Pre-Written music business plan template available! This 25-page music business plan is fully written and includes example verbiage from a musician. Use it as a template to write your own.
Creative entrepreneurs have a responsibility to themselves (and their families where applicable) to make good financial decisions for their present and their future. Whether you’re full-time, part-time, or aspiring; being financially savvy is both good for business and good for your overall morale. However, for musicians, it’s way too easy to get distracted with making music and art while neglecting other important parts of being in business like taxes, legal considerations, insurance, and finances. If you’re hoping to build a strong financial foundation for your music business, starting with a Music Business Plan is highly recommended.
Anytime an aspiring business person applies for a business loan, banks usually ask for a business plan. That’s because they want to see if you have a solid plan for making money and staying in business so they can get their money back and get a return on their investment. Likewise, if you’re hoping to achieve any amount of financial success as a musician, it’s important to start with a plan so you can make your money and get a return on your time investment.
A business plan is basically a blueprint for success. It outlines who you are, what you are, what you’re selling, who you’re selling it to, what your challenges are, how you plan to overcome them, and finally, how you plan on earning money to cover your expenses and produce a profit. Putting together a business plan for your music business forces you to ask and answer these tough questions and pave a path to success.
Your business plan should include the following sections:
The executive summary is a quick synopsis of your business. It provides the who, what, and where. It’s sort of like a cover letter that you would include with a resume. It’s useful if you’re giving your business plan to someone such as a potential partner, investor, etc. It includes…
This is an overarching description of your business and its structure. It should include…
This section lists who your main players are. In this section, you’ll list who facilitates the operations of your business starting with yourself at the top and then moving down the hierarchy.
This is the final section of your business plan. It describes the financial health of your music business. In this section, you’ll illustrate how your business is doing financially by providing historical financial data (if you’ve been doing business for a while) and/or financial projections for the future. When illustrating financial projections make sure it is realistic! This section includes…
This section is very useful if you’re trying to apply for a business loan, business credit card, acquire investors, or show your business financials for other purposes such as taxes, insurance, rental/mortgage applications, or financial programs. It’s also great to see how you’ve done in the past and what you have to look forward to in the future.
Get the Music Business Plan Template for Musicians.
Free for members! Login or become a member below! Memberships start at just $5/month. Cancel anytime! Once you log in, you’ll see a link to the template in the exclusive members-only section below.
Preparing a business plan for your music business helps you build a solid blueprint to achieve success as a musician. It helps you create a map that will get you from starting with nothing to building your financial empire.
Some of the links in this post could be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, we could get a commission payment as a result. We are an Amazon Associate, so a lot of our links go directly to Amazon, one of our fave online retailers. The products we recommend on this site are personally recommended by us because we either have used the product personally or know close friends who have. There is no extra cost to you by clicking on our links. Plus, it helps keep this blog going. Win-Win! If you have any questions about our affiliate policy, click here to view our terms of service.
Enjoying this content? We’d love to send you our latest posts fresh off the press! We’ll deliver new posts directly to your inbox. Plus, you’ll be notified when we host giveaways, webinars, and other fun stuff. Join our mailing list here.
Want to showcase your product to our audience? Take a look at our advertising options here.
First and foremost, we hope that all of you and your loved ones are safe and doing well during this .
One of the biggest roadblocks keeping musicians from selling lots of merchandise is having to pre-purchase the items and hold .
To be successful as an independent artist, you have to be able to grow. This might mean learning new skills .
I recently did a 3 hour show and was reminded about the importance of connecting with your audience. A good .
Anitra Jay is an acoustic soul singer-songwriter based in Eureka Springs, AR. She tours regularly up and down the US from Vermont to Texas and everywhere in between. Her music is a sultry down to earth blend of soul, pop, and gospel. After being laid off from her job in 2007, Anitra decided to pursue a career in music. She took her educational experiences in Public Relations and her professional background in marketing and applied it full force to her music. She's found significant success in establishing a lasting fanbase using her special brand of marketing techniques which she shares freely with other artists. In addition to being a full-time performer, Anitra runs TheCraftyMusician.com, a blog for indie artists sharing actionable tips and advice on how to promote, develop, establish a fanbase, and more. Her passion is to inspire other musicians and build a community of like-minded independent artists to encourage and promote successful careers in the arts. She appeared on HGTV's Tiny House Hunters in May of 2017 to share her music story and her Tiny House Journey with the world. Join Anitra on YouTube where she shares weekly DIY tips and secrets to move your music career forward.
Hi Anitra, great blog! I came across this article by watching your YT series on the same topic and wondered if by becoming a member, I could not only access the very helpful business plan template, but would it also include the August, Lately insert for contextual purposes? Or is the latter only accessible via your biweekly YT episodes?
Anitra Jay says:Thanks Uasuf. The Music Business Plan Template that is available for members is pre-loaded will all of the August, Lately content. As of right now, the template only has the sections that have been covered in the YT series thus far. Let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for reading/watching!
Mars Coleman says: I’m a member but it won’t let me access the music business plan template. Anitra Jay says:Hi Mars. I sent you a welcome email with all the information you need to access it along with all of your other perks. Did you get it?
Mars Coleman says: I just had to be more patient! I’m good. You’re the best, thank you so much! Anitra Jay says: Ok great! Let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything!Comments are closed.
Hi! I'm Anitra Jay. I'm a touring Singer/Songwriter based in Eureka Springs, Ar. I write about my business successes, failures, and experiments while making a living doing music. Music has taken me many places and my most memorable experience is appearing on HGTV's Tiny House Hunters as traveling musicians together with my husband. I hope to inspire other singer/songwriters like me to go for their dreams without needing a record label. Click here to join me on YouTube where I share business secrets every week or ask me a question and receive a personalized video response here .
