Be Realistic

Know your industry - BE REALISTIC - Create payment Channels - Make Connections - Know when to let go

A lot of people in music and business in general, tend to fall into the old trap of making money with math. For example, you might hear someone say, “Hey, America has 250 million people who have access to my music if I put it on iTunes, if I can just get 0.1% of them to buy my track then I will have sold 250,000 copies and iTunes will give me about a dollar each time, so I’ll make in the region of a quarter of a million dollars for every track I put up there!” (Not to mention the equivalent of a number 1 single each time)

Well that formula sounds pretty good, so why don’t you try it?  Many people have a go at this type of equation and quickly realize that selling 250 copies is hard enough, once you’ve exhausted your friends and family, how does anyone else know you’ve even got music available?

So be realistic about your goals and you’re much more likely to succeed.  If you want to go down the route of releasing a track yourself, then set a realistic target for the number you’d like to sell over a certain time period. Say to yourself, 1000 copies over 3 months and then work out a plan of how to do it. If you think you have the absolute killer track that should be at number 1, then take it to a record company and you wont have any problem getting someone interested if the song is amazing. The harsh reality is that often the song isn’t that good and they’ve heard it many times before. Even when the song is really good, you still find that you’re sometimes ignored so it’s a perfectly good idea to release it yourself and it’s often the case that the cream normally finds it way to the top.  

Some songs are more commercial that others, so learn to tell early on which songs are going to be able to earn you money and if so where are you going to sell them.  If you write an awesome drum & bass tune, it’s unlikely that you’ll chart in the top 40, but you might be able to sell a decent amount of copies by signing to an Independent drum & bass label and using their distribution network.  Equally you might make just as much money putting it on iTunes yourself and handing out flyers at the local club.

Whatever route you decide to go down, you’ll need to register and get set up with the companies that will actually pay you.  Learn about the payment channels here.