Success Beyond The Score

What do you think about this word, ‘Plan’? What does it conjure in your mind?  Hard work that you don’t want to do, or glee because you relish identifying parts and their connections, and seeing if they work?

I’m a planner, but not everybody is.  Don’t get me wrong.  Some people are more holistic, top-down, see the bigger picture.  I’m the opposite. I see the big picture but I get down to the detail of how to make it happen. Actually, it doesn’t really matter too much which approach you prefer, as long as things are achieved.   

How does this relate to your music? 

Well, when you move forward, you are moving forward to something: your targets. How you move forward has to be decided. This is planning, deciding what, when, why, how, etc.  

Most of my music life, pre-42 years old, I just ambled along. I performed when invited. I had dreams of what I wanted to become, but no plans on how to get there. At 42, one of the significant things that made a difference and propelled me forward was maki...

The last weeks of December and the first of January are a time to relax and look back, but also to look forward. It is a good moment to decide on what you want to achieve in the new year, which is important because, without goals, you could find yourself drifting and not getting anywhere fast.

With this in mind, I tend to write my yearly music business plan around this time of the year. Yes, it is a scary word for some, but I have found that writing a plan has helped me to achieve more goals in better condition, than not having any outline at all. 

It is a good exercise to write it out. Doing so, I have learned to differentiate elements that could be done efficiently from those that would take longer, and also distinguish between the urgent and the important. Using the plan as a guide, I have also been able to go through the year seeing the opportunities that match my goals and go for them, and reject those that, even if they look beneficial, don't match and would only be distracting...