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MUSIC INDUSTRY WORKSHOP / GETTING A RECORD DEAL / GOALS, TARGETS, PRIORITIES #45

334 views · Published 14 October 2016 · 3:33 · Indexed 31 October 2026

Channel: Damian Keyes · 2016 · People & Blogs

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Goals Targets and Priorities

Goals / Targets and Priorities - It’s crucial we think of these 3 things in this order. Musicians have a habit of working the wrong way around and starting off with the priorities which limit your strategies. 

Example 1
Priority - I love writing songs
Targets -  I guess I’ll make an album 
Goal - I’ve made the album so I will promote it and try and get a record deal

This route of a musician/band writing songs until they have enough to record an album only to finish the album and start to think about how to promote and sell it is the tail wagging the dog and something I see several times a day from bands. Each action taken is due to a result which the band feels like doing at the time with no clear defined vision. It’s very much a ‘what next?’ strategy.

If you flip reverse the scenario and work the opposite way around then every decision made is towards the end goal, not because we feel like it, or because its the natural progression but because its taking a step closer to that end goal. So in reversing this example the goal becomes : “Getting a record deal”. Do we need to make a record to get a record deal? No. So the strategy changes instantly and every decision becomes a question of “Will this take us closer to getting a record deal?”

Example B
Goal - To get a record deal
Target - To build a following  (Monthly - 1000 new followers / 5 gigs)
    Weekly - 2 rehearsals / 2 song writing sessions   
Priority - content creation - Demos, live videos, testing content

This example above shows how much easier it is to concentrate on the plan when you start with the Goal then work backwards to set your own targets and THEN decide on what the priorities should be to achieve them. 

Example 3A
Goal - To become a full time studio session musician
Target - To record myself daily at home, build a network of musicians/producers/studios/songwriters etc
Priority - Set up recording facility at home, prioritise LinkedIn to network, make show reel of playing.

You are in control of your career but your career isn't in control of you. You decide on the journey and if you feel you are straying from the path then its easy to get back on track however if you have no goals then who knows if you are on the track or not. You are a rudderless ship bumping into opportunities and hoping that one day you will hit something you call a career. 

Goals / Targets / Priorities - Have a go at writing your ideas down

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