Find out what you can offer people that they can’t get any other way.
Marketers call this a Unique Selling Proposition, and I’ve
been dwelling on it far too much lately – because I do make music for money,
and because I’m surrounded by people who want to do the same. Some of you want
to go full-time, some want part-time, and some of you would be happy just to
recoup the money you spent making your last album. You know who you are. You’re
the ones still reading this.
You have to figure out how you’re unique – or hire a manager to figure it out for you. You have to come up with something people will pay for that they can’t get from anyone but you.
Increasingly – and, I think, unfortunately – this isn’t your recorded music. Can I hear your songs for free on MySpace? Then I don’t need to pay to listen. What I might still pay for, though, is a fixed copy of your music with nice packaging and artwork. I might pay to see you play your songs in person, or to join your fan club, or to somehow participate with you in what you do. These things are scarce, and therefore easier to charge for -- and they're not the only ideas folks are trying.
But it doesn’t start with wild ideas. It starts with you.
What makes you special?
I know – we’re all special. When you wrote that song at age 13 about the girl in science class who wouldn’t notice you, you knew in your gut it was a work of deep importance. And it was!
But maybe not to everyone. Maybe to someone who didn’t know
you personally, it didn’t mean that much. And if you want to go part-time, or
even just recoup expenses, you need cash from people who don’t know you
personally. You need something people who don’t know you want, something they
can’t get from anyone but you.
So what are you offering? What do you have that can’t be gotten anywhere else?
Answers in the comments section, please.
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