From distribution to metadata and crafting websites to promotion, the music industry is more complex than ever. In that thick soup, MyMusic.biz has developed an all-encompassing platform designed to help artists thrive on the often-overlooked business side — and build lucrative careers in the process.
For indie artists, the music industry is full of overwhelming considerations and potential pitfalls. Delivering excellent songs to fans was once the primary gig – especially for signed acts. Now, ‘making it’ as a musician involves cultivating an online presence, registering works to collect royalties, distributing to all manner of digital services, managing merch stores, and connecting with supporters via live performances — just to name a few pressing chores.
Staying apprised of and adapting to emerging trends (TikTok, livestream shows, and NFTs among them) further complicates the already-involved process of attempting to make a living with music. Given the demands surrounding the foundation upon which successful music careers are based – creating tracks that resonate with listeners – it’s easy for musicians to neglect important areas, leaving opportunities on the table as a result.
A number of offerings exist to help artists effectively navigate the modern music industry. But MyMusic.biz aims to serve as a one-stop platform through which artists can get a handle on each component of the ever-evolving business without investing thousands of hours.
“We want musicians to be playing and creative and not bogged down with the insides of the business itself,” MyMusic.biz co-founder Paul Milner told Digital Music News. “How can we provide them with what they need to know without giving them chapters of information that they would have to learn and then put into practice to become a great publisher or a great marketer? There are shortcuts here. There are things that you need to know, but you don’t need to become a publisher to do publishing.”
MyMusic.biz consists of three main sections. The first is a detail-oriented assessment that evaluates musicians’ careers (based on information they provide) in areas such as distribution, digital rights, social media presence, print media, and live performance and touring.
The assessment scores are accompanied by tailored suggestions for improvement, which are tied to the various tools included in MyMusic.biz’s remaining sections. Importantly, however, the newly-launched platform focuses exclusively on the non-creative side, without attempting to gauge artists’ inherent commercial viability in an era when niche sounds frequently find fans on the world stage.
“We’re not really assessing the music or the possibilities of having a career,” Milner told DMN. “What we’re doing is saying that if you’re embarking on a career, whatever level you’re at musically, we can help you make faster progress.
“We have a suggestions engine that will give you tips,” he continued. “‘Okay, you need to work a little bit more on branding, and here’s what we think. Before you build your website, define your brand.’ Simple. Sounds very basic, but so many people don’t know this.”
Meanwhile, the second (and largest) of MyMusic.biz’s three sections, “The Lounge,” features a variety of assets and pertinent information that execs say can help artists adapt in response to the results of the initial assessment.
Within The Lounge, a subsection called “My Biz” includes templates for key agreements, an associations database, an interactive calendar, a task manager (for multi-member acts), a finance-management tool, and how-to guides covering an array of critical topics. Among the latter are the ins and outs of potentially lucrative sync licensing deals, the nuances of ISRCs, the specifics of creating an electronic press kit (an onsite development resource is forthcoming), preparing music for mastering, making a commercial splash on Apple Music, and maximizing growth on today’s foremost social media platforms.
Additionally, MyMusic.biz’s far-reaching how-to documents can assist artists with accounting, legal considerations, distribution, insurance, grants, royalties, and other business subjects that lay the groundwork for significant achievements in the quick-moving music industry. Just recently, MyMusic.biz joined forces with DMN to expand awareness of the platform to indie artists.
“To get to 10,000 or 100,000 follows or streams on Spotify, there’s a set of to-dos that has to happen,” MyMusic.biz co-founder Brad White told DMN. “This is helping all musicians of all levels get to that step. There’s really good music that’s not being heard because they don’t know where to go. The musician creates this great song, but what do you do with it? How do you get it out there? And it could be years trying to figure out how to get to the next step.”
Networking and communication play a key role in almost every professional sphere. On this front, MyMusic.biz also connects artists with fellow members of the music community.
Besides interviews, podcasts, music news, and weekly webinars from industry experts, The Lounge is equipped with a forum, a notice board for musicians and others, and, most significantly, a consultation option that artists can use to arrange discussions with knowledgeable veterans. According to MyMusic.biz, the tool can help artists obtain the answers and insight that they require without breaking the bank or signing off on multiyear contracts.
“If somebody wanted to talk to a music industry insider about publishing,” Milner told us of MyMusic.biz’s consultation feature, “they can click on that and either register for a course or sign up for an hour to chat with somebody. In a way, it’s like having a manager right on the platform.
“Then you write down any unanswered questions, anything you wanted to go into. Book an hour of somebody’s time instead of signing away your life immediately because you need a little bit of guidance.
“You can go to Barry Bergman, for example, who signed AC/DC and Meat Loaf. You can book a consultation with him. Or Brian Allen, who co-wrote ‘What About Love’ with Heart, and Chris Birkett, who produced Sinéad O’Connor.”
Last but not least, MyMusic.biz’s Green Room centers on optimizing tours, and the platform’s titular My Music area covers the entire gamut of releases.
Included in Green Room are merchandise resources, a stage-plot creator, and a poster and banner creator. There’s also a fee-free livestream hosting option (extending to actual live shows and pre-recorded pay-per-view gigs alike). Rounding out The Lounge are programs and assets covering distribution, pitching, vinyl pressing, creating playlists, and even burning CDs.
My Room, the last of the service’s three main sections, looks to make navigating the abundance of information straightforward by bringing together MyMusic.biz users’ assessment results, documents, and data.
Ultimately, the described music industry knowledge is designed to help artists position themselves for success, take advantage of all available opportunities, and break down barriers in the rapidly transforming sphere. Per MyMusic.biz, the potentially game-changing project boils down to affording tomorrow’s star artists the answers to today’s pressing questions and challenges.
“People are afraid to ask questions in the music industry,” Milner explained. “Young musicians come into the studio and ask me all the questions as we’re making a record – because we’re afraid to knock on doors. It’s this big place that’s hidden behind this cloud of smoke, and it’s like, ‘What if I open the door and somebody rejects me?’”
Equipped with a complete understanding of the industry’s business side for the first time – and a means of capitalizing upon this understanding – artists, including both veteran acts and emerging professionals, appear suited to make the biggest possible impact and guarantee that they’re receiving the exposure and compensation to which their hard work entitles them.
In the long term, the benefits could drive growth and fundamental change throughout the broader music landscape, enabling investors, industry associations, management agencies, and others to identify and support talent from around the globe.