Before we get started, you can download this guide in a checklist format for easy reference. Click here to download our FREE 8 Steps to Become a Full-Time Singer/Songwriter Checklist.
Becoming a singer/songwriter is quite the fulfilling journey. You get to work a job that’s inspiring to yourself and to others. You get to fulfill your passion making good music. You get to meet different people all over the world, and you get to impact the world with your art. The best part about it is that you can do all those things without needing a degree, a lot of money, or a record label. Learning how to become a singer-songwriter is a learn-as-you-go sort of job. Here are 8 Steps to Become a Successful, Full-Time Singer-Songwriter…
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” ― Aristotle
— The Crafty Musician (@IndieArtistsDIY) April 20, 2018
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Luckily, there are already tons of resources available for you to become the best singer-songwriter you can be and do it full-time! Whether you’re just starting out or have been doing music for a while and need some encouragement regarding how to do it on a full-time basis, follow the tips in this guide and you’ll become a full-time singer-songwriter sooner than you might think. The key is to be committed to reaching your goals.
Step 1: To become a full-time singer-songwriter, Get Clear On What You Want!
Speaking of goals, what are yours? A set of goals for a singer-songwriter, is like having a business plan. Without it, you’ll be wasting a lot of time and money. Goals help to bring you clarity. Having clear goals will help you make better decisions and they help focus your priorities. Unfortunately, there’s a right way and a wrong way to outline your goals. A good set of goals will help keep you rooted in reality instead of aiming for pie in the sky dreams you may never reach.
Here’s an example of a good goal:
Good Goal: I will release a full-length album by July of 2020.
A good goal is doable, realistic, is quantifiable and contains a deadline. This goal clearly defines what it is you’re seeking and when you want to have it by. This is how all your goals should be constructed. Prepare a goals document and list out all of your goals and dates defining when you’d like to reach your goals. Anything that you want to do should be included in this document. Start at the very top, i.e your ultimate goal. For example, start by declaring what you will have accomplished at the end of your career. Then work your way down from there. Print this document out. Put it on your wall and read it every week. If you need help creating a set of goals, take a look at this article I wrote recently on goal setting.
Step 2: Get An Instrument And Learn It
Having an instrument is not a necessity to becoming a singer-songwriter, but it will help speed things along. When you’re writing a song, it helps to have an instrument nearby to hear the music along with the lyrics. Being able to play an instrument could help you write better songs. Everyone’s songwriting process is different. Personally, I find it useful to have a guitar or keyboard handy when writing my songs. Adding that extra layer of music during the songwriting process often helps me flesh out missing pieces of the song. Plus, it will definitely help you save money because you’re not having to hire anyone to play along with you during practices and live performances.
If you don’t know how to play an instrument, you should at least learn the basics. I taught myself to play guitar with the Keep It Simple Series Guide to Playing Guitar by Terry Burrows. It includes an overview of basic theory, basic chords, and it teaches playing styles from different genres. It also includes a CD with backing tracks. This is how I learned to play guitar – before I knew anything about YouTube. But there are plenty of free online courses you can try on YouTube. Check out Mary Schwartz, or try this Free 10 Day Starter Course, and The Easiest Two Chords on Guitar by Andy Guitar. These should get you started in the right direction.
You don’t have to be a skilled instrumentalist in order to be a singer-songwriter. Basic knowledge of the instrument will bring you a very long way. What you’re selling as a singer-songwriter is a lot more than musicianship. You’re selling the feeling.
Step 3: Write Awesome Songs & Record Them
The feeling and attitude you portray in your music is what sells. That feeling is what will attract people to your music. That’s why it’s uber important to get your first set of songs recorded on an album. This creates something tangible for people to take with them whether they’re buying a physical album at a show or a digital track online.
Write and polish your songs. Perform them for your friends and family. Get feedback from them. Write some more and keep writing until you feel comfortable sharing your music with the general public. It might help to study songwriting techniques. Use songs from your favorite artists as an example. See if you can find patterns to their songwriting that could help you craft better songs. However, there aren’t any rules here. It’s all up to how you feel. You’ll know for yourself when you’re ready to release your music.
When the time comes to release your songs, start out small with a 4-song EP. If you can’t afford to go into a professional studio, you can record the songs at home on your computer and have someone mix and master them for you. (If you need an equipment list to set up your home studio, check out this post.) Believe it or not, it is very possible to find a good sound engineer on Fiverr. I’ve used sellers on Fiverr for all kinds of stuff including digital mastering for my albums. It got the job done and it gave me what I needed for only a fraction of the average price. You can get a short run (100) of full-color albums printed up along with full-color CD jackets for as little as $300 at Discmakers. Or, if you’re really strapped for cash, you can print up 20 CDs at home and make a DIY party out of it. In certain situations, like at a merchandise table, your DIY merchandise will sell better than professionally made stuff. I can personally vouch for that.
On the flip side, with everything moving online, you may not even have to release a physical album. You could possibly do a campaign where you release one Single once a month in a digital format and bypass album production altogether!
+Related: The Bare Essentials of a Decent Home Studio
Step 4: Get A Website
In order to become a professional singer-songwriter, you MUST have an online presence starting with your professional website. I recommend getting a website with your own domain instead of going the cheaper route where you have to share a domain with the hosting company. For example, www.laurenspence.com is a much better look than www.laurenspense.wix.com. The first example gives off a more professional, serious impression. Whereas the second example, makes the artist look like an amateur as though she is not taking things seriously. This website will be the face and hub of your brand online. Therefore, you need it to be extra good and professional looking. You want to make a good first impression with potential fans, venues, members of the media, and everyone else coming to your website for information about you. Start your website today for only $3.95 a month.
I have a couple resources you can take advantage of for building a professional looking website here…
- 10 Must Haves for Your Artist Website
- Putting Your Best Foot Forward: An Intimate Conversation with A Professional Web Designer about building an online presence that sells.
- Get a dedicated domain with Bluehost for only $3.95 a month and get a free WordPress theme for musicians to launch your website.
Step 5: Get Social
Nine times out of ten, your fans will be on social media conversing with their friends, family, and arguing with the general public about the latest controversy or political incident. If you want to reach people, you need to be right up in there. It is estimated that 81% of the US population has a social media profile and there are about 2.5 billion users worldwide. A lot of people are on social media. If you don’t have a presence on social media for your music, you’re missing a big chunk of promotion opportunity.
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I suggest to start small and work your way up. Start with one social media platform, kill it and then move to another one and kill that one. Tackle social media platforms this way until you’ve conquered them all.
One thing to remember when promoting on social media is that each platform is built differently and should be used for different purposes. The way you use each should align with the way your fans use each. For example, Facebook is more for sharing and connecting over stories, ideas, thoughts, and conversations. Twitter is more for sharing quick tidbits about what you’re doing and thinking throughout the day. So you’ll probably tweet more content in smaller bites throughout the day on Twitter and share just a few cool stories and participate in a few conversations per day on Facebook. On the other hand, Instagram is all about capturing an experience in photos. Learn how to use and thrive on each platform so you can leverage it best for your music.
+7 Mistakes that Will Kill Your Facebook Efforts
Step 6: Book Paying Gigs
Now that you’ve got your music recorded and you have an online presence, it’s time to put yourself out there on someone’s stage. At this juncture you may not have quite enough material to fill an entire set, so it’s good to learn a few cover tunes that go well with your voice and style to fill in some time gaps. Focus on learning easy tunes from Top 40s in your preferred genre. Make sure you have enough material where you can fill an average set in your area. Check your local show listings and see what venues present live music and how long on average those sets are. That’s about how long of a set you should plan for. It will probably be anywhere from 2 – 4 hours depending on the city.
When you’re ready to start booking your first couple of shows, prepare yourself. You will be handsomely rewarded for consistency. But you will run into some rejection and people ignoring you at first. For help preparing your booking pitch and how to get gigs, sign up for my 4 Day e-course – How to Book Gigs.
Booking paid gigs can be difficult especially if you have no previous experience performing. Coffee shops, art markets, farmers’ markets, busking, and family get-togethers are great places to start when looking for your first couple of gigs. Your first several gigs may be unpaid. And that’s ok when you’re just starting out. You need those gigs for the experience. These gigs will teach you how to put on a good show. It will help you learn how to manage your nerves. And it will help you get all the kinks out of your set-up and sound.
Once you get these gigs under your belt, you can shoot for something that pays. In the How to Book Gigs e-course I mentioned above, I show you how to set up your booking and calendar to keep your calendar full with paid gigs.
Step 7: Build A Loyal Fan Base
You can not be a successful full-time singer-songwriter without a loyal fan base. Your fan base is what supports your career. The people who come out to your shows, buy your merchandise, buy your music, contribute to your funding campaigns, open your emails, and do everything else for you in between are your fan base.
You get them by building one relationship at a time. Over time and with the right attitude, you will have a super fan base who will support your music.
In order to start building your fan base, there is one thing you need to keep in mind. If you operate with this one principle, you can get to your ultimate goal of becoming a full-time singer-songwriter much faster. This is one of the things I wish I had known when I first started pursuing music full-time. That one thing is…Conversion.
You need to convert every person you come in contact with into a subscriber on your mailing list.
Make conversion your mission with everything you do because your mailing list will be the tool you use to direct people where you want them to go. It is by far the very best and most effective way of communicating with your fans and getting them to do what you want them to do.
Whether you meet them through your website and you convert them with your squeeze page, or you meet them through Twitter, or at a show; conversion should be your goal when it comes to building a fan base. Once you add people to your mailing list, then you can start a personal conversation with them, get to know them, remind them about your music, your causes, invite them to shows, invite them to your Facebook group, and have them buy your merchandise, etc.
So how do you build a loyal fanbase?
- Start a newsletter. I suggest MailerLite or Mailchimp.
- Send an email to all of your contacts who would be interested in learning more about your musical endeavors. Ask them to join your mailing list. Don’t forget to send them a link to your signup page so they can join! It can be something as simple as “Hey friend! I’m starting a new music project called (your artist name). I’m doing a soft launch next week where I debut my (latest project) and I’m inviting my closest friends and family to be a part of the launch. Can I add you to my VIP list?”
- Create a landing page or squeeze page where you collect emails in exchange for an incentive.
- Look at all of your channels where you appear online. Come up with a strategy to actively convert them on those channels.
- For example, share a link to a squeeze page in your social media bios and profiles. Actively promote your newsletter list weekly.
- Utilize instant messaging (without looking spammy) in social media such as Twitter and start actively engaging with people who follow you.
- Utilize pop-up forms on your website.
- Join NoiseTrade, Reverbnation, and Soundcloud.
- Start a blog and engage in intense SEO strategies.
- Add yourself to any local directories of artists in your city.
- Add a link promoting your squeeze page in the signature line for all of your emails.
- Actively promote your list while performing live. Make announcements about it from the stage and include a sign-up sheet or guest book on your merchandise table.
- Run contests online and offline to attract people to your website and add them to your mailing list.
- Identify and reach your ideal music fans with this fan building worksheet.
- Be consistent. Send newsletters out frequently. Here are some ideas on what topics to write about in newsletters. I like to send newsletters at least once a month. However, my fans hear from me more often than that because I also send out several personal emails on a daily basis.
- Get the latest book on the music industry and always look for new ways to promote your music and advance your career. We recommend the following list of books to get acquainted with the new music industry...
- Currently, we’re reading Ari Herstand’s second edition book, ‘How to Make it in the New Music Industry.’ It’s a great depiction of the music industry today and how best to navigate through it and make a living.
- Hack the Music Business: Build Your Own Career by Dave Kusek is a book written by the co-founder of Berklee Online about how you can build a successful career in music without a record label.
- Viral Personal Branding: Marketing a Personal Brand, Building Buzz, and Getting Your Dream Clients (Fans) by Myke Allebach is about creating buzz surrounding your image. It’s written for social media influencers, but there’s a lot that can be gleaned for musicians as well!
These are just a few ideas to get you started. There are many, many ways you can attract the right people to your music. Find a few strategies that work for you and put all your attention on that. Remember to focus on your fans. Treat them like gold. Give them stuff. Love on them. They are your foundation. Without them, your singer-songwriter career will go nowhere.
The other thing to consider is money. Money is a huge factor when deciding to become a full-time independent artist. The thought of not having enough of it is what keeps most of us from doing anything about what we really want to do. Well, I’m here to tell you, you can do it. You can be a full-time singer-songwriter. All you have to do is make it work for you.
Step 8: Make the Money Work For You
Before, we go into the money aspect of being a full-time artist, let me first say that I’m no financial advisor and these are just my opinions. If they work for your situation, great! If not, then figure out what works best for you then do that.
There are a few steps you should take before you can quit your job. This process may take a while, but if you’re going to make the jump off into the deep end, you’d better be sure you’re ready to do it.
- Pay off debt. You’ll be better off if you didn’t have any debt. The borrower is servant to the lender. If you’re going to be your own boss, you shouldn’t be anyone’s servant. A load of debt can dictate what jobs you take and virtually every part of your life. It can eat up all of your profits and leave you with leftovers. Do what you can to get out of debt.
- Reduce your monthly spending. It’s not about how much you make, it’s about how much you spend. Take a long, hard look at how you’re currently spending your money. See if you can identify areas where you can cut back your spending. Create a budget and stick to it. You need to get to a point in your budget where you’re earning more than you spend so you don’t have to live off of borrowed money, and save money so you can start building wealth. You may have to make some tough choices. I sold my house, got rid of my mortgage and built a tiny house in order to make things work.
- Define your monthly expenses. After you’ve reduced your spending, you need to figure out how much you need per month to live comfortably. Whether you are supporting a family or just yourself, you need to know how much it takes to run your household. Once you have that number, then you can shoot for earning that amount every month with your music. Use my income boosting spreadsheet to help you strategize how to do that.
- Supplement your income. Look for ways to earn money with side hustles to supplement your income. In addition to doing music, there are other things you can also do to earn an income directly or indirectly related to your artistic endeavors. Get creative. Here are 5 Side Hustle Ideas and 5 Passive Income Strategies for Musicians to start with.
- Quit your day job. This is the last thing to do before becoming a full-time independent artist. I’m going to be honest. It’s a scary feeling, at first. You have to pay your self-employment taxes, you have to pay for your own health insurance and benefits, you don’t get paid vacation or sick days. There will be times you might not have as much money as you want. There are pros and cons to becoming a full-time singer-songwriter just as there are for every big decision. But the trade-off is well worth it. Only you can make this decision on when to quit your day job. As long as you are making enough money to cover your expenses, you can enjoy a successful and sustainable career as a singer-songwriter.
Rinse and Repeat.
When you feel like you’ve done all of these tips and need to refresh, take a break for a time and repeat the process. You’ll inevitably have a lot more to say as you grow in your art and in life. We are constantly rebranding ourselves in life and the same goes for our art. Rinse and repeat these steps to remain on the cutting edge.
The two keys to becoming a successful, full-time singer-songwriter are to create realistic goals, and to be consistent. Keep your focus on the right things and don’t get sidetracked. There’s a lot of information and a lot of things you can do with music. As long as you stay true to yourself and your individual goals, you will find success.
More Resources…
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An excellent overview, Anitra!
Thanks Astra. I’m sure you have some good tips on this topic!