Having a Music Mission Statement Means More Musicians on a Mission

Music creators who develop their business skills and have a personal and business music mission statement defined are more likely to succeed in music and be happy. Changing the world with your music starts with defining the mission or cause you are leading.

When you hear “mission statement”, you probably think of a boring paragraph that big companies put out to “motivate” their team into staying productive and excited. They don’t work because they are vague, uninteresting, and not memorable.

Most musicians wouldn’t even think to define a mission statement for their music. The music should be life-changing and memorable on its own right?

Maybe to you, but most of the time your fans won’t “get it” naturally. You have to communicate more clearly than just “letting your music do the talking”.

To lead yourself, your music team, or your fans, you have to know where you’re going. You have to define a specific destination and be the one who wakes up every morning, points in a direction, and yells “we’re going that way!”.

That tells people what you stand for, what cause you are championing, and why your music is important and world-changing.

The best way to do this is to write a mission statement that is short, interesting and memorable. This is why cult bands have a fan following, why companies like Apple have a cult of loyal consumers, and why any non-profit organization has a heart.

People are attracted to a mission or a cause. They like to rally against an injustice in order to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Going back to your music team, it is going to be a heck of a lot easier to rally your other band members, your road crew, your management, your studio team, and even your attorney and publicist behind a single mission and/or vision if you’ve defined it clearly and they know what it is you are trying to do with your music career.

It will also empower them to make decisions on your behalf without your involvement because they know you’re going “there” and they can make the best call.  It will eventually help lighten your workload as team members can make their own calls that are best for you and your career.

Typically a good mission statement has three parts:

1. It states the injustice or problem your music stands against
2. It positions your music (product/service) as the solution
3. It tells what life will be like if you accomplish this mission

Here’s a short formula that might help you write one:

I will accomplish ____________ by ____________ because of ____________.

Here is an example:

“My music will provide energy and motivation to my one thousand true fans within the next ten years because everyone should be able to find the right music to keep them happy and motivated all day long.”

It defines a cause of energizing and motivating a community with music, sets specific goals, such as finding 1,000 true fans in a certain timeframe to create a sense of urgency, and shares what life will be like because of the music (people will be happy and motivated all day long).

Music can be life-changing at a mental, spiritual and physical level. You just have define how your music will change the world and your fans will follow you to the ends of the Earth.