Balancing Creativity and Business

Balancing Creativity and Business: The Basics

For most musicians in today’s industry, you have to wear multiple hats to get the job done. Of course, the main role is being creative. Writing, experimenting, playing, practicing, and creating are essential to your core being. However, there is another role in your career and that’s business. Balancing creativity and business is a must.

Because of the current landscape of the music industry, more and more artists are coming to terms with that they are in theory a business. Jay-Z said it first, “I’m not a business man, I’m a business, man!” and then every rapper turned hustler or vice versa has said it since. With all jokes aside, the reality is, if you want to succeed in the music industry balancing creativity and business is crucial. Thinking strategically to better build your brand has the ability to drain you creatively. Let’s go over some tips that can make the balancing act a bit easier.

Balancing Creativity and Business: The Tips

One of the easiest things you can do to help balancing creativity and business is to separate the two roles. To put it simply, if possible – use two different physical spaces for your creative tasks and your business tasks. If you can’t afford different spaces, perhaps you can utilize different places in your home or room. Try your best to separate the roles. After you have designated different spaces and time to different roles it will allow you to focus on the task at hand. Over time your brain will begin associating your creative workspace with creativity and your business space with its’ role.

In addition to designated spaces – try and block out your time for each role. For some musicians, the creative process can’t be interrupted. If they get distracted the moment may be gone so multi-tasking can be quite difficult and perhaps even counterproductive. Schedule out your creative time and business time and stick to those blocks.

Additionally, having a plan on how you are going to implement these tips should be a priority. Winging it can work at times but not always. It can be very easy to get carried away without a dedicated plan. Write down your business plans and execute them. In addition to writing out your business plans, perhaps mapping out a creative direction will be most beneficial.

Balancing creativity and business comes down to the right mind set. Hopefully these tips will set you on the right path. payday loan