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You are the Product In order to make a PROFIT you must have a product or a service that people are willing to pay for at a price that will allow you to pay your expenses and put some money in your pocket. In the music business the reality is that YOU are the product that you need to sell. (This is the point at which the truly artistic should consider taking a day job or teaching and pursue music as a sideline.) This means that you must take your strengths as person and a musician and sell them to the people who are willing to buy. It could be that you are pleasant to look at, have a nice smile, you are wacky improviser, you sing moving ballads well, your music is always soothing or you know how to get people on the dance floor....your racial mix, your social-conscious message always hits home, you can dance and have a good time on stage....Whatever your strength is you have to package in a way that people will be drawn to it and buy it. One of the questions you must answer is...Who and where are the people who are willing to buy you? Answering that question is part of a very important business process called MARKETING and that group of people who are willing to pay your price for you will be your TARGET GROUP. Everybody will have a different answer to that question. A Classical Pianist will have a different Target group from a Dancehall Deejay. It is very important that if a classical pianist wants to please his target group so that they continue to buy into them (ie attend their concerts, purchase their CD's etc) that the artist should their likes, dislikes and basic needs. For example the Classical Pianist's target group may not be the type of people who would appreciate huge loudspeakers, half-naked dancers on the stage and sitting on the grass for a concert. Likewise the target group for a Dancehall Deejay may not appreciate having to dress up in a suit and a tie in a small air-conditioned room and not being allowed to speak while the performances are going on. It is very important for us to know in relation to our unique target group what works and what doesn't. Does clothes matter? Is it better to perform live or on TV? If your target group is very computer literate it may be more efficient to promote yourself on the internet rather than in the newspaper. It is a good idea to do some reading on Marketing and in the future be prepared to hire some who has their finger on what sells and what doesn't and who is also a believer in you and what you have to offer. To Summarize:
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copyright © 2003 Griot Music
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