustic songs, and speaking with his Latin American accent. And, as you may guess, this experience can cost more than a normal meal.
Did Oli made dining more interesting? Or did he turn his music into the centre of a multi-faceted experience? You choose. Either way, he’s always sold-out weeks in advance and has been featured in various famous major publications. Diners tell other foodies about his supper club through word of mouth, which means that Oli’s marketing targets the right people.
Let’s break down Oli’s inventive ideas and find out what the takeaways are.
Music Value Propositions
Warhol sells an experience instead of a musical product. Yes, the standalone pop-up is interesting, but the music is the element that makes the difference. The music helps his diners connect and socialise. They break the ice and laugh. The music creates an intimate atmosphere.
This is the main MuVaP: the Argentinian Pizza Supper Club connects diners in an intimate and exclusive experience. It makes sure strangers around a table actually talk to each other. Music plays a central role in this gathering.
As a secondary MuVaP, Warhol inspires the attendees with his personal stories (often expressed through his music) and sparks conversation by posing questions and creating interesting social objects. Warhol’s mission is not to just offer another dining experience, but to inspire people and infuse them with new ideas.
Customer/Audience Groups
The people attending his pop-up shop are young,creative professionals who can afford the ticket to such a happening and who love new experiences. Other attendees include people from Warhol’s inner social circle — people who embrace his project and love his spirit.
This creates a spicy mix of people who love new ideas, musical poetry, humour and the kind of intimate experience that takes them away from the busy urban landscape of London.
The last group is food magazines and blogs who love featuring such experiences for their audiences. Warhol helps them do their job: to offer interesting content to their readers.
Revenue $treams
Warhol’s way of making money is pretty straightforward: ticket sales. But it’s very profitable. Every event he puts up is sold-out and pre-booked weeks in advance, which creates a kind of predictable revenue.
If you also add limited & personalised merch offered for purchase during the night, themed for various occasions (a new release, supporting a seasonal cause etc.), the business becomes highly profitable. Oli doesn’t offer the latter option yet, but in future it could be a valuable addition (afterall, people love bragging about the memorabilia they’ve collected).
Communication/Relationships
Warhol has an interesting approach in his communication: automated ticket purchases through EdibleExperiences.com, semi-canned newsletters for his mailing list, personal communication for the diners and fans (there is a myth that he is the only person who loves answering email!), and software-based targeted following/un-following for Twitter (although he engages with everyone personally).
His commercial relationships are usually one-off, due to the small number of people able to attend each dinner. (Although many want to return!) Since Warhol has built a passionate community, a fan club of patrons/subscribers could be a useful addition.
Channels of Communication
Warhol communicates his project through his own website, Twitter and personal discussions (he’s a social guy, so this comes naturally). He also organises home concerts (sometimes even for free), letting the attendees know about his interesting business.
His main marketing channel? Word of mouth. The supper club opens after office hours, so that working people can attend. This is the main reason why such an audience grows organically: they enjoy the experience, then talk about it (or, to be specific, brag about it). Magazines and blogs are also great marketing channels.
Career Assets
Warhol couldn’t thrive without his community and brand.
He has cultivated a compelling culture around his events (enhancing both his personal brand value and that of the Supper Club), as well as a following of passionate diners who love poetry and inspiring ideas. Two indispensable pillars for every business.
Another asset is his entrepreneurial approach, which doesn’t compromise his artistic integrity.
Essential Activities
If you wonder what Warhol’s day looks like, I can give you a sneak peek.
He composes, records and mixes new music. He communicates with his fans and friends (through social media, phone and email). He plans, organises his ventures and researches more opportunities. He creates posts and content to be published online. Finally, he spends some time in isolation so that he can come up with his next big idea.
An intern to help him with admin and research would be an ideal addition.
Partners/Mediators
Such a venture could not succeed without the right partners.
Oli collaborates closely with the venue that hosts his pop-up shops, as well as local communities focused on poetry, musical concepts, dining experiences and creative ideas. They’re all part of his desired audience, after all.
Expenses
The supper club’s expenses involve ingredients for the food, the costs of renting the space, his assistant and payment processing. Warhol also has costs when he records and mixes music in a studio, as well has the Twitter software he uses to increase his following.
All in all, his supper club’s profit margin is excellent, allowing him to invest more money on his other activities and improve the experience.
Key components
There are certain components of a music business model that are more important than others.
First of all, there is a strong concept: all the events are interesting (people talk about them), sold-out (enhancing social proof), scarce (thus in demand), profitable (with a high profit margin) and personal (thus unique and un-duplicable). Secondly, there are the elements that constitute a solid brand: Oli’s fun music, strong personality, sense of business, vision, imperfect accent and grammar. Finally, it’s an experience, not a product. One that everyone understands: eating with others.
Find more info about Warhol’s business: www.pizzasupperclub.com and www.warhololiveira.com.
Case Study #2
Nate Maingard
Nate Maingard is a South African folk troubadour. Son of one of the most respected guitar creators in the world, Nate celebrates love and lovers. He writes poems, supports sustainability, eats organically and builds communities of like-minded people.
His passion for community has led him to innovate as an entrepreneur. His art (and partially his living) are now fully supported by his superfans — the ‘Nateives’ (I’m one of them.) They want to see Nate succeed and reach his goals more than anyone.
Here’s more about Nate’s approach: he has created a Patreon.com page — which is where he allows his most supportive fans to pledge an amount of money per creation he publishes (song or poem). Contributions range from $1 to $500. Each contributor (of any level) has access to his community, Facebook group and exclusive updates/live performances. They also receive special rewards — the more you pledge per month, the more valuable the reward. And, of course, they are always first to know what’s happening in Nate’s life.
Nate’s Nateives are his everything. He mentions his tribe in his talks, in his blog posts, during his live performances. He’d rather have 10 new people sign up as new patrons (even for $1) than buy a CD. Why? Nate looks to building a long-term relationship with his closest fans, growing his tribe one person at a time. His goal is to reach 1000 patrons at $1 each.
Time to break down Nate’s model:
Music Value Propositions
Nobody can deny that Nate is a spiritual man with lots of questions in his head. This is what he communicates as his main Music Value Proposition.
Furthermore, he is a global troubadour with mobility, — one who loves spreading the message of peace and love through his folk acoustic music. His catchy tunes and lightweight equipment can turn every house into a concert venue.
Nate is a man of integrity. He is determined about his mission and vocal about his beliefs. That’s why people find shelter in his message and love to follow his life. Nate has become a trusted influencer. One that inspires people. This is his third MuVaP.
Most importantly, his consistent message, personality and catchy music have created a following. Instead of chasing individual fans, Nate connects his listeners together, creating a vibrant community that talk to each other and preach the message of love.
Customer/Audience Groups
Most people attracted to Nate’s art are those who comprehend his message of spiritual awareness and sustainability. If you are too busy for such things, you probably won’t resonate with Nate’s message. He welcomes people of any age or disposable income, although his main audience belongs to the Generation Y.
Nate also attracts lovers of intimate concerts. He has given numerous gigs in unlikely places (homes, boats, churches…), each one conveying a strong sense of community.
Along the way, Nate collaborates with and gains endorsements from brands aligned with his values: organic shops, sustainable fashion outlets and musical gear providers.
Revenue $treams
Nate’s main income comes straight from his superfans. This ensures a predictable budget for art creation and his living expenses. He also runs live concerts, which are usually donation-based. During these performances, he sells his CDs and custom, unique merch. Crowdfunding played a very important role in his first album — he successfully funded it through Musicraiser.
In the future, Nate plans to integrate more brand-related revenue and public speaking (which will attract more patrons and direct speaking fees).
Communication/Relationships
Nate is a great communicator by nature. He has created a clever system to organise his busy social life. He sends semi-canned messages to his newsletter. He personally manages social media, updates for the Nateives and email. He also uses software to automatically schedule posts and follow/un-follow like-minded users, personally engaging with every response.
From a commercial standpoint, Nate focuses on building a recurring income through his patrons, aiming to reach his goal — an amount of income that will allow him to sustain his art and full-time living.
Channels of Communication
Nate’s website is the main hub for his activities. It’s where you can find his social media channels, Patreon page, blog posts and public updates.
His main marketing tool, however, is word of mouth. In order to enhance it, Nate runs Open Mic nights in London, participates in interesting projects, organises frequent home concerts, personally interacts with his followers and asks for their feedback whenever possible.
Finally, the brands he collaborates with also spread the word about Nate’s work.
Career Assets
Without a second thought: the Nateives. This community is the pillar on which Nate’s success is built, since they support and believe in him wholeheartedly.
Nate’s personality and influence are also inextricable components in his career, along with his mobility (a guitar & computer are all he needs to run a party) as is his understanding of the online world.
Essential Activities
Despite his creative spirit, Nate has a lot of admin work to do. He self-manages his editorial calendar, actions and finances. He also spends many hours engaging with his professional network, tribe and social media followers.
Ultimately, Nate practices his craft daily and writes lots of new songs. Often he’ll spontaneously publish these songs as demos, exclusively for the Nateives — who share their feedback and appreciation.
Partners/Mediators
As mentioned above, Nate closely collaborates with and gains endorsement from brands aligned with his values. He also maintains his network of influencers (Sofar Sounds, Darker Music Talks, music tech startups etc.) by providing them with value and positive energy.
Nate’s most important partner is his business mentor, who assists his projects and evaluates his decisions.
Expenses
Nate’s main costs are for things that build his music brand, such as a website, design and printed material. He’s also invested in online services that help him manage his social media accounts. Inevitable expenses also include gear maintenance and travelling.
We could also mention recording and mixing, however Nate crowdfunds his releases, which minimises the risk and cost of these.
Key components
What are Nate’s Music Business Model milestones.
First of all, he has built a passionate community: he approaches his most valuable fans differently; treating them with exclusivity, personalisation and care. The next milestone is his message, which connects people and reveals his intense personality. The final element is a strong network of partners. Nate doesn’t only gain his tribe’s trust, but also gives value to his professional relationships, receiving plenty of support in return.
Find more info about Nate’s business: www.natemaingard.com and www.patreon.com/natemaingard.
Case Study #3
Linda Buratto
Linda Buratto is an Italian guitar player and vocalist. She’s a grunge girl, her love for urban culture cannot go unnoticed, and her nickname is ‘BOOM’. In her mid-20s, she’s an active session musician, touring the globe with Kate Nash, while also building her own personal project: Echo Boom Generation.
Although she already makes a full-time living from working in other people’s projects, Linda is also dedicated to building her own music b(r)and. She’s always looking for synergies, collaborations and affiliations.
There is an important idea that drives Linda’s business: musical compositions are no longer the only differentiator– everyone can write great songs. Approaching music in a holistic way, though, can help her break through. She is a brand, attaching a theme and story around her sonic identity. Linda has created a culture that merges her own likes (urban & street lifestyle) with a powerful musical style (grunge and punk). This represents who else but the Millennials (AKA the ‘Echo Generation’).
This approach helps Linda expand her range of revenues, partners and activities. She can collaborate and profit with brands, reach out to fans through channels that resonate with the urban culture, and organise activities that involve not just music, but educational and inspiring talks, sports and fashion.
Does the synergetic artist collaborate with commercial brands aligned with his/her values — or are the artist’s values refined to attract more brand collaborations? I guess it has to work both ways:
Music Value Propositions
Linda’s Echo Boom Generation don’t just play music; they advocate an inspiring lifestyle: full of energy, determination, youthfulness and positivity. She lives by example. If you want to live like Linda, following her activities is the best way. This is her primary MuVaP.
Additionally, Linda makes statements about urban fashion and action sports through her performances, videos and public appearances. These statements continue to influence her young followers as her audience grows.
Finally, Linda represents the Millennials, who are characterised as ‘digital natives’, ‘idealists’ and ‘dreamers’, and she’s ready to pass on her experiences. Despite her own youth, Linda inspires young people (local communities, schools etc.) and motivates them.
Customer/Audience Groups
Linda’s work primarily attracts young dreamers who want the ‘ideal‘ lifestyle. Her message is a motivational force. She mainly targets the geographical regions that she can tour, as this message seems to work better in person — a form that she can showcase.
She also plans to work with urban fashion and action sports brands, which can bring more value to her audience. Experiences, shows, and deals are a few of the things she could co-create with them.
Last but not least, schools, local communities and colleges are a very important audience for Linda. They are the medium through which she shares her lessons and experiences, in the form of inspirational talks and mentoring.
Revenue $treams
Asides from her session work with Kate Nash, Linda makes money through music-related avenues, such as live performances, licensed music and branded, limited products. As her audience and influence grows, she also plans to initiate collaborations/affiliations with brands that support her values and share the same audience.
As for her educational vision, Linda is funded through grants (in order to initiate large-scale projects), direct speaking fees (in conferences) and workshop admissions (organised by herself or 3rd parties).
Communication/Relationships
As her lifestyle might suggest, Linda is very vocal and loves using social media to update her friends and followers. She spends a lot of time personally engaging in conversations about issues she cares about. Asides from using social media for personal communication, she also has a newsletter (semi-canned messages) to let her followers know what’s happening next.
In the future, Linda will have to scale up, so a representative (manager, assistant or intern) would come in handy.
Channels of Communication
Asides from her band’s website, Linda is an avid user of social media. She blogs online and also attends many events in person. At these events she makes direct contacts and spreads the word for her work. The schools and colleges provide a notable source of revenue, whilst also working as a channel to communicate her message.
Her greatest ambassadors, however, are her network and the fans themselves. In an era where ‘interesting stuff’ is talked about, the people that care about her message recruit more followers on her behalf.
Career Assets
A few things are critical to Linda’s vision . The most valuable of these are her personal brand (which attracts her audience and other brands), her experience and skillsets (gained from many years of touring with Kate Nash), as well as her network of fans and professional contacts (that build her brand value during her first steps).
In the future, the IP (her portfolio of songs) will play an important role, as Linda increases her efforts to get more music licensed in commercials, film and games.
Essential Activities
Linda practices her craft and composes new musical ideas, in order to refine her sonic identity. She also gives herself time to experiment with new and crazy ideas that might come handy in the future. She’s also an avid performer, ensuring that her band performs and tours as often as possible.
Regarding her business, at this stage Linda is developing her brand with the right collaborations. She enriches her online presence (videos, songs, coherent image), networks a lot — attending events and meeting people. She also updates her social media profiles as often as possible.
An intern from one of the universities she plans to collaborate with could be an ideal addition (perhaps for admin work and coordination).
Partners/Mediators
Since Linda is heavily involved with brands, she mainly partners with fashion businesses and young designers aligned with her values. She also works with endorsers that provide her with gear, and with her business mentors — who guide her during this long journey.
Expenses
Linda’s initial costs resulted from her online presence (website, branding, design, videos, studio time etc.). Additionally, she has minor costs regarding her travelling and gear (which is mostly endorsed).
Key components
What elements can’t Linda’s business do without?
Number one would go to her brand vision: being a successful brand is a long-term game, and it all comes down to having a bulletproof vision. Next comes her network — personal contacts and passionate fans are the first people to spread the word when nobody knows you. Finally, her multi-channel marketing. At some point, Linda will need to build a critical mass in order to attract more brands for collaboration. For this, seemingly being everywhere (within her niche) is key .
Find more info about Linda’s business: www.echoboomgeneration.com and www.lindaburatto.com.
Case Study #4
Sarah Michel
Sarah Michel is a musician. She’s a mother of two. She’s a freelance translator. She’s a house concert facilitator. She hosts a local radio show. She organises flash mobs. She runs her own workshops. Well… is it possible for someone to do all these things on the same time — and do them well enough to make a living out of them?
Mrs. Michel is a great project manager –she just doesn’t know it yet. She has compartmentalised her activities into standalone projects and has found ways to interconnect them — creating a system with the potential for organic growth.
What projects is she pursuing at the moment? First of all, Pandorasdiary, a living room concert platform. She organises frequent nights with guest musicians in the Greater London area, mainly focusing on folk and world music.
She’s also the host of Fearless Females, a female-centric monthly ‘open stage’ for art, music, dance, film, and spoken word performance showcases. Sarah also runs a bimonthly radio show, Pandora’s Living Room, where she showcases local artists.
Finally, she curates workshops, where she teaches various disciplines to artists, creatives and event facilitators.
Not all of these projects are for-profit, but their interconnection scales their value beyond monetary terms. Most importantly, Sarah performs her own music in all of the projects. People know her as an inventive musician, and that’s why they’re attracted to her work. If one month she runs low on cash, her freelance translation business can save the day (she speaks English, German and Indonesian fluently).
Let’s see how Sarah worked out her business model
Music Value Propositions
Sarah offers a distinctively different MuVaP for each project. That’s what makes her business model powerful.
Pandorasdiary offers living room performances to folk and world music lovers who enjoy intimate and informal experiences. As a secondary MuVaP, she offers the sense of belonging to a broader community that connects through couchsurfing, travelling, bohemia and free spirit.
Fearless Females provides an open space to all women who wish to express something meaningful. Even if they’re just hobbyists.
Pandora’s Living Room is a stage for upcoming artists to spread the word about their work, enrich their media portfolio, show their work in public and get acquainted with small-scale, live-curated events.
Sarah’s workshops teach a multi-disciplinary set of practical skills around the artistic process and event facilitation.
Customer/Audience Groups
Sarah’s business model applies to various audiences:
Pandorasdiary attracts an audience of people and artists who love intimate and immersive experiences. Her audience usually enjoys folk-world music and is not restricted by age. A secondary group is home owners/hosts.
Fearless Females refers to (oh well…) female creatives who want to express themselves through various forms of art.
Pandora’s Living Room invites musicians who aspire to success, are not afraid of public speaking and who have an interesting story to tell.
The workshops are a call for artists, creatives and event organisers — people who want to accelerate their learning process and usually lack a consistent and organised flow of work.
Revenue $treams
Not all of Sarah’s projects bring money to the table. But that’s alright, since they all provide value to each other. Here’s how:
Pandorasdiary brings in revenue through donations (‘pass the hat’) and merch sales, and soon through the subscription platform that Sarah will launch (attendees and hosts will pay for participation). Workshop revenue comes directly from ticket sales.
Fearless Females and Pandora’s Living Room don’t make a profit. However, they work as a ‘hook’ to bring more creatives into Sarah’s ecosystem. They also help spread the word about Sarah’s brand, since they bring value to the participants.
The next revenue stream in line is a bundle of services for creatives, such as media, exposure and live performances to new audiences and connections. It’s everything that Sarah is already doing, all packaged neatly.
Communication/Relationships
Sarah communicates individually with each interested party. She also has a mailing list for automated updates and makes use of social media.
Despite a small amount of automation, Sarah spends a lot of time communicating personally. This is time consuming. That’s why she plans to launch a platform for the home concerts (and maybe integrate more projects in the future). This will allow the community to engage with each other and save her valuable time.
In terms of commercial relationships, Sarah works in a ‘one-off’ fashion. But as I mentioned earlier, she will soon partially switch to a subscription model –which might generate more recurring income.
Channels of Communication
At the moment Sarah uses social media, her website and word of mouth from the participants as her main channels of communication. She also taps into existing communities (such as Darker Music Talks) and influencers in her contact list.
As the workshops scale up, she will need to find new channels to bring more customers in.
Career Assets
Her biggest assets are clearly her website/platform for house concerts, alongside her network, community and brand/reputation — which allows her to tap into a big audience of potential participants/collaborators.
Essential Activities
Sarah’s busy schedule involves a lot of social activities, such as networking, communicating and connecting people. Moreover, she composes and rehearses her music almost daily. Finally, the facilitation, promotion and PR of her events make up a big part of her week.
Which means lots of admin to do. Maybe an intern would help in her case.
Partners/Mediators
Sarah has a vast network of partners. Most importantly is her media creation team — they document her activities (documentaries, flash mobs, performances, events etc.). There’s also a few Meetup.com and CouchSurfing groups who work closely with her. Finally, sponsors and venues make Sarah’s life easier, since she has cultivated relationships with them over time.
Expenses
Despite her complicated activities, Sara’s only real expenses involve website maintenance, travelling, recording music and merch creation. Most of her other activities are run by volunteers who love her vision and work.
Key components
It looks like Sarah has a busy business model — what should we highlight?
Undoubtedly the interconnectivity of the business model’s parts: each element feeds each other and drives more value to the overall vision. Similarly, her network/community is of vital importance, since it allows Sarah to cut marketing expenses — word of mouth works just great. Last but not least, her differentiated Music Value Propositions. Each project offers different value, different revenue streams and great potential for organic growth — as a separate element or as part of a grander artistic venture.
Find more info about Sarah’s business: www.pandorasdiary.com, www.twitter.com/fearlessfemmes and www.mixcloud.com/sarahkmichel.
Chapter #5
Archetypes
While we musicians may think we are unique in the way we run our business, there is much commonality between us. My research so far has revealed many recurring patterns and 6 archetypes found amongst Musicpreneurs. Meeting and speaking with artists further enriches my work.
So, please get in touch with me at tommy@tommydarker.com if you think that you or an artist you know has an interesting business model.
Below are the 6 major archetypes of Music Business Models (MBM):
Experience
The main goal of this MBM is to offer a multifaceted, holistic, curated experience. Most experiences have an underlying structure and narration for participants to follow. This structure can help maximise the participant’s appreciation of the experience.
An experience can entail (but not be restricted to) certain elements, such as live artistic performance, entertainment, interactivity with the narrative, use of multimedia, social interaction, sense of belonging/community, networking, post-performance follow-ups and so on. It can also be themed around a concept/cause (for example, Warhol’s business is around food).
Revenue streams can include ticket sales, memorabilia, up-sells of added value (backstage, VIP treatment, exclusive updates etc.), sponsorships, collaboration with brands, while a community of members can create a recurring income.
This model has clear strengths: an experience cannot be duplicated or pirated. Thus its main value is its scarcity. The fear of missing out attracts more people. It grows mainly through word of mouth.
Common challenges? Experiences cannot be scaled up easily, and they may involve high production costs.
How can you master experiences? Come up with a unique concept/angle, build a strong brand, organically develop a healthy community and add your personal touch.
Patronage
Art patronage is an old idea that has recently returned to popularity. Evolving from crowdfunding, micro-patronage (to be more precise) helps an art creator make a living through the recurring contributions of his/her most devoted fans — the superfans.
It’s pre-ordering, crowdfunding, community and subscription combined in one. Supporters pledge for every upcoming creation and, in exchange, the artist offers them exclusive rewards. The higher the bid, the more valuable the reward. These rewards may include early access, personalisation, dedicated artefacts, exclusivity, time with the artist, backstage access, and so on. The concept is built around trust and good will from both sides.
The sum of pledges creates a recurring revenue stream and peace of mind. Most artists will then release their creations for free, and for everyone to enjoy.
What this model benefits from: no fixed price or restriction — a fan can give as much as they want. Art’s value is subjective, after all. This way, the artist (you) know what your budget is, before you even create.
Common challenges? Most of the fans will choose to remain freeloaders. Building culture of patronage is time-consuming, even if you have a fanbase. What rewards and prices should you offer to entice them?
What can help you master patronage? Presenting an honest ‘why’ behind your art, taking patrons on the journey of your vision and sharing your art with them early to obtain feedback.
Blogging
The MBM of blogging aims to create an on-going narrative with sharable, curated online content. This is content which entertains and/or educates. Its long-term goal is to bring the audience along for the journey of the artist’s evolution.
The Medium is the Message: this online content can be delivered through video, podcasts, longform essays, social media, photos, bullet-point articles, audiobooks, interactive experiences — or a combination of the above. It usually describes the artist’s experience, lessons, thoughts or failures… in a mind-stimulating way. It’s all about the person behind the content.
The mindset here: most of the content is free. A small percentage of fans will pay for access to exclusive material, products related to the artist, a platform to connect, personalised content, a relationship with the artist, priority, and backstage material. Either on a recurring or one-off basis.
There is a great advantage in this model — it supports sharing, transparency and open knowledge. The content is the marketing: the more the content spreads (through word of mouth, features, remixes etc.), the more audience it attracts back to the MBM. Additionally, it costs nothing to get started.
Common challenges? Finding a unique angle that can break through the noise. There are oceans of free online content and the audience’s attention span is very short.
What should you do in order to master blogging? Find your unique angle, refine your personal brand, create sharable content, and entice your superfans to connect and purchase.
Freelance
The main concept of this MBM is to offer a personal service to a client — solving a problem, satisfying a need (functional, social or emotional) or through educating them.
Freelance work works on a per hour/minute or contractual basis. Usual forms include consultation, musical work (production, arrangement, recording, performance, composition etc.) and support. The main focus is to get the job done, rather than to form a personal relationship (although this can add value).
Revenue comes through your per-hour rate or some other agreed remuneration. Added value, such as priority, fast delivery, granting copyright for the work, dedicated service (etc.) can work as an up-sell. Feel-good experiences come at a premium.
The upsides of this model: the more experience you have, the higher the rates you can charge. People pick someone they trust and form recurring commercial relationships with them. Word of mouth can bring more clients than you can handle.
Common challenges? It’s a time-for-money exchange, thus it cannot be scaled up. It requires you to be there; no work, no revenue.
What assets are essential in order to master freelancing? Perfect your skillsets and services, offer an experience, build word of mouth, follow up on your satisfied customers, and have a team to delegate work to.
Synergy
The main goal of Synergy is to enable a collaboration/partnership between two or more ventures. This in turn should create a unique, holistic experience or product for the audience, usually for a limited amount of time.
Synergy is a powerful concept. Each project requires resources, vision, production, execution and awareness. Synergies put these elements together: with the artist (usually) providing the vision, IP and (perhaps) production or execution. The other party(ies) usually provide mainly financial/human resources and awareness.
Since it’s a joint venture, Synergy’s profit is often split according to a pre-production arrangement. Many brands exchange the artist’s coolness, reputation and ideas for cash and marketing, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule. Further revenue streams could include branded merch, public appearances, media features, tickets for the experience/product, royalties, and so on.
The main strength of this model: it brings unique concepts to life. What would be a video game without a soundtrack, a branded festival experience without a cool concept or an artist’s community without exclusive products?
Common challenges? Not everyone can enter this game. It is about whom you know and how much you’ve developed your brand.
What do you need in order to master Synergies? Strong artistic ideas, a trusted network, patience/excellent timing, and an entrepreneurial, holistic mindset.
Ecosystem
The main aim of an Ecosystem is to create a network of intertwined projects under the same umbrella. These projects should provide value to each other, which in turn elevates the whole ecosystem. Each project is a self-contained entity, although they are all pieces of the artist’s holistic vision.
All projects have certain characteristics. They are simple in terms of concept, they are fully-fledged experiences/services (no restrictions or trial periods), they offer a clear call to action (further engagement, purchase or direction to another activity), they piggyback each other and they drive value back to the same source (creator or brand). One approach: launch a new project fast and test it. Decide whether it should be a one-off, or join your Ecosystem of other projects.
Revenue can come from any or all of the projects within your Ecosystem. A recurring pattern: many projects are free of charge, driving attention to the select few projects that are optimised to make a profit. An alternative way to create revenue is by bundling the value of each project into one service bundle.
This MBM mainly benefits from its interconnectivity: once an individual enters the Ecosystem, they are compelled to stay and explore more. The more they engage, the more difficult it is to switch.
Common challenges? Unnecessary expenses for the production, too much work that could take away the fun, and unclear/complicated connections between the projects.
What can help you master Ecosystems? Start with a strong core project/idea, gain feedback from your audience, build an engaged community and, finally, add revenue streams and more projects into the ecosystem.
Chapter #6
Questions & the Future
The last chapter of this essay is not meant to offer solutions, but rather to ask questions and provide you with food for thought.
As an idea, Musicpreneurship evolves quickly. We can all benefit from sharing our experiences, creating an environment of open knowledge and transparency. Or as Muhammad Ali said “Me, We.”
So, feel free to leave your reply on the margins, write a response article or email me at tommy@tommydarker.com with your views.
Here you go, a box full of questions (in random order):
Questions to Ask
It’s not just about selling recorded music or playing live performances anymore (building a business with music). It’s also about creating experiences, communities, engagement and connectivity, with music primarily calling for attention (building a business around music). Are we entering a new era, from music as a focal point to music as glue?
There’s a recurring pattern of ‘use of social media’ and ‘connecting with the fans’. If it’s all about communities and being an extrovert, what about shy artists, ‘mystique’ artists and artists who create solely for pleasure? Will they be left behind, waiting for their art to speak for itself and break through the noise?
Are music artists more multi-disciplinary than ever? And if they need to take into account all of these new responsibilities, why do we still call them music artists and not holistic artists? (Hint: maybe because music is the glue; without music there would be no holistic experience whatsoever.)
Most music artists take care of most of the activities involved in their business (even the ones they’re bad at) in order to minimise expenses. If that’s the case, why don’t they create a team of friends and superfans to help with carrying these things out? Alternatively, there are many university students that want to get their hands dirty in the real world. Why don’t artists hire an intern who will work in exchange for experience and an enriched CV?
With so much digital content, art must compete for the online audience’s attention. If something isn’t interesting, it doesn’t create word of mouth, and thus people don’t market it. Studies say that we prefer something interesting over something real. So, will a bullet-pointed blog post with interesting (but essentially fake) ideas gain more attention than a painting or musical composition? Does this mean that quality art now makes less of an impact than interesting content — because the latter is easier to consume? How can artists create interesting and sharable content online that also promotes their art?
Many small-to-medium size artists invite friends and fans to their live performances and in return hear ‘maybe another time, I’m busy.’ Often this is because their event is more or less same every time — it doesn’t provide a valid, urgent or compelling reason for people to take action and attend now rather than later. Why don’t artists run experimental, exclusive, themed, timebound projects that will only ever happen once? Instead of ‘inviting people to a live performance’, why don’t artists treat their events as projects that build momentum, create anticipation, are worth talking about, are not for everyone and that urge people to take action now?
Do artists need to create teams that will assist them with their endeavours? Do they also need a business mentor to guide and give feedback on their decisions? (My intuitive answer would be yes to both.)
All great experiences or products require some kind of trade off between time and money. This concept hinders the scalability (and business viability) of a project. How can a music artist automate certain procedures (that is, not spend their time on each individual activity) and create systems that bring a recurring income (that is, predictable revenue that creates a safety net)? Are there any Music Business Models that tend to generate more predictability and automation (in other words, compression of more activity into the same amount of time)?
As communities become a bigger part of the artist’s life, segmentation will be uber-important. Not all fans will receive the same kind of attention from the artist. What are the criteria for this segmentation, how is it organised and what exclusive rewards does each group receive? What is given away for free? (A voice from within screams: ‘digital content must be free!’)
And a few Music-Business-Model-related questions:
How can artists increase profit (revenue-expenses), without hindering quality?
What strategic partnerships should an artist pursue, in order to cross-promote their work and obtain new resources?
What are the main assets that every artist should invest in from an early stage, in order to launch a successful career?
If artists are not targeting everyone, how should they understand what target audiences to reach out to?
There are more questions than we could ever imagine. We will never be able to exhaust this list. At least we have a good starting point.
Contemplating the Future
There are a few ideas that, in my humble opinion, will play a major role in the future.
Story + experience > product. We are moving from ‘what can it do for me?’ and ‘how cheap is it?’ to ‘how does it make me feel?’ We seek experiences that create empathy and connectivity.
Winners can filter. With so much information freely available online, having the right kind of filter is the key. It’s not about possessing the right tools — you have them already (abundance); it’s about knowing how and why to use these tools — deciding what information is important (scarcity).
A holistic view of the (artistic) world is necessary, but not a panacea. Although so much has been done already, every day something new pops up from a person with confidence, talent, know-how and…luck(!). We don’t know what’s next, but without observing the boarders of our world, the art ecosystem and its satellite industries, how can we start wondering what’s beyond? How can we dream and create our vision?
We can learn so much from other industries. The concept of ‘re-inventing the wheel’ is long gone. Innovative ideas often come from observing what other industries are doing in unfamiliar contexts (unfamiliar to us anyway). These ideas can inspire us, and can be translated/remixed into the context of music.
An environment of open knowledge will make us all more successful. Research has shown that people are more likely to succeed if they have access to an environment of open knowledge, where people can bounce ideas off of each other and share their findings/experiences. These ‘community gardens’, a metaphor Steve Keller coined, are places where we can cultivate and harvest each other’s knowledge.
Technology has always shaped the future. Art comes to life through a medium. We have always adapted our creations and innovated to the extent that technology allowed us to. It is wise to see what’s next and embrace it early. Will Bitcoin change the music world? Let’s find out by embracing it.
Musicians are platforms. AirBnB connects landlords and travelers around a mutual interest in accommodation. Uber connects drivers and passengers around a mutual interest in getting about quickly. Musicians connect fans with each other and brands around music and values. Time to take this concept more seriously — it IS the future!
The next day
If you want to get a grasp of the concept of Music Business Models, read my previous essay: Music Business Models (101 | Design)
Also, please get in touch with me at tommy@tommydarker.com if you think that you or an artist you know has an interesting business model.
Finally, since you read this all the way to the end…
Why not share this essay with the world? Let’s create an environment of open knowledge!
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.
Proofread and edited by Koukouvaya.
A small team of 47 passionate patrons supported this essay. Thanks: Guilherme, Tobi, Jens, Kay, Michael, Caroline, Marco, Sarah, Héllena, John, Turan, Kleopatra, Laszlo, Ilpo, Linda, Corinne, Axel, Yossi, Timothy, Igor, Christophe, Lydia, Lily, Eric, Corey, Masa, Cachin, Nate, Alessandro, Lorraine, Christos, Darren, Wendy, Chris, Tom, Argiris, Meghan, Murray, Ross, Elisa, Solveig, Lisa, Andrew, Christopher, Romeo, Atul, and Neal.
