Being a musician in today’s economy is not an easy task to tackle. You know everything you need to do and that list never seems to get smaller, only longer. Here is one of the secrets of business that took me a long time to realize – you need to play to your strengths and outsource the rest.
This goes against everything you are taught in school or probably have ingrained in your head. We are always taught to educate ourselves and practice on our weaknesses. I am here to tell you to stop. You are a musician. You have a special set of talents (hopefully). You can’t do everything no matter who tells you that you have to (and I am one of the ones saying you need to do everything).
The fact is that as an upcoming musician you have the same number of hours that any business has to get done in one day – 24. No more, no less. Focus your time on achieving your goals and doing the things you are great at – not ever good, there are others that are great that will help you be 100% more productive.
Here is a video I shot on the topic of Music Outsourcing:
From the video here are some resources to get started in learning about outsourcing:
The Four Hour Work Week - if you want to get more done with less, pick this book up. It wasn’t mentioned in my top 5 marketing books for musicians because it is so much more. After you read through this, everything you thought you were doing right, you will question. Your time management will be better and you will be focusing on results oriented projects.
eLance – Have a project you need done? Write a description, set a budget and have freelancers bid to work on your project.
Guru – Same as eLance.
Scriptlance – Same as eLance and Guru, only there is a focus on people that write scripts from advanced to very basic.
Criagslist – Post a job or opportunity in a specific market. This is great if you want to oversee the project locally or have someone join your team full time.
oDesk - This is the best resource I know to find a virtual assistant. If you are a band on the road, or one that has to juggle press, booking, sales, finances and other business related tasks that are not to your strength, get an assistant. You can find a good English speaking assistant for anywhere from $3 – 6 an hour.
123employee – Higher caliber of virtual assistant. Have them handle tasks such as SEO, managing your email, your social networking, article writing, booking, research and so much more.
99 Designs - Need some logos, t-shirt ideas, album artwork? Outsource it. 99 Designs is an amazing community of top notch designers looking to work on your project.
Source Control - This is a course by David Walsh where you can learn how to talk to these companies and get the most out of your outsoucing. When working with outsourcing companies you need to provide great directions and detail. This ebook and templates will help you maximize your money spent.
More on Music Business Outsourcing
In upcoming posts we will be looking at case studies of musicians that have outsourced tasks and different aspects of your business that you need to let go in order to keep up with the other demands on your music career – namely fan acquisition and content creation.
What are your thoughts on outsourcing? Have you ever outsourced anything in your music business? What was your experience like? Let’s talk in the comments below.
-Greg Rollett
7 Comments
Alex Zandretta
on 14th Jan, 10 11:01am
Definitely outsource your stuff but,here’s the thing though,and this is something I know that nobody really touches on.
Its a great Idea to outsource,but unless your pulling more than a hundred bones or so a month,its tough…..
what Id like to see a company do is outsource selling your itunes stuff,and work off a percentage of the income generated,at a non ridiculous price….by working off a percentage of whats coming through the itunes pipline,you’d get constant residual income……
create the business….if their isn’t ones,and you get a truckload of people on board with it.
and everybody would make money…..
gregrollett
on 14th Jan, 10 11:01am
Hey Alex – thanks for chiming in. Here is where I think we disagree. You are still thinking of outsourcing as a cost instead of an investment. You are in the music business and as such there are business costs that go along with it.
Here is something to think about – A booking agent will likely receive 15% of your gross. Say you take take a small guarantee of $200 playing a local gig. The booking agent takes $30 off the top. Now imagine if you were paying someone $5 an hour to book the same show as a virtual assistant. It takes them 2 hours. That’s $10. You made an extra $20. Now scale that. The virtual assistant’s job never gets harder, and the time allotted never grows, but your guarantee does and so does your payout.
It’s the mindset that makes the difference.
All musicians want to work off percentages. I say you need to bring something bigger to the table. Especially as an indie band starting out. Even if you sell 1,000 downloads on iTunes (which is huge) – your take home is about $600. Even with a 50/50 split (which most musicians think is ridiculous) that is only $300 for the marketer/promoter.
From that perspective, you need to bring more to the table than a %.
Hope that makes sense, even if it means I’m the jerk in this situation.
Alexa Weber Morales
on 14th Jan, 10 12:01pm
I’m not sure I understand your response above. Are you saying to outsource INSTEAD of going the percentage of income route? I have gotten a bit tired of giving percentages of all my income out left and right, via online services and my distribution deal with a large company and record label. It’s appealing at first, but then you realize that if they’re not working on your behalf, you’re the one who’s giving away potential income, while all they have to do is have a large portfolio of indie artists and live off the residuals. The long tail works for the aggregators, not the individuals. So in closing, are you saying do less of the automatic percentage route and more of the proactive outsourcing route?
gregrollett
on 14th Jan, 10 01:01pm
Hey Alexa,
That’s almost exactly what I am saying. When you outsource or have people working for you, you keep a higher percentage of the income, because you are paying a flat fee for service rather than paying on scale.
The real goal is to systematize your music business. If you are booking your own gigs and making money, for example. Can you put the booking process into a system and outsource it RATHER than going after a booking agency?
In the iTunes example – maybe you create a process or a system to generate more fans via social media, internet marketing, press or whatever. Take iTunes out of the equation and insert something like Bandcamp. Can you take that process and outsource it to someone for a flat per hour fee and generate more income that way? Or find tools and automate the process? As your revenue increases from sales, your costs stay the same, thus you generate a higher income.
Every business is going to be a little different. Your goal as the business person in your music business is to decide where your revenue is coming from, what you can personally do to increase that revenue and outsource the rest for as little as possible.
I think another more in depth post it to come on this subject. Thanks for jumping in.
Alexa Weber Morales
on 14th Jan, 10 02:01pm
Awesome! Thanks! Although, correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t Bandcamp taking a percentage too?
gregrollett
on 14th Jan, 10 02:01pm
@Alexa – Bandcamp does not take a percentage. Paypal does. But any merchant account or system that takes credit cards and payments will.
Corey
on 26th Jan, 10 11:01am
Awesome. I’ve been outsourcing everything from accounting to track mixing and mastering. Most experiences have been good, and it nearly always saves time.
The great side effect is it’s made me really prioritize, by putting a price on everything. Is this task worth spending $100 on? Then why am I doing it?