Since early 2011, Australian singer-songwriter and music business entrepreneur Jen Cloher has been running I Manage My Music, a series of workshops designed to help Australian artists manage their careers and remain independent.
The workshops routinely tap big names like Paul Dempsey and respected industry stakeholders to offer their years of experience and of course, Cloher herself offers the advice that’s made her Milk! Records stable one of the most talked-about musical entities in Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald recently added one of Cloher’s I Manage My Music workshops, which featured talks and Q&A sessions with Cloher, the Something For Kate frontman, and Sabrina Robinson of Native Tongue Music Publishing.
The workshop, which took place in a rented warehouse space in Collingwood, was attended by about 30 independent musicians of all stripes and backgrounds, including former The Voice contestants and even Golden Guitar Award winners.
Amongst Cloher’s key pieces of advice for self-management are setting up a dedicated bank account for your music earnings. But most of all, do not under any circumstances go into debt. Ever. Like any project, keep to a strict budget.
Cloher advised her musos to “define and budget” everything they do, whether it be a recording session, a single, an album, or an entire tour. And always remember to get the money first, whether through gigs, grants, or crowdsourcing.
Social media is of course, important, but so is a proper website. If you’re not much of a front-end developer, Squarespace is a few clicks away. Use a free download to bait fans into signing up for the mailing list you set up with Mailchimp so they can find out about your new Pozible campaign.
But if you really want to make it, Cloher stresses the importance of community. “No band is gonna give you a support just because you asked them,” she advised. “They ask you because you’re friends.”
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“Nobody cares about some sad person alone at home, uploading music they made in their bedroom. You will not be discovered on Facebook. It’s about making music with other people, out in the real world.”
Dempsey weighed in too. “The reason I do this is because I want to play my guitar and sing as often as I can,” he said, explaining that the decline of album revenues have only served to inspire his rigorous work ethic. “Go out there and play your arse off.”
Speaking of revenue, syncs are king in today’s industry and Robinson stressed the importance of synchronisation and royalties, highlighting the importance of organisations such as APRA AMCOS and the boon that comes with selling your song to a TV show.
Cloher finished up with some more practical tips, touching on the importance of SoundCloud, photo shoots, grants, and of course, always working on expanding your community by fostering a fan base amongst bloggers and social media addicts.
