Having a budget for the time between music releases can sound overtop if not excessive. You might think, I’ve just done a release. Give me a break! Why on earth should I budget, again?
Here’s the thing, if you only ever concentrate your work and effort of music release time then you might work more in the end. Why? Because some tasks run most smoothly if you have them rolling continuously throughout the year.
Like data analytics for example. If you only ever do data analytics before a music release or during one then it can take much more time to get used to it again. Perhaps there are even changes happening on your social media platform and now you have to learn about it again.
Keeping the ball rolling is just always a good idea when it comes to a music career. What is more, having a budget between music releases can help make the actual release more successful.
Why you need a budget between releases
This is crazy, having a budget between releases can be a game-changer. For once you can keep running ads. Even if it’s just running with a small amount of money.
Also, having content coming to your fans between releases can help keep them engaged and interested. After all, they are most likely following you on social media as a person rather than a ‘music creating machine’.
All those things need time and money, both elements you can account for in a budget.
What is more, having a budget through the year can give you much needed planning security. Music releases need much time in advance for planning than you think.
Music Release Planning – How Far In Advance Should You Plan?
Also, things like website maintenance and SEO (search engine optimisation) need to be happing, if you have a release coming up or not.
How to draw up a budget between music releases
First of all, check what monetary resources you have available between music releases. You might still have your day job going and life to account for. No matter how much you can spare, write this on one side of your budget.
Now you know how many actions you can take. For example:
- 50€ a month: monthly fee for social media planner like Later or design suit like Canva+ website domain + music instrument upkeep and maintanace
- 100€: all of the above + singing lessons
- 150€: all of the above + rehearsal room rent (divided by band members)
- 200€: all of the above + one photoshooting for new social media content
- 250€: all of the above + one expert session (for example with booking agent, digital consultant, bookeeper)
- 300€: all of the above + one YouTube video cut professionally/ or 10€ a day for advertisement campaign on any social media platform
You see, the things you can do with each amount of money aren’t extreme nor rare in a musicians career.
Having a continuous budget can help you become more professional in the long run. Also, if you do things like advertisement campaigns only for releases you will need to trigger the algorithm new each time.
This can take time as well as money. Having a campaign running at all times gives you a lot of scope for optimisation as well as data analytics.
How to budget when you are on a budget
Here’s the thing: you don’t need fancy tools. The best investment in your music career will be learning how to use Excel sheets. There are many classes online where you can learn Excel, for example at Skillshare.
I know, this is not the sexy rock star life you’ve always dreamed of. However, without a budget, you will probably not become a rock star in the first place.
Another merit of having a fixed budget every month is cost control. If you know you only have 150€ each month to spend on your music career then you can exactly measure your costs.
What is more, it gives you a feeling of what things are worth paying for and what you cand yourself. It isn’t called ‘going down the DIY route’ for no reason.
Becoming cash savvy is a valuable experience you can use to your advantage. Literally getting more bang out of your buck and making your money stretch further will get you much more onto the route to success.
Only budgeting when you have a release coming up takes away the opportunities that present when you think outside the box!