6324 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8 Phone: 250-933-1900

The Music Business - How Your Ideas Can Make Your Living

Arbutus Music is a Music Education learning centre dedicated to bringing the knowledge of the music industry to Nanaimo musicians.  Aaron Bethune and Cathleen Lundgren bring three decades of experience to the Workshops and Courses offered.  

Please see the Program Guide for details.

 

Top Ten Music Business Misconceptions:

 

  1. "It's all about the music." - It is all about the copyright.  It is great to have the creative passion to believe the music is all that matters, but the truth of the matter is... without knowing how to generate revenue from the copyright... all you will ever have is the music.


  2. "The internet has killed the industry." - The internet has changed the industry.  Much more than it ever has before.  The introduction of radio was viewed as the death of the music industry in its time, but all it did was enhance it.  The internet is still altering the state of the music industry and how you deal with the change will dictate your success.


  3. "People who criticize my music don't understand it." - It isn't that they don't understand your music,  they don't like it; not everyone has to.  The key is to find fans of your music, not to try to turn people into your "music fan".


  4. "If my song is on the radio, I'll get a royalty in the mail." - Wouldn't that be great!  What would we need managers for?  If your song is made for radio, you have to get all of the codes and registrations set up first... or the royalty collectors won't be able to find you... 


  5. "Booking shows is the hardest part of touring." - Booking is hard.  But a lot of artists and bands book shows and then play to an empty space.  Booking in comparison to publicity is definitely the easier part of the two.  Which leads us into:


  6. "I've got a lot of fans.  My Facebook page has over 2000 fans." - People "Like" pages for a lot of reasons.  True fans are like diamonds.  Precious and rare.  You need find out how many "True Fans" you really have and what they do.


  7. "I booked it through a friend, I don't need a contract." - If you don't have a contract, you might lose your friend. Nothing ruins contacts, partnerships, relationships, and fuels bad vibes in the music industry more than miscommunication of the "terms of engagement".


  8. "I have a $10,000 recording budget." - You really have a $5000 recording budget.  Then you have a $5000 preliminary publicity budget.  You can't sell the end product without the money to let people know it is there.  Learn how to spend your budget wisely. 


  9. "When I get my CD I have to get it out as quick as possible." - The most common of independent mistakes.  You only get one chance to "launch" as CD.  Plan it right and it should get you the results you are looking for.  Plan it wrong and you will have CD crates for furniture.


  10. "The internet means I can do it myself." -  Okay... yes it does.  You can do it all yourself.  But so can EVERYONE else.  Doing it effectively is important.  Get heard Above the Noise.