What is Artist Development?

Once upon a time, not too long ago, artists, musicians, authors, and most all, creatives had to attract record labels, galleries, publishers, film companies and other large management companies that would guide the artist’s career. The term ‘artist development’ came primarily from the music business, when a new musician would be sent to an A&R department to handle grooming the artist, managing all of the production, launching, marketing and helping the artist tour for the purpose of  building a fan base. Now, with the digital world expanding every artist’s ability to grow a career, it also limits the amount of artists that will be signed to the “old guard” of management deals.

Which brings in a whole new world of DIY ( Do It Yourself ) activities that the artist must now embrace as part of his or her art form. These activities can range from creation, production, business set up, quarterly and yearly activity plans, gallery shows, music tours, self publication, and on and on. The artist has now become a business. And with technology changing daily, the artist is tasked with learning and staying up to date with algorithms, SEO, and a plethora of jobs that in the past, a full marketing team would handle for them.

Once an artist has created a personal brand, garnered a large following, has social proof, fans, high numbers and is able to be seen and heard on almost all platforms, with an extensive track record of  booking sold out shows, art, or book sales, do they have a chance at getting signed on. Whew! That was a lot to just write! So the former concept of getting signed to a label, picked up in a gallery, published by one of the big ten, or getting a screenplay to the right hands, is all resting on the shoulders of the artist. And artists need time, energy and space to create. 

The upside to the new DIY economy forced upon all creatives, is that now you can actually make a living in the arts and entertainment world. You don’t have to be discovered, picked up or signed. You get to call the shots, and create your own art, the way YOU envision it. There is no upper management telling you what to do. And the math works, you only need 100 super fans to reach $100K per year. However, it can become overwhelming, time consuming, and can honestly take the joy out of being a creator in the first place. 

An artist development coach, or mentor, is someone that steps in to help the artist remain focused on their vision, and create time and space for the artist to just be “the creative”.  A good coach should be inspiring and at the same time, be able to handle the black and white details while you add the color. 

Here at The Carol Frazier Studio, we are a team of artists supporting artists. We are creative entrepreneurs that understand it takes a village to move our creative dreams forward. Every client is unique, and each creative’s business needs are approached with a custom package specifically designed for each individual artist. This is not a cookie-cutter agency. We have helped hundreds of artist’s launch and grow their careers. It’s a relationship between the artist, the artist development manager, and the marketing team. And the beauty of the process is that we aren’t priced for big corporations. We are sensitive to the fact that artist’s budgets may differ from a brick and mortar business. With everything from free group coaching, to hybrid coaching programs, to signed artist management clients, we make it easy to start following your dreams. 

You’re a Creative that deserves to invest in yourself, your career goals, and the life you dream of living ! We can’t wait to hear from you, and help plan for your success. 

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