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Double Your Music Business Income
(Without Working Any Harder)
by David Hooper, April 2010
Back to The
Academy
Want more money from your music business?
Sure... But that would involve a lot more work, right?
Not really... In fact, you probably are already doing the work; you're just leaving money on the table. I find this to be the situation with almost every band I work with, at least on some level.
What I'm talking about here is something that can easily double the money you make from your music business. In fact, if you use it right, you'll be able to increase your music business income a lot more than that.
Every business, whether it be a service industry, such as airlines, or a product-oriented business, such as a record company, has "money on the table" from aspects of the business which aren't being used. Some businesses are onto this, such as the airline industry, which uses extra space on its airplanes to ship packages, or the record business (and I'm talking vinyl records) which can sell returned goods
or unsold product for recycling.
And if you're thinking, "David, there isn't a vinyl record business anymore," you're wrong. But the book industry, which is basically the same business and runs on the same model when it comes to returning products, operates the same way, selling returned books and unsold product or recycling the material themselves, for the manufacture of other books.
Again, every business has these elements. And yes, that includes your business.
If you're in a band, for example...
If you're not selling the original demos you made of songs, you're leaving money on the table.
If you're not selling recordings of your rehearsal sessions, you're leaving money on the table.
If you're not selling recordings (both audio and video) of your live performances, you're leaving money on the table.
If you're not getting video of yourself in the studio, showing "behind the scenes" footage of your album being created, you're leaving money on the table.
Want an example of somebody who is doing it right? Lovers Electric sells both an "album" and "bedroom demos" of their songs.
Think your fans wouldn't go for that? You're wrong. Nobody will go for everything you do, but depending on how you frame things, "demos" can be very popular. And Lovers Electric does a great job of setting expectations. From their site...
"Like the packet says, this was recorded at our home studio (aka bedroom), it has a lot of the original versions of songs from our debut album, but with a few different tunes... For those who'd like to hear a bit of Lovers Electric history..."
Again, not everybody is going to go for everything and some of the things you do will sell better than others, but if you're only for a single album for $10, that's the most you're going to make from even your biggest fan. You can easily double or triple the amount you make from your top fans by releasing things like demos or rehearsal sessions, things you're already doing and letting go to waste.
Want more ideas like this? You're in luck...
I've got a book called Never Leave Money on the Table - How to Grow Any Business and Get Really Rich with 10 Simple Marketing Strategies. This isn't a book about music, it's a book about business. More specifically, it's a book about how you can grow your business and make more money with it. Same business, more money.
A lot of musicians find it hard to believe they can actually make 2-3x more money than they are now, without doing any extra work, but it happens all the time. Airlines which ship packages in passenger flights aren't flying any more miles? They're simply looking at every little bit of space they have and making the most of it.
You can do the exact same thing with your music business. The money is there, you just need to reach down to pick it up. So do it!
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David Hooper has been serving the independent music community for over a decade and is host of the syndicated radio show, Music Business Radio. Visit http://www.MusicMarketing.com for more information on David and additional music business advice.
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