Savvy Musician Academy FAQ’S Guide

Q: Business Licensing - Do I need a business license before or when marketing and selling my music?

A: You need to talk to a CPA -- this is not advice anyone can give you because it completely depends on the tax laws in your state/country and your end objectives. There is not a blanket answer for this because there’s so much nuance depending on the specific details of the question such as; do you play live paid gigs, do you sell physical merchandise, do you stream your music digitally? 

At the very least you should be registered with a PRO like SOCAN in Canada or ASCAP in the USA.

In general, a business license is required for any registered business engaging in commercial activity within a municipality or city. The definition of commercial activity can differ depending on the municipality or city, but it generally includes any activity that involves selling goods or services for profit.

Q: Boosting Posts - Should I be boosting posts?
A: From Leah: My official stance on it is 1) if you use boosting, use it only as a way to get more reach for a post that already has momentum. 2) Boosting does not replace real advertising, which is taught in SFS & Elite. It will not guarantee sales because it’s not designed for that objective.

Q: Sync Licensing - How do I submit my music for sync licensing?
A: From Leah: That's not my area of expertise but Michael Elsner is a great guy to learn from.

Q: Do you have any warehouse recommendations for the EU or North America?
A: Leah’s previous 3PL warehouse in the EU went out of business and she moved all her physical merch to the USA at her own warehouse. So no specific recommendations. There are a lot of good 3PL (3rd party logistics - companies who store, pick, pack, and ship goods on your behalf) all over the world. Do some research on the area you want to ship from and contact at least three 3PL’s. Gather the information and costs for each of them to select the best one you align with. Just keep in mind, most musicians do not have the regular volume of merch or sales to justify hiring out your warehousing and shipping.

 Q: Facebook IOS Updates - How do I navigate the Facebook IOS 14+ update?

A: Here's the nutshell version: The iOS 14 update allows users to opt-out of Facebook data & tracking. It's estimated up to 80% of people will opt out of giving data to FB to track web behavior outside of the app. The implications are huge, as we won't be able to track certain events of a customer journey (known as Events in the Facebook pixel), such as viewing a page, initiate checkout, etc.

This isn't as big of a deal for Shopify users as we're often sending people to one domain, but people who have sales funnels on multiple domains (Clickfunnels, etc) will have a real hard time tracking the quality of their traffic.

The main thing: Don't panic. Successful advertising existed long before Facebook ads and will continue. Facebook ads will still work and will still be effective, it's a matter of tweaking a few things and adjusting expectations as well as a reorientation to what works now. Welcome to being an entrepreneur.

I made 6 figures in my music business without any Facebook ads or pixels or any of that, so it's definitely possible. What you need to focus on:

- Verify your website domains inside your business manager

- In your ad account under Events Manager, select your most important "events" that would be most important for you to track, such as leads and/or purchases. This is a tab in your Events manager called "Aggregated Events Management". I set mine to Purchases and Complete Registrations.

- Build engagement audiences, such as video views & engagers on FB & IG

- Put a lot of focus on building your email list -- this would be my #1 marketing activity.

- Start thinking about following up with customers via bots/Manychat and SMS (Drip offers an SMS feature) since retargeting will become a challenge.

Q: Email Provider (CRM) - Which email service provider (CRM) do you recommend?
A: Leah recommends Drip over MailChimp. Her favorite combination is Drip + Shopify. Drip is specifically made for e-commerce businesses and integrates flawlessly with Shopify.

Q: E-Comm - Which e-commerce platform should I use?
A: Shopify is the industry standard, all the apps available make your life easy and increase the value of your site, most successful stores are on Shopify, it’s a familiar shopping & checkout experience people are already used to which increases conversion rates....and 100 other reasons
 
Q: Facebook Ads - Do Facebook ads still work? Have the metrics changed?
A: Classic question. Yes! A lot depends on your niche, what you are offering, your copywriting and creatives - #1 reason ads fail is people jump in too fast before really understanding their product market fit. And since music is a form of art, if it sucks, no ads will ever work. Make sure your music is something people actually want and like.

 You should be seeing at least a 1% link click-through rate (CTR)

- Your audience should be excited about you and to get a free song

- Shows that people are engaging with your ad & clicking on it

People who go to the landing page, it should be converting at least 20-25%

- If it’s lower than that, that indicates that there is an issue with the landing page

- This indicates that the landing page needs some work and is not connecting

- Could be inconsistent with the ad/asset leads are seeing before the LP

- Targeting could be off and not relevant to the right audience.

For the big 4 (Canada, USA, UK & Australia) you should be able to get opt-ins

between $.50 - $.80 (Leah wants you to get under $0.40 if possible)

- Keep in mind that everyone will vary a little depending on how well your targeting is dialed in. You will get better with time and practice!

Remember, this is a principle - don’t just go for the cheapest opt-ins you can blindly. Cheap doesn’t always = best quality, i.e - buyer intent.

- This goes for warm and cold audiences. Typically you can expect to get less expensive opt-ins from a warmer audience but that is not always the case.

And if you don’t at first succeed, try, try again! Are you speaking to them in a relevant way both through the copy, the creative, and the offer?

From Leah: I currently get leads for .50-.75

All depends on your offer, how good your visuals and copywriting are. The targeting AI is so good these days that it's not usually the problem, it's the creatives.

Q: Facebook -Audience Insights - Facebook Audience Insights has changed, how do I target my audience?
A: Facebook's Audience Insight Tool has changed a lot and they don't have as detailed targeting options as before. However, they haven’t removed all targeting options and you will just have to use broader interests and other similar artists. There’s always a way and it will take some creativity, but also less - because the thing is, AI has improved so much that you can go a lot broader and get the same or better results. Think, where do your buyers shop? What movies, books, magazines, etc Paraphrased: although Facebook Insights has changed quite a bit, not all of the targeting options are gone. They just aren't as detailed and you'll have to think a bit broader. Since AI has improved so much that you can go a lot broader and get the same or better results. You'll have to get creative and think about where your buyer's shop, what movies they watch, etc.

Karen's input: You may also want to take a look at Google Analytics. Just be aware that in order to access it, you have to create a Google Ad account and be careful not to actually run an ad unless you're wanting to. 

Q: Social Media Changes - Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube keep changing and aren’t the same as what’s currently in the course. Is what’s taught in the course still relevant? What about TikTok? How Do I navigate ongoing social media changes?
A: Yes, the marketing principles are the same regardless of the platform and any changes. Just learn what works natively to each platform, spend time on it, try stuff out and experiment! There are tons of content creators you can find on any platform you can follow for more insights and strategies. Get creative.

Q: Lack of results/sales - Why am I not getting results/sales I was expecting after going through the course? Can I expect to make a living from my music business?

A: From Leah in FB group: One thing I want to encourage/warn you about is the thought pattern of “it won’t work for me because… it only worked for them because….”

There’s an entire belief system behind that which I would challenge is not actually true.

I’ve always believed & taught that to make it as an independent artist today it’s going to be a multi-stream endeavour. Very few people make the living they want from only selling CDs - including me. Right from the beginning selling music was just one piece. The first big needle mover for me was actually a Bandcamp membership for my fans. It was access!

Then I tested merch. I have tested a lot of things! And most importantly I never stopped building my audience. Because when you have an audience you have the numbers to really test things and find what is going to work.

I would recommend going back to TOM for a refresh! You’ll catch things you didn’t get before.

Btw - one of the most successful SMA students is an instrumentalist - not tied to anything like LOTR, etc. He was very innovative with his own path and came up with some really creative things! And now he’s making multi 6 figures a year. You are the business owner, you are responsible for it’s success or failure.

Again, it’s good to be aware of the conclusions we draw because we have a small experience when in fact there’s a much bigger world and people are having breakthroughs all the time!

I believe there’s still so much to explore

Q: Course Relevancy - Is SMA up to date? The course seems outdated. What still works? What doesn't? What about other tools such as AI (Chat GPT, etc)?
A: The marketing principles Leah teaches are always relevant no matter what has changed with social media or AI, principles are timeless. Although the courses haven’t been changed or updated in several years, new technology such as AI and Chat GPT are tools that can help you implement and get more specific to your particular niche/style based on the principles you’ve learned with SMA.

Q: Lead Magnets - Do people still want free song downloads? What should I use as my email freebie/lead magnet?
A: Yes, they still work but it can vary depending on your audience. Test it out and survey your audience. There are some additional ideas for digital downloads in Module 7 - Monetize Your Music with 5 Streams of Income “Digital Music & Downloads” of TOM 3.0

Q: CD’s - Do people still buy CD’s? What about vinyl?
A: Yes, however it depends on your genre and your audience! You will need to do your research, ask your audience and get feedback. Then, sell them what they want.


Q: No money to invest in business - I'm in a financially strapped situation (no job, debt, medical expenses, etc) do I need to spend money on ads and business tools to succeed?
A: Cover your basic life needs for your family and yourself before investing money into building a business. Focus on organic marketing and using free tools in the meantime. You need to take ownership of your current situation and be responsible with the resources you DO have. Ads are not a magic pill, they are a multiplier if you have mastered your organic content.


Q: Platform Tech issues - I’m having issues with Facebook, my email service provider, website, or e-commerce site shop. What should I do?
A: Google, ChatGTP, Youtube - you are not the first or last person to have a tech issue. Someone has already figured it out, leverage that and be a creative problem solver. If you can’t do that you might want to question being in business. It requires more from you than most people are willing to give.

Q: Digital distribution - Which digital distributor is the best?
A: Leah uses Tunecore and feels satisfied with their service, support, reasonable rates, and great distribution. However, we encourage you to do your own research and pick a distributor that you feel aligns with your needs, standards and goals. 

 Recommendations for other Music Business Experts:

Rick Barker - Rick teaches fan-first marketing, digital advertising expertise, and a deep understanding of what it takes to build a sustainable music career.

Michael Elsner - Michael is a licensing expert who has helped hundreds of musicians set up and develop stream of income through sync licensing.