Starting a music project properly saves you time, stress, and money. Most musicians make expensive mistakes early on that could be avoided with the right foundation.

CHOOSING YOUR NAME

I have a whole video on this subject if you want to go deeper but choosing a name is one of those things countless musicians delay making progress after being paralysed by this. I've mastered over a thousand records and constantly see artists at their debut release still asking if they should change their name.

Search Spotify, allmusic.com, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp first. Make sure no semi-active artist uses your desired name. Legal headaches will hinder your progress in a huge way. (note: AI is not thorough and chatbots will get you insufficient answers)

Use Name Check to secure a uniform social media handle across all platforms. Keep it identical everywhere. Music managers of big artists will tell you that inconsistent handles across platforms makes their life extremely miserable daily.

Claim profiles on every platform, even ones you think you'll never use. TikTok was "just for kids shaking their rumps" until it wasn't. Instagram was "narcissists taking food pictures" until it became where everyone's father posts sunset photos. Platforms evolve fast.

PROTECTING YOUR NAME

To legally own a name, you need interstate commerce. Stream your music or sell a song on Bandcamp to someone in another city. This actually stands up in court, unlike most copyright advice you hear.

Most copyright talk is complete BS. This simple step can be the difference between making progress and having it taken away by someone smart enough to do it first.

DOMAIN AND WEB PRESENCE

Grab a domain name even if you're not building a website. Domain forwarding to a free link-in-bio page works perfectly. The cost is minimal compared to building and hosting a full site.

Koji serves every website function better than most websites. It points to all your socials and current promotions. Most musician websites go too far. Beacons keeps it simple and effective.

ARTISTIC IDENTITY

Develop your artistic identity early. This takes serious time to consider. The sooner you start doing LAMES analysis and asking artist development questions, the sooner you'll make better music and content. The other thing to do is make sure you have your positioning right. My Positioning Masterclass is my most popular members only video since it makes a world of a difference.

VISUALS AND SETUP

Get your logo and photos sorted. This process takes forever if you wait. Bad pictures on the internet never die. I managed a band that blew up fast, but publications kept using their terrible early Google photos for years, even in newspapers.

Your visuals need to be tight from day one. You can't set up Spotify or YouTube profiles without proper images anyway.

DISTRIBUTION AND PROFILES

Choose your distributor, which these days is a very difficult subject I am taking on in the next few weeks (I promise, I just need to do this subject right and it’s not quite ready yet). Yes, they reject music with samples or online beats, but for 99% of musicians, they're the most cost-effective choice.

Your distributor gets you on 20-40 streaming sites, but not everywhere. Set up Bandcamp and SoundCloud separately.

Here's the Spotify catch: you need a song released to get a profile, but you can't pitch your first song for playlist consideration without an existing profile. Release a throwaway song, set up your profiles, delete the throwaway, then release your actual first single.

BUSINESS SETUP

You don't need an LLC immediately, especially if you're not playing live or insulting people in your lyrics. LLCs cost up to $700 annually in some states plus minimum tax requirements.

If things go well and you're playing concerts, get the LLC for lawsuit protection. It separates your personal money from business liability.

A separate bank account for your music project makes tracking easier, even for solo artists. You need an EIN (available online) and potentially a DBA in many states. This bureaucratic process takes 30-60 days and remains frustratingly slow.

FINDING YOUR SOUND

Use SubmitHub's rating system to get feedback on what you sound like. Despite some dumb comments, users consistently report helpful insights about their micro-genre and similar artists.

Every Unchartify which shows genre tags for artists similar to you. Punch in comparable artists to understand your musical category.

This matters because you get first fans by being active in your community. If you don't know your scene, you can't find your people.

Enjoying this? Forward it to a music friend you’d like to be closer to and start a discussion!

CONTENT STRATEGY

Labels won't give release dates until artists have art, videos, and masters for three songs. Momentum dies when promotion stops.

Bank content before anyone knows about you. Six songs with videos and assets gives you a full year of consistent promotion without stress. You can shuffle release order later, but being ahead makes everything less stressful.

RELEASE STRATEGY

Artists with back catalogs build fan relationships easier. When someone discovers your music, they need something substantial to dive into and connect with.

If you have six-plus songs ready, consider releasing several initially to give new fans material to explore.

Remember: Spotify editorial playlists are your biggest success opportunity, but you can only pitch one song at a time for consideration.

Your biggest chance at success comes through sustained, consistent promotion with enough content to maintain momentum.