Monetize Your Music: Rick Barker on Building a Fan Base That Pays (Episode 110)

Make Music Your Business.

Rick Barker managed Taylor Swift early in her career. Since stepping away from that role in 2008, he has made it his mission to help artists all over the world build, grow and monetize a fan base. He has worked with more than 1,600 clients in over 22 countries, and he runs the Music Industry Blueprint podcast and courses at rickbarker.com.

In Episode 110 of The Career Musician, Nomad picked Rick's brain on how to monetize your music as an independent artist, and why the business side is not optional. Here is what he shared.

Talent vs. artist: the business makes the difference

Rick's opening point is the one TCM was built on. Musicians think it is all about creating the music. It isn't.

"I don't care how great your music is if no one hears it."

Rick Barker, 3:06

In his view, the difference between talent and an artist is the business side. Talent can sing, rap and make beats. An artist does all that and also has an LLC, a website, structure and other people in the business. At the start of your career, you are your first manager, your first publisher, your first booking agent. You are the record label until someone else starts writing the checks.

His routine advice: look after both sides every day. If you are creative in the morning, create in the morning and do business in the afternoon. There are no set rules, just both parts handled. You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Your past does not define your future

Rick does not hide his story. In the late '80s he went from living homeless and addicted to drugs to, years later, helping launch one of the biggest stars in the world. When he got sober in 1989, he applied for radio internships and got a job answering phones at a big LA station. When they put him on the mic, he was terrible, because he tried to sound like everyone else.

The lesson stuck: people hire you to be you. Don't try to be the next somebody. Be the first you.

Too dumb to know any better

Years later, running a small country station north of Santa Barbara, Rick kept asking record company folks a simple question: why don't we ever get to hear these artists play? So he built his own solution. He called radio stations, set up paid shows, and when the labels were too stretched to send anyone, he offered to pick the artists up at the airport and drive them around himself. That hustle got him hired as a regional promoter by the label that was launching a 15-year-old Taylor Swift. He spent 30 days taking her on her radio tour. Six months later her family asked him to be her manager.

The label head's explanation for hiring him: he was too dumb to know any better. Rick took it the right way. Nobody was hiring him for a degree. They were hiring him for execution.

"In life we get paid for done. There are great starters, but they're terrible finishers."

Rick Barker, 17:42

That is Reliability beats virtuosity from the business side of the table. Be the person who solves problems and finishes.

Sidemen: rent out your experience

Nomad asked what a working sideman should do to take things to the next level. Rick's first question back: what does the next level mean to you? He left the Taylor Swift gig because he could not be the father and husband he wanted to be while gone 187 days a year. Success is personal.

From there, the options are wide. Record parts from home for independent artists who want to say a big-name player is on their record. Teach, and charge for your accolades. Build an email list. Create a course about the things you know cold, like what never to do at a gig. His rule: if you are on chapter three of a book, you have something to sell everyone on chapter one. That is Diversify or Die in practice.

Ask, and be honest about it

When the pandemic shut down touring, one of Rick's artists had 100 dates canceled and a living room full of merch boxes. Rick had him go live on Instagram, explain the situation honestly, and let fans name a fair price. He sold almost 300 shirts. Fans will hand money to strangers on the street, Rick said, but often won't support the artists they love, simply because those artists never asked. Don't be the person who only shows up when you need something. But don't be afraid to be vulnerable either.

Invest in yourself, and set real milestones

Rick practices what he teaches. He showed his own community that in one year he spent close to $90,000 on coaching and masterminds. His line on it: don't pay for a coach who doesn't pay for coaching. He also told the story of paying $500 for a half hour with a business coach and turning that one conversation into $180,000 in new business.

On success, he keeps it realistic. If you can make a living doing what you love while being your own boss, you are ahead of most people. Then set small milestones: your first 1,000 email addresses, your first five shows, a release you can bundle into an offer. This business is a series of "what's next." When someone hands him a big 90-day goal, he asks how many shows they played last year. If the answer is none, start with five.

Being ready is the whole game. Luck = preparation + opportunity. Rick can get a meeting with a label president, but if you only have one song and ten coffee shop shows, he can't walk you in.

The takeaway

Treat your music like a business. Be the first you. Finish what you start. Serve people first, ask honestly, and invest in getting better. As Rick put it, go into everything with a servant's heart and the money will find you. If you are ready to map out your next steps, start with the free plan of attack (POA) worksheet and the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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