In my line of work, I am fortunate enough to come across people from all sorts of statuses. I have done business with brand new artists, whom have yet to release projects to major artists whom require 60K per show. What a lot of people seem to forget is the brand value that one acquires as they become sought after. In every area of business, your product has a cost, but the value is what will determine what people PAY for your product.
As new artists you may come into the business and have to PAY to perform, sell tickets for the event, or book yourself for a show. The goal is to become an act that people are willing to come out and pay to see, at that point and only then (in my opinion) should you be paid or even fix your mouth to charge people for ANYTHING. YES, I said anything. If you are an artist and have ZERO brand value, I do not see a reason for you to be charging for features or shows. Please keep in mind that I said BRAND value. When I use that term, I’m not saying that you have to be a MAJOR artist, but you do need some sort of fan base. (Remember fans are the ones willing to pay for your merchandise and/or pay to come see you.)
What irks my nerves when dealing with indie artists is when they are trying to conduct business, but not really conducting business. I have spoken on this before and will say it again. IF you are not in this to make money, please STOP harassing people to “support” you or claim you want to do business. Artists need to understand that business/service providers, such as; DJS, promoters, publicist and so forth ALSO have brand value. There are some whom are brand new, so you may be able to get their services/products for a low cost. This does not mean you will get a worse product or low quality, it just means that this person is still building their brand value. On the other hand, there are some whom are already established and have a following of their own, so you are not simply paying for a service or product, you are paying for the brand value.
The simplest way to explain this is…Toyota VS Lexus…Did you know that these companies are BOTH owned by TOYOTA???? Well, they are! What separates the two? Funny you ask. The Toyota brand was released as a family brand/affordable, BUT their counterpart, LEXUS was released as luxury/higher cost vehicles. At the end of the day, these vehicles are one in the same. So why pay more? The name itself COSTS and stands for something. This is known as BRAND VALUE.
Lesson of the day, remember that the BRAND you want to affiliate yourself with or pushing you may cost more because they have worked and built their name. Don’t get mad, if you work hard, one day your brand will also cost and I bet you won’t want people lowering your value.
Ms.Breezy,
We are always available for business. Contact us with questions, concerns, or suggestions. We would love to hear from you
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