Why Should Musicians Set Themselves Goals?

Releasing music as a DIY artist can be a thankless and difficult job when you are trying to get your release off the ground.

If you are starting with no fan base, or credibility in your genre, you need to start at the beginning.

Strategising a solid marketing campaign for your release alongside the goals of things you want to achieve will skyrocket your results.

If you know what you want to achieve, you can work out the steps you need to take to get there.

From there you have a plan to work to which makes staying on track easier.

In addition to giving your release a purpose with an end goal there are more benefits to consider…

Take Control of Your Release 

Being an independent musician means you control every aspect of your release campaign. 

Setting goals gives you direction in where you are going with your release and allows you to see how close you are to achieving your desired result. 

Without goals, you can spend forever releasing music without it getting you anywhere. 

If there is no foundation to build anything upon, you aimlessly release music and do not see anything in return.

Measure Your Progress 

Setting yourself a target gives you a vision to work towards. 

It can be disheartening if you are putting out release after release and feel stagnant, like you aren’t moving forward. 

Goals allow you to measure your progress and see momentum moving forwards. 

If you can see the momentum you are gaining, you will feel motivated to continue and push harder to achieve the end result. 

Keep You Motivated 

A PR campaign is a marathon, not a sprint. 

Motivation is tough to keep up with when completing a long and arduous task. 

Releasing music is a long process. 

From having a song idea to completing its PR campaign can take years to complete.

It can be hard to stay motivated and on task during that time. 

Life gets in the way, and obstacles you hadn’t figured into your plan crop up.

Tracking your progress by seeing yourself closer to your goal will help keep you pushing forward. 

Seeing yourself achieve the steps along the way will make you appreciate and celebrate the little wins and prepare you to take on the next step.

Carry Your Acceleration Onto The Next Release 

The first single you release will probably not make you a global superstar, and it’s easy to get disheartened if you can’t measure how far you have come.

Goals will allow you to see what worked in your PR Strategy, what didn’t and how to improve it next time. 

If you can see what went right, you instantly have a head start for the next PR campaign that you run. 

By the time you have a few campaigns under your belt, you will have a solid foundation of what you need to do to make it successful.

Equally, you will know the things not to do – the things that are a waste of time and aren’t worth the energy you put into them. 

Music Promotion Campaigns Are a Learning Curve

The more music release campaigns you complete, the more lessons you learn, and the easier the next release will be to complete successfully. 

We all make mistakes. It’s common to spend you budget in the wrong area or max out the budget too quickly.

But each campaign you execute will teach you lessons and make you stronger for the next.

What Types of Goals Should I set?

When setting goals, it is important to be realistic without being safe. 

So push for the next level but make sure it is achievable. 

Types of goals within a Music Promotion campaign include; 

• Number of streams you’d like to achieve
• Number of Bandcamp sales
• Number of social media followers you want to gain
• Number of Youtube views you’d like to get
• How much revenue do you want to make? 
• Do you want the single to be used for TV, Film or Game placement? 
• How many blogs do you want to be featured in? 
• How many interviews would you like to do? 

There are many ways to measure your progress. It all depends on what you want to achieve when releasing new music. 

So take your time when setting your goals and make sure they are right for you.

You Have Your Goal – What’s Next?

Congratulations! 

Having your goal in mind is the first step to success.

So, what comes next? 

You need to decide where you are starting and where you want to finish.

Example 

Start 0 followers or streams on Spotify. 

Finish: Gain 1000 Spotify streams.

By seeing where you are beginning and where you want to end, you can plot the necessary steps to get you there. 

So, as in the example, if you are starting from scratch with no fans, exposure, or streams, we need to set out the steps required to get to 1000 Spotify Streams.

But how will we gain 1000 Spotify streams with our Msuic promotion Campaign?

We need people to hear about your music. So we need to be featured on curators press including:

• Music Blogs 
• Radio Stations
• Spotify Playlists
• Music Forums
• Youtube 
• Live Gigs 

Now you can see what you want to achieve and how you will get there. 

So before you do anything else, write down the following: 

Where you are starting from > 

What you want to achieve > 

Next, fill in the steps you’ll take to get there. 

It is an effective strategy to physically see your plan before putting it into action. 

Multiwinning

When releasing music, you can achieve more than one goal at once. 

For example, say your goal is to achieve 1000 streams with a new single. 

One of the ways to get 1000 new streams is to get reviewed on a Music Blog.

Some people reading the blog will find you on social media = new followers.

Also, many readers will look for your music video = Youtube views. 

Streams and Youtube views = revenue. 

The point is that your hard work will pay off in many ways. 

The more effort you put into your PR Campaign, the greater the results will be.

One goal can lead to multiple achievements being accomplished. 

These wins should be monitored and celebrated. 

Time Frame 

It is an excellent start simply knowing what you want to achieve. It’s half the battle to success. 

Now you need to set a time frame of how long you will give it to work. 

Giving yourself enough time to reach your goals is essential, but not too much where things become stale and unexciting.

Individual Needs

When plotting your time frame and strategy, remember that it may take a varying amount of time based on your goal. 

It will take longer to achieve 1000 Spotify Streams than get 20 new mailing list subscribers. 

Plus, your goals will change each time you release music, so your strategy needs to evolve with every new release. 

Don’t Be Hard On Yourself

Remember to balance your time. 

You are an independent musician, meaning you must wear ten different hats at any time. 

You are your own writer, performer, manager, booking agent, graphic designer, PR company, agent, and so much more! 

If you are anything like I am, I just want to write and perform songs. But all other areas need to be covered to allow for that. 

You have other commitments, family, friends, and a day job. 

So when you get to the stage of conducting your Music PR Campaign, make sure you cut out a portion of each day where you can solely work on your music marketing.

Create a plan for your time and stick to it. 

It is crucial to your success. 

Whether you spend time researching a topic you don’t know much about or executing a strategy, make time without distractions. 

What To Do Next

• Choose the goal you want to achieve 
• Decide the steps it will take to get there
• Plot out a time frame for success 
• Take each step as it comes – day by day 

FVMusicBlog March 2023