If any part of what you do in music depends on you working with clients, then it’s important to know which types of clients to pursue, as well as which types to avoid.
After all, your survival depends on your ability to bring in an income, and nothing can affect your ability to create an income faster than working with clients who endlessly negotiate, waste time, and refuse to pay.
That’s what we’re going to be looking at in this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
01:19 – Client disaster stories
01:41 – #1: The rush job
03:20 – #2: The “why, why, why?”
04:59 – #3: The fault finder
08:33 – #4: The charlatan
10:08 – #5: The self-appointed pinnacle of virtue
11:56 – Episode summary and additional tips
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Sign Up for Koji – the Best Link in Bio for Musicians
Music by Coma-Media from Pixabay
Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
Music Money Machine
Also recommended – Winning Through Intimidation by Robert Ringer
Transcription:
Hey, it’s David Andrew Wiebe.
In this episode, we’re going to be looking at five types of clients to avoid in music.
This should be a fun one, because I’ll even be sharing some of the details of my own client disaster stories.
And if you have any of your own client disaster stories you’d like to share, drop us a line at musicentrepreneurhq@gmail.com.
With that, let’s get into it.
Client Type #1: “I Needed This Done Yesterday”
There are those who will come crying to you at the last-minute, in all seriousness, saying, “I need a rush job.”
For example, it could be an artist who has all their recording done, but because they weren’t thinking ahead, or they’re already behind on timelines, they will ask you to rush their album artwork.
This is exactly the situation I found myself in many years back. My partner gave me lead on the project because it was my contact. So, I had to deliver.
We rushed the designs and got them out to the CD manufacturer as soon as we possibly could.
But this type of client has other attributes that makes them difficult. For one, they don’t care about the details. Even if there was a misprint on the liner notes, they probably wouldn’t bat an eye. They only care about their project being done, and yesterday!
While the client’s CD was being manufactured, I got a grave phone call from them, which nearly turned hostile. They asked me, “Where are the CDs? You told me they would be done today.”
I said no such thing! But after I gathered my composure, I had to explain to him how business days work, which pacified a potentially volatile situation.
I still misquoted him on the contract, though, so, I ended up eating some costs on the project. Ultimately, no money was made.
Can You Still Work with This Type of Client?
Though not ideal, there are still ways of making this type of agreement work.
You’ll probably want to charge a substantial rush fee to account for errors that stem from the pressure this type of client is going to put you under.
You’re also going to want to keep in regular communication about the project, something you’re not going to want to do, because this client takes themselves a little too seriously and they aren’t fun people to deal with.
Client Type #2: Asks Questions About Everything
Some clients want to know how everything works, as well as why you’re doing things the way you’re doing them.
“Why are you sending an email right now? What’s the strategy behind it? Is there a reason why you rewrote that lyric? Do you really think the guitars should be mixed that way?”
They don’t care about trade secrets. It’s more like they’re a 12-month-old who just learned to talk and can’t stop asking “why?” about everything.
Now, this is distinct from the type of client who wants to be involved with everything. I know people like that, and the relationship can totally work if they reward you h...
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