Being able to leverage historical data is no longer just a competitive advantage in the music industry — it’s a necessity for crafting strategies that stand out in a saturated market.
Understanding how to leverage this data is crucial for organizations at every level — from DIY bands to solo managers to record labels, talent management agencies, publishers, and more.
Unfortunately, the generic business management tools currently in use by many in our space fail to account for the unique needs of our industry, like providing the ability to capture and recall past campaign and event data, pointing to the need for industry-specific tools and processes.
Dedicated music business management software like Artist Growth Workspace changes that, empowering teams to analyze past performances, audience engagement, and campaign success so that they can make better and more informed decisions.
Here, we explore music business management platforms beyond their role as efficiency tools. As historical event and campaign databases, they provide valuable insights that management teams can use to plan better, more effective marketing and promotional campaigns, tours, partnerships, collaborations, and more.
Why the music industry needs dedicated management software
What does your artist management tech stack look like?
For many, word documents, spreadsheets, and even paper-based workflows are still the norm, with communications spread messily across texts, emails, phone calls, and Slack messages. Others rely on ill-fitting project management tools that do many things, but fail to deliver on the promise of greater productivity. As a result, information is routinely lost or miscommunicated.
The cost of all of this is enormous.
According to a 2022 survey, companies lose as much as $1.3 million dollars a year to inefficient tasks and processes each year. And as a whole, U.S. businesses lose more than $3 trillion annually due to poor data.
There’s also another cost, one that’s more difficult to quantify: The cost of falling behind.
Despite music’s pervasive presence in our lives, the industry itself has often been slow to change. While great strides have been made to collect data from various touch points (think ticket sales, streaming, etc.), the industry has taken a much slower approach to collecting and structuring operational data.
In order to stay ahead of the curve, music businesses must embrace new and disruptive technologies to address their unique operational needs. Music business management software is one such technology.
Unlike one-size-fits-all project management tools, a tool like Artist Growth Workspace enables artists’ teams to manage activities, data, events, and finances in a single, permission-based platform the entire team can rally around. By consolidating and streamlining every aspect of artist management, businesses are able to not only improve communication and efficiency, in the process reducing costs, but also look to historical data to make better decisions.
5 ways music business management software improves efficiency and productivity
Efficiency and productivity are paramount when teams are constantly being asked to do more with less. Here are five ways music business software can help:
1. Time savings
By templatizing repetitive tasks, such as event scheduling, music business management software frees up valuable time for artist managers, labels, and more. This is time that can be better spent on strategic activities that drive artists’ careers forward.
2. Streamlined workflows
Tools like Workspace provide a centralized platform that brings together all aspects of artist management, eliminating the need for multiple tools and manual processes. Individuals and teams can access and manage everything from contact information to event details to guest ticket requests in one place, streamlining workflows and reducing the risk of errors or oversights.
3. Improved organization
Music management software enables teams to organize activities, events, and other data in a structured and systematic manner. The event and campaign database serves as a central repository for all relevant information, making it easy to find and retrieve data quickly. This improves organization, making it easier to uncover insights and even locate past data when team members move on.
4. Enhanced collaboration
Artist management software facilitates collaboration among team members, artists, and external stakeholders, ensuring that everyone involved can work together seamlessly in the pursuit of common goals. This enhanced collaboration fosters creativity, efficiency, and synergy among various teams representing different aspects of an artist’s career.
5. Data-driven decision-making
Data is invaluable for making informed decisions and optimizing strategies. Music business software, with its database of past campaigns and events, enables teams to gain valuable insights into past performances, marketing campaigns and other promotions, internal ticket spend, and more.
Why an event and campaign database is essential to making data-driven decisions
Historical data in the music industry encompasses a wide array of information, from previous concert performances and tour successes to detailed records of marketing campaigns and promotional activities. Within all of this data lies the key to:
- Understanding what resonates with audiences
- Identifying trends over time
- Recognizing patterns that can inform future strategies
- Creating new, more efficient processes
By analyzing your campaign and event database, you can pinpoint successful elements that can be replicated or adapted to current and future projects.
Enhancing event planning and management
Information on past event logistics, audience demographics, ticket sales, guarantees, and venue capacities can guide organizers in choosing the right venues, optimizing ticket pricing strategies, and enhancing audience experiences, and determining lineups that draw larger crowds.
Tailoring marketing strategies for maximum impact
By evaluating the outcomes of past campaigns, including promotions, advertising pushes, and event sponsorships, marketers can create more personalized, effective marketing campaigns that achieve better engagement and ROI.
Fostering artist development and growth
Insights gained from past performances, album releases, and promotional activities offer a roadmap for developing an artist's brand and sound. It also enables targeted investment in projects with the highest potential for success, making resource allocation easier.
Choosing the right music business management software
The right management software can revolutionize your business, but the wrong tools can set you back. To help you select the right software, here are some tips to consider:
Identify your needs
Every company, team, and individual has unique requirements based on their artists, career goals, and working style. Before choosing a business management tool, identify your needs and prioritize the features that are most important to you.
Consider scalability
Unless you’re an individual artist, you're probably looking to grow your roster. Look for platforms that offer flexible pricing plans and can accommodate a growing number of artists and team members. It's also crucial that you're able to specify what individual users can access, edit, and so on, making permissions controls an important consideration.
Evaluate ease of use
Did you know that six in 10 leaders report poor experiences with digital tools as a contributing factor in employee turnover?
A user-friendly interface is crucial for maximizing productivity, minimizing learning curves, and attracting and retaining employees. Test out the software's user interface. Is it easy to navigate? How quickly can you can perform common tasks, such as creating events, requesting guest passes, or exporting itineraries?
Research customer support
Effective customer support and training resources are essential for a smooth onboarding process and ensuring ongoing usage. Look for comprehensive documentation, tutorials, new feature announcements, and responsive customer support.
Consider integrations
Integrations with tools like Bandsintown for Artists, Songkick, Google Calendar, iCal, etc., can eliminate countless hours of manual event entry and reduce errors. Consider the integrations currently offered, and if you don’t see one that’s important to you, reach out and ask. It could be that it’s on the roadmap or alert the team to the need for a future integration.
Read more: 10 Questions You Should Ask When Choosing Artist Management Software
Building a future on the foundation of the past
The music industry's future is increasingly data-driven. Leveraging technologies like music business management software enables artists’ teams to store and recall historical campaign and event information, transforming raw data into actionable insights.
These insights not only inform immediate strategic decisions but also contribute to a long-term vision that anticipates shifts in consumer behavior and market dynamics. By embracing a data-driven culture, industry professionals can navigate the complexities of the market with greater confidence and precision. The future of music lies in understanding its past. Those who harness this power will lead the way in innovation and success.
All of your artists’ activities, events, data, and finances in one platform
We created AG Workspace because — as artists and industry professionals ourselves — we found the existing tools inadequate for the needs of our industry.
Try Workspace free to see what dedicated music business management software can do for your productivity, data organization, and decision-making.
