I get all sorts of emails and messages sent to me and some are just so inspiring… inspiring to write a article. Here is an example of something I recently received.
“Can you provide any advice? I have a goal of selling 50,000 – 100,000k units in the next six months.”
You need to understand your goals and be realistic. There is a order to your goals and reaching one makes the next possible.
Lets examine this goal of selling 50-100k units in six months.
First question I would ask, is it realistic? Can it honestly be reached? I would say no. Selling that many units can be a huge challenge for even established artists. In this era of the music business selling large numbers of units just is not a realistic goal. But…
That being said, if you have a fan base of a million fans, MAYBE there is a chance. Lets take a look at this artist’s fan base.
Twitter Followers – 90
Facebook Likes – 130
Email List – none to be found
I would say there is no fan base. Look at the numbers and tell me that you really think that is a goal you can reach? With no fan base how can you expect to sell anything?
Maybe the artist is playing ALOT of live shows? Nope, no shows listed on their website. No shows, no audience, no fans.
This is a perfect example of a goal that honestly is impossible to reach and completely unrealistic. The first goal should be 10,000 fans in the next six months, total fans on Twitter, Facebook and email list. With 10,000 fans you might be able to sell 1000 units.
Get your goals in order, fans first, sales second.
I totally agree with you on this. And the 10% conversion rate is extremely high end.
However, I think it is a great idea to have a sales goal to work backward from. For instance, with my band, I want each person in the band to make $50,000 a year. In addition, I want another $50,000 a year that feeds back directly into the band.
So, the total is $200,000 a year my band would need to make. From that number, I can work backwards on how much I would need from shows, merchandise, online sales, etc. That gives me the goal of how many fans I would need to get to achieve this.
But what you address is a common misconception from musicians. They think simply releasing an album would do the trick. The trick is to build magic with your fans and have a repeatable strategy to grow the value and scale of that relationship.
Also, the mark-up from CDs and digital downloads is extremely small. To make meaningful money, a band would need to sell in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. A deeper product and server line that has a much higher markup is necessary to have a successful band business.
I’ll shut up now before I rant too much! 🙂
Thanks Chris. I think your working backwards concept is great. But I say that for your example, if you want to earn $50,000 a year, you first need to have some type of paying job. No job, then you can’t expect to make any money. One has to come first.
Oh, yeah. You need something to get you there first! 🙂 Wishes and optimism don’t pay for recording studios and broken down vans! Haha!
The $50,000 a year is a goal to move towards so I can transition out of a day job into my own music business. The $200,000 number gives concrete and measurable goals to obtain. It also humbles you to realize how much effort and fan engagement it will take to hit those numbers.
Haha wow. I can’t help but wonder if the email was a joke. Regardless, I come across similar musicians on a regular basis, although none of them have set such a lofty goal!