Why Artists Need to Know Their Business

An artist’s first job and top priority is to pursue his/her creativity, whatever that means to that artist. That might mean recording, writing, singing, performing, painting, acting, cooking, finding a cure for cancer, or any combination thereof.

But the road to creative fulfillment is paved with artists who got totally screwed by people on their “team”, people who they probably trusted a great deal to handle their business (label, legal, financial, marketing, touring, etc.) so that they could focus on being creative. Merely off the cuff without thinking too hard about it, artists that come to mind who fill that bill include Prince, Billy Joel, TLC, and the Beatles, not to mention the thousands of lesser known artists.

I’ve gotten into heated debates with artist friends over this topic. I am of the firm belief that an artist should understand the business side of their work – however distasteful that may be – for the sole purpose of protecting themselves from the wolves at the door, who may or may not be strangers. Not saying artists need to become experts in every area, nor do they need to always be looking over the shoulders of every person on their team for the duration of their career. Ideally a balance can be struck whereby an artist can focus on creativity, but still be aware and savvy enough to know when things are getting hinky and act before any real damage is done.

This delicate balance will be different for every artist, and this is one reason why industry conferences such as South by Southwest represent a great opportunity for music artists to get something of a crash-course in the business side. And if SXSW is too difficult to get to, check closer to home for similar conferences in your area. The success of SXSW has inspired a great deal of copy-cats, albeit smaller, in lots of other cities.

There are also plenty of websites and books that cover the business side of music. Entertainment attorney Don Passman’s All You Need To Know About The Music Business is widely regarded as the all-encompassing bible. Starpolish is also a great resource, and be sure to check out their excellent forum as well.

However you go about it, if you’re an artist, please protect yourself. TCB!

Agree? Disagree? What do you think?