Matty Mullins:

How to succeed in the music industry

1. Logo

A logo will be what people identify your band by, it doesn't necessarily need to include the name of

the band, but it will have to be unique and easily recognisable without being too complicated. The

name widely used in the music industry for a tour poster is an 'admat' and on that there will be the

headliner with their logo at the top, and the support groups' logos beneath. Your logo must stand out

and catch people's eye as they walk past the poster, it should be unlike any other logo out there, it

can be a piece of art, or the title of the band, or even both if you so choose; something that is unique

to you. It needs to be quite simple though, because if you're not a headliner you will not get a lot of

space on that admat, therefore your logo must still be legible and recognisable even in a small size.

We have had that issue quite a lot as a band, we used to have quite a fancy logo in this elaborate font

but when you shrunk it down in size you couldn't read it, so we changed it to the simple logo we have

now, the simple M.

2. Merchandise

When you're a band, merchandise is where the money is at. When we sell records we only get

around 7cents per record sold which is 5p, barely anything, everything else goes back to the record

label. When you are designing your merch, a good thing you can do is look at sites like Merchnow,

and quite often there will be a part at the top featuring the most popular items, look at them, see what

they are offering, figure out why they are so popular. If you want to sell merchandise and make a

good profit, you need to think of what the consumer wants, what they will gladly spend their money

on. When designing your merchandise you shouldn't just design something that you would wear, you

have to focus on your fans, what they would wear, because when they wear your merch they are

acting as a walking advertisement of your band. It needs to be recognisable. It needs to be unique. It

can be as simple as just your logo and name, or it could include lyrics, but whatever it is it has to be

clear. It's all about drawing people in, when someone is wearing your merchandise you want

someone to look at that and thinks 'Wow! That's an awesome shirt! I wonder who that band is' and

then they'll go home and check you out. They may not end up liking you but thats okay, it's another

person who's given your band the chance. If you don't attract people to give you chances and like

your band, you're not going to get too far. Make people want to check you out, to buy your

merchandise, to come see you live, to want to meet you. Which brings me to my next point

3.Fanbase

Treat your fans like family

This is one of the big ones. You can watch band members and can instantly tell which ones are stuck

up and don't care, and you can tell which people truly care about their fan base. When you're a

musician, you rely on your fan bases, yes you get money from your record label, but most of your

income is off your fans. You're nothing without that group of people.

Taylor Swift is a great example of someone who truly cares about her fans and does so many things

above and beyond to show her fans she cares. Her first album: Certified Platinum. 2nd album:

Certified Platinum 7 times. Seven. And her 3rd album? Certified Platinum four times. Her fan base is

that big and that dedicated to buying her music. And there is certainly a reason for it. I know if you're

reading this you're not likely to make music like Taylor Swift, but she is someone you should definitely

aspire to be like, with your own fan base. Examples of her dedication are the fact she has sent

christmas care packages to fans, she has invited people to her hime to listen to her new album and

baked them cookies, she has tracked down fans waiting outside of venues in horrific weather to try

and meet her- and she's made sure to see them and get them safe and warm inside, Taylor has even

gone as far as paying off a student loan for one of her fans. The list is endless, and I know if you're

just starting off as a band you won't have endless amounts of money to do all of those things, it's a

reminder that just because you're famous it doesn't mean that you don't have to care about your fans

because you do. Even when you're just starting out, hand out flyers and engage with your target

audience, make conversation with them, if you get personal and connect with them it really will make

the world of difference. If they like your music as well as your personality they are more likely to stick

with you in the long run.

Long story short, take the time to treat your fans well, go out to meet them whatever the weather is

like, no matter if you're tired or hungover, because the chances are they won't be too happy about

standing out in the rain or snow, or even blistering heat, but they will do it for you, so you should do

the same. If you act like you're too good for your fans, they will quickly lose interest and stop going to

your shows.

Chances are, people are going to illegally download your music, that's the truth, however; if fans feel

a personal connection with you they will more likely feel compelled to give back to you and will dig into

their pockets to buy your CD, or a concert ticket, or your merchandise, whatever they buy they are

helping you out. Those people are helping you live your dream. The least you can do is thank them

and make it worth their while.

4.Treat your band like a business

This is very important if you want to go places as a band. You must be sure to always have the

upmost respect for your peers, your elders, and the people you're serving. Be humble, don't let the

ego or any kind of entitled 'rockstar' attitude be what defines you.

As a musician, you must be willing to spend money in order to make money. A successful band is

essentially like a business, as you are creating a product (your music) and you're aiming for people to

want it and buy it, to come see you live. Of course it shouldn't be all about money, money should be

all about your passion, something that you live and breathe, but the business side is unavoidably

important if you want to make it - any entrepreneur or businessman will tell you that when you start off

you will be spending a lot more money than what you'll be bringing in. And that sucks at first, but the

difference between the success stories and the failures is to preserver, to be willing to get out there

and do what other bands aren't willing to do. Promote yourselves with everything you can, travel to

play gigs away from your hometown, take reasonable risks.

Long story short, get out of your comfort zone and get used to staying out of it. In order to grow as a

band you have to be willing to happen. Circling back on the fact you have to spend a lot of money to

make money, you should invest in the highest quality equipment you can, invest in a van, and of

course merchandise - for the latter start small and build up though. Some people aren't willing to

spend all of their money off the bat, but that's what it takes. High quality equipment will be what sets

your band apart from the other bands, that will be what makes the record label choose you over other

aspiring musicians.

5. Hiring the right team.

Further down the line it will be very important for you to have a trustworthy and hard working team

behind you and supporting your band. At the start you will be doing everything yourself - you will be

your own promoter, your own manager, your own merch sellers. But once you start looking at booking

a tour or moving onto bigger things, you need a manager and a merch seller. You need to make sure

they share the same values as you and believe in you as a musician, these people will be who

represent your band on an external level, these people will be who others will see, and their attitude

and outlook will be what they some people base their opinion of your band off, so make sure you

choose well.

As your band developed you will also need to look into getting a tour manager and a good business

manager. Your tour manager will handle everything whilst you're on tour, make sure you are at the

venue on time and on stage at the right time too. They will also handle communications with

promotors, sponsors, booking agents etc. They basically look after you on tour. Whereas your general

manager is someone situated near where you live but doesn't come out on tour with you, but they

represent your band and handle a lot of the hard work that you would typically do at the start like

rendering and answering emails, messaging venues and promoters and venues, labels etc. It is super

important yet again that this person have the same mindset as you and where you want to go. They

are one of the most important people you will have so make sure they're the right person. A business

manager is typically your accountant, they will handle payments to and from your band, finance in the

areas of assets and investments, savings, taxes and anything else like that. Not many artists are

familiar with the tax obligations that relate to their performance, licensing, sponsorship, recording and

merchandise income; equipment purchases and sales, business expenses etc. Business managers

help their clients organise their money affairs whilst also assisting with investments, saving and

retirement funds. Usually your business manager will cost you something like 5% of your band's

income, but its extremely worth it with how much pressure they take off of you.

6. Record labels

This is a huge part of how a successful touring band would function. A record label is essentially a

glorified bank - when you sign to a label, you sign a contract which says you will make a certain

amount of records for that company, and the label's job is to not only promote you and share your

music in the ways you couldn't do yourself, gaining massive exposure, but they also loan you the

money you need to create a good record. This can be much more expensive than people think;

recording with a quality professional produces, getting music videos done, and sorting out merch,

along with other expenses that come as part of an album cycle, the average budget from an album by

a big bang is usually $20,000 to $30,000. They pay for the album to be produced, and they take back

their money through your record sales and merch sales. You keep making money by touring until you

break even with the label, and then if you're lucky you can keep making money afterwards which

comes down to being your own profit- which is the ideal situation.

Although you might feel tempted to go for the biggest offer you can get off your record label, be

realistic. If you're a small band you can't guarantee you're going to make that $30,000 back in sales

anytime soon, do some research, see how much money you will actually need to make a good album

and take the minimum.

A very important thing when signing a contract is to sign for the least amount of albums as possible. 5

albums may not sound a lot but on average bands produce an album once every 2-3 years, so you

can be with that label for up to 15 years without any way out. Some contracts even state you need

you have albums out by a specific time, e.g every 12 months, which can cause a lot of pressure and

unwanted tension within bands. Also, not all record labels will treat your band well, sign for the

smallest amount and if they treat you bad you can leave quickly and find a new label, and if they treat

you well, then just re-sign, it's simple. We signed for two records with Rise Records and we have

recently just re-signed for a further amount of records. It is important to note that some record labels

will and can rip you off without you initially knowing it. An example of this is they may state' 2 records

and an option' the word option is a very tricky word in a contract and doesn't actually mean what you

would expect it to - it's usually the label's 'option' and not yours. The option means that after the

amount of records or years they state, they can keep you on for an extra one and you have no control

over that, because you signed the contract. So be very careful. In order to not get stung by a label..

7. Get a good lawyer!

When your band is hunting for a good record label and a good contract to sign to, it's always useful to

have a good lawyer to read over your contract and consult with when you get offered one. A good

lawyer can highlight a lot of grey areas on contracts - grey areas bing words or parts of the contracts

that can say one thing but can mean another, like the previously mentioned 'option', and they can help

you negotiate the contract on better terms with the label in a way that won't screw you over without

you realising. Lawyers can be expensive but they are well worth it. In the music business i t's all about

who you know and not what you know.

8. What sets you apart?

The biggest thing for a new band to be is different, they need to stand out and demand they be heard

and liked - because a new band that sounds the same as any other will just be background noise,

drowned out by the bigger bands already making money off that sound. Issues are a good example of

a band that are doing something new and their fan base is growing thick and fast because of that.

They are the first band to combine metalcore with R&B style vocals and synths. Some people hate it

and some people love it, but you can't deny that they are different, and that is what is helping them

make it.

9. Your meaning

One thing that sets many people apart is what do you stand for?What message do you want to give

out? I want to spread the message of hope and love, I want to show my fans that they aren't alone,

that there is an exit to every dark path, that people like them can make it. Because I made it. I'm very

open about my faith and I believe I have a connection with Jesus and God and that they look over me

and guide me through the tough times and I portray that through my lyrics and my music, and that's

what sets us apart. A lot of heavy bands are often seen as 'satanic' or 'bible-bashing' by a lot of

people, and they all get grouped up into that category. But we don't, we stand out. And sure we get

stick for it, but we stand out, people hear about us, they talk about us, they spread our name around

and more and more people know who we are, more and more people join our fan base and support

our message.

So now it's your turn,

what do you stand for?