Marketing is basic in business management and commerce. It might not seem so obvious that an artist, a musician, should care that much about this very pragmatic aspect of the music industry—but s/he should. At least one should if the aim is to produce music professionally. For this reason, we’re here to explain what marketing is, exactly, and why it matters.
Marketing: a Definition
To begin with, marketing is defined as the process of promoting and selling values. Within the business realm, everything should be attractive, efficient, and, most importantly, profitable. This process involves the exploration, creation, and delivery of values. Most crucially, these values depend on the target market—the audience, if you will—as well as a campaign that includes your attendance (and elaboration) of special events. Traditionally, marketing involves defining the terms of sale (i. e., specifying price and everything related to it), just as keeping a sustainable relation with other members of the chain such as retailers, distributors, and resellers. In short, the whole point of marketing is composing a brand and keeping it functional within our society and its economy.
Music Marketing in Particular
Experts also refer to music marketing as music promotion. Just as in the case of general marketing, it is the process of raising awareness of your product; in this case, your musical creations. This simply means that you take your tunes and make sure that people know it exists—ideally, each time more and more. Entering the music industry, and most importantly if you’re currently an independent artist, implies you’ll have to get a deep dive in merchandising techniques for everything to work out.
If you’re at the very beginning of your music career, there are three indispensable elements to follow in music marketing; Ben Rossman calls them its ABCs: audience, branding, and content. Keeping these in mind during your creative process will make all the difference in the world.
Why It Matters
It matters because your music matters. For better or worse, the music industry operates as any other business and we should play by its rules. This reason makes it enough for you to care about music marketing and delve into this branch. And, even if it might sound overwhelming, there are plenty of resources you can find to help you boost your media presence and, therefore, your career.
