Brainstorming Your Way Out Of The Music Box

There’s a lot to think about when you’re an independent musician; a lot to figure out on your own.

Coming up with a continuous flow of great ideas for marketing, promotion, touring and recording is draining, to say the least.

This is where brainstorming can help.

Taking the time for brainstorming sessions can be one of the best ways to figure out future moves and upcoming promotions for your music.

Even though one member of a group might be the de facto leader, everybody should be pitching in ideas in order to help further your business.

1. Get the group together

Pick a time and place to get everyone together to brainstorm. Be sure to include into the discussion, managers, producers, or anyone else who’s insight you respect.

Sit together in the round, and encourage everyone to contribute. Bounce ideas off each other until the barrage slows down or until there are none left at all. Write everything down and don’t dismiss any ideas at this point.

2. Wait and listen

After the session is over, wait a week or so to see if any ideas are still being remembered and discussed. Make a note of the ideas that are still getting talked about days after the brainstorming session is over.

3. Find the good ideas

Get together again as a group and start weeding out the bad ideas from the good. It’s best to limit the number of people this time to just the band or anyone else relevant to the process. Cross out the impossible, or dumb, ideas first.

Now go back and discuss which ideas are not actually in your budget. Things like elaborate underwater videos, stage pyrotechnics, and 20 page vinyl booklets may all be good ideas, but will never be done if they aren’t practical for your budget right now.

Think back to Step 2 and discuss the ideas that people were still talking about during the week. Are any of these useable?

Narrow your list of good ideas down to a number you think is manageable, for best result choose between one and five items.

4. Make it happen

Focus on one good idea at a time and make them happen. Delegate jobs to other members of your group so that everything gets done smoothly and on time.

Put in the effort required to make the ideas happen and you will get results.

5. Evaluate

After acting on these good ideas, what have you learned from them? Gather your group back together to discuss the outcomes.

Did the resulting tour go as planned? Did the new band name go over well? Did the crazy promotion idea gain you any new fans?

Try to establish why an idea worked, or failed.

Learn from your mistakes and repeat your successes.

Don’t be afraid to step out of the box.

While playing it safe will mean less failure, it will also mean less reward. Crazy ideas are the ones that can sometimes bring your music career to another level.

Make sure to not rule out every idea that seems implausible. If an idea can be done within your budget, but seems way outside of the box, re-evaluate it.

Is it crazy, or possible?

Brainstorming, and acting on some of the resulting crazy ideas led acts I was a part of to go on ambitious tours of Europe before we had even begun touring our own country. And, the result ending up being much better than if we had stayed home and done a more “practical” tour.

How has brainstorming helped your music career?

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Image by: andymangold