Ariel Hyatt: 7 Things I Hope For The New Music Industry In 2011

Happy New Year everyone! I’m raising my glass to MORE!

1. More Support For Each Other. It takes a team to launch any effort, whether it’s releasing an album, getting a song licensed or just getting more fans and followers. I see all too often artists going for it all alone without any help and support, some sadly don’t even get support from fellow band mates, because they have made up a story that unless they have a professional full time manager or a booking agent that they can’t get help.

It’s very powerful when artists who are creative and brilliant at making music bond together and help each other make connections and make a difference for one another. I’m so sick of reading blog posts with people saying the reason no one has success is because most artists suck. It’s just not true. There is a ridiculous amount of non –suck out there.

Stop hating and start allowing other peoples light to shine….

2. More Artists Making a Living. Ian Rogers estimated this year that approx 30,000 artists are making full-time livings. It’s a start but I want to see what Bruce calls The Rise Of The Musical Middle Class. We launched over 150 Cyber PR campaigns last year that helped artists expand their fan bases and online presences. It’s one step of many that artists need to take to achieve this dream. I’ve seen it many times, but I want to see more of it.

3. More Rocking the Social Media Strategies. After traveling to 8 countries and speaking at countless conferences I’ve seen the same thing over and over again: Artists’ eyes glazing over at the mention of all of the online work and web tools they need to master to engage their fans. It’s completely confronting for so many artists.

4. More Consistency. It TAKES SOMETHING to send a newsletter every single month, it takes something to engage fans, it takes coming up with things that are interesting to say, great offers to give and the ability to GATHER email names. Just like it takes something to lose weight, it never happens overnight. Your success depends on your consistency.

5. More Fan Funding. I love it and I love watching artists succeed using it. My word of caution: Know your limits – in the world of fan funding creating a goal like “$15,000” may feel possible but ask yourself: How much did I earn in the past 12 months from my music and what would a reasonable goal be to reach for?

If you sold $500 worth of music in 2010 than a goal of $1,000 (twice what you made the year before may be smart, instead of setting yourself up for failure and shooting for a massive number.

6. More Young Entrepreneurs. I want more peers! I want more people taking this industry by the horns and making solutions that work. This year I sat on panels and connected worldwide with incredible entrepreneurs, writers, teachers and go-getters who are making healthy livings from this crazy business.

7. More Reality Checks. The BEST blog post I read on success around creativity in 2010 came from Derek Sivers. I have worked with many artists who are pushing and forcing themselves to “succeed” without looking at what success really means to them.

Here’s an excerpt: “When someone creates something that is really important, powerful, and valuable to them, it's hard to imagine that it's not important, powerful, and valuable to others….But money only comes from doing something valuable to others…. If you stop expecting your art to be valuable to anyone but you, your conflicted mind can finally be at peace.

Do it only because you love it, and it honestly doesn't matter what anyone else thinks…You'll probably be happier with your art because of this change in mindset. Ironically, others may appreciate it more, too, though you honestly won't care.” Read the whole awesome post: http://sivers.org/starving-artist

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Ariel Hyatt is the founder of Ariel Publicity.