artist development 13

gear & equipment

Gear, instruments, amps, microphones and, yes, transportation are all important considerations for an Artist. Unless an Artist is going solo who only, and always, sings a-cappella, it is assumed there must be some sort of musical accompaniment such as a guitar or a piano or other instrument.

Artists should invest in the best instruments and musical equipment that they can afford. No artist can perform their best work using mediocre equipment. Artists shouldn’t go with just name brands. They should listen to the quality of the instrument before they purchase it.

Part of putting together an Artist Development Plan is to identify the gear and equipment that the Artist currently owns, and then to project the instruments, equipment or gear that will be needed for future product development. This part of the Artist Development Plan must follow the Artist’s Business Plan, especially due to the expenses incurred. Sometimes, as a business decision, it may be more prudent for an Artist to invest in the promotion of a new recording instead of purchasing a new amp, for example.

Equipment List

What equipment does the Artist currently own? Write it down. If the Artist is a partnership or has more than one owner, perhaps the equipment is actually owned by that one participant or by the group. However if the Artist’s company owns any gear or equipment, it should be identified. It is a good idea, to separate whether the gear is owned by the company or by an individual involved with the company. If the company decides to purchase a van, for example, to assist the Artist with getting from gig to gig, then all of the owners of the company now own a new asset. However, the Artist’s guitarist, who is also one of the owners of the Artist’s company, contributes the use of their guitar for performances, then the company does not own that piece of equipment; the guitarist does.

In addition to the gear, equipment and instruments that are a part of the Artist’s gear-list, this is a good time to overview the inventory and determine if any new gear is needed. If so, plan to put this item into the Finance Plan of the Artist’s Business Plan.

Endorsements

As an Artist becomes more successful, product endorsements may play an important role to their financial bottom-line. Many musical instrument manufacturers provide Artists with free (or discounted) instruments in the hopes that the Artist will be seen using that particular instrument by other artists, who then may then go and purchase the instrument.

Artists who accept endorsement deals should not do it just to get free stuff. If the Artist doesn’t believe in the product, they are not going to talk about it in a good, positive way. The manufacturer of the instrument would suffer and, ultimately, so would the artist.

Once the Artist gear-list is compiled, potential instrument manufacturers may be identified for future endorsements. Artists would be wise to gather the names and contacts for each instrument or equipment manufacturer. Begin the branding.

Funds

Sometimes it tears me up to see a good, quality, talented band and the lead guitar player cannot afford new strings: constantly re-tuning all night long. Swearing at the guitar because it’s not responding as expected. The guitarist can’t or won’t invest the money for upkeep. It’s expensive to keep an instrument in good shape. Look at price of bass strings for example.

In addition and more importantly, the cost of a new axe can be astronomical. The Artist will have to account for use of funds to allocate for new equipment. This should be well-defined in the Artist’s Business Plan – Finance Plan Section.

Care

A musical instrument is considered as a musician's best friend. Instruments need consistent attention and care to help them last longer. Taking care of a musical instrument is considered an essential part of learning to play that instrument. Proper care of musical instruments helps to consistently maintain the quality of its musical output. Musical instruments vary in their size, usability and manufacturing material. Depending upon these characteristics, the methods applied to take care of different instruments differ.

A piece of advice about the care of instruments: Never try to become your musical instrument's 'doctor'. If you don’t know that you’re doing, you may damage the instrument even more. It is always a safe bet to visit a specialist in musical instrument repairs.

Content Types

Songs

Sounds

Spoken Word

Music & Lyrics

Content for Product Development

Audio Recordings

Video Recordings