Start Building Your Team Today

FOR THE INDIE IN ALL OF US – Eventually an artist's music industry team will include a manager, agent, publicist, webmaster, internet marketing team, an accountant or business manager, a record label (or outsourced label team) and a whole roomful of lawyers.

But when you're just getting started, you can't attract or even afford any of those people. That doesn't mean that you don't need to start building your team now.

First and foremost, you have yourself. What are you good at?  Perhaps you have the gift of gab and talking to club owners and the media comes naturally. Maybe you're also a painter; so graphic design and handling the merchandise feels natural. You will probably have to go far beyond what you enjoy doing to get the job done, but its the place to start – understanding your own strengths and weaknesses.

Then there are your bandmates.

What are their talents?  It's important to divide areas of responsibility and tasks in very defined ways and to set measurable gaols to avoid misunderstandings. "We all need to work on getting more gigs" doesn't get the job done half as well as"Mary and I are going to book two gigs each next month."

Family and friends come next. If Dad has an extra garage, Uncle Ted owns a printing company and your cousin works at a van rental outfit, consider yourself lucky. But brainstorming who knows whom who might do what often leads to some surprising results.

Next: Adding Fans To Your Team, Better Ways To Share Responsibility

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