Team Work: Investing in the Music Business Part V
Business Partners: Benjamin Del Shreve
I hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th. We had a… blast? (ouch.)
Anyhow, let’s get back to this “Investing in the Music Business” series, shall we? Today, I want to talk about the makeup of a startup in the “real” business world.
If I come up with an idea one day, I basically have two options:
- Do all of the work myself and keep 100% of the profits
- Build a team and share the love
Musicians have the same choice. It is common knowledge that a manager, agent, publicist, promoter, publisher, “web guy” and maybe even a business manager (accountant) are all part of a healthy, long-term music “business.”
Many musicians however, feel that they MUST have all of the above in order to have anything at all. They spend their time writing songs, planning shows and dreaming up the ways to spend their money when that “big break” finally arrives. Very few however, think about their bandmates as coworkers. (How unromantic, I know.)
The best example I know of a band taking the reigns and assigning individual responsibility to each band member is a fantastic group out of Northwest Arkansas. Benjamin Del Shreve is one of the top acts in the region, easily selling-out shows from Little Rock to Tulsa and beyond. They are hard workers, incredible performers and fantastic songwriters, but most importantly, they are a team. When it comes to booking shows, they split the list of target venues between themselves and everyone works together, at the same time, making calls. It’s an incredibly effective strategy. It can be very scary and intimidating to call a club to book your own band, but if you’re doing it together, even if you’re calling different clubs, you have a sense of safety and teamwork you just can’t get on your own.
If you are going to be a business selling music, it’s time you stop waiting to be “discovered” and start running your shop. If the very notion turns your stomach – no problem. Just don’t plan to make a living of it. Those are your options today. Be a business or don’t, but don’t blame someone else if you’re not. A band of 4 is a business of four, which is 3 more than I had when I started my first serious enterprise.
Click here for parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this ongoing series.
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I loved this series! I really enjoyed reading your business analysis of an industry I know very little about and your comparisons to VC backed businesses. Very interesting!
Thanks Kirstin! There’s more on the way!
hello guys, I really like these posts!
first of all, let me say.
the magic of google!!! I googled “chart sold albums”
and your blog is what came up.
I am a musician trying to make it happen with my band and I like what i read on your posts so far. But I would say that my band (like all others) will definitely need a record label to step to the next level and even if you work really hard on getting the sound, the image, booking shows, bringing people to the shows and etc, but you need more than just those mentioned above.
(The Record Labels) They know what they’re doing.
Conclusion: the Record Label is just another partner of your business that happens to be “Music” and they take financial risk that you won’t take, and that’s why they deserve a big portion of the money made.
Thanks for this clear, concise and dead-on-accurate series on successfully working in the entertainment industry. Well done!