Run your Music Like a Business
without burning out.......
🎧 Run Your Music Like a Business (Without Burning Out)
Gigging is the fun part—chasing invoices, filing tax, and answering 3am texts? Not so much.
Let’s talk about the real backstage.
Not the green room.
Not the setlist.
Not the pre-gig ritual of fries and nervous pacing.
I’m talking about inboxes.
Spreadsheets.
Last-minute client changes, unpaid invoices, and tax-time meltdowns.
This is where most musicians crack.
Not on stage. In admin.
And when your creative energy gets buried under emails, receipts, and “just checking in” messages, something’s gotta give.
So here’s your cheat sheet to running your music like a business—without burning out in the process.
Because if Music Means Business™, then let’s treat it like one. On your terms.
✅ 1. Time-Block Your Week
Structure isn’t the enemy of creativity—it’s the scaffold that supports it.
Admin Mondays
Rehearsal Tuesdays
Social Content Wednesdays
Gig Days + Recovery Days
Your calendar should reflect both your art and your energy. Protect both.
✅ 2. Use Templates for Repetitive Tasks
If you’ve written the same email more than twice—make it a template.
Booking confirmations, follow-ups, invoices, setlists, tech specs, gig-day reminders—get them all into copy-pasteable formats.
Free your brain for music, not admin déjà vu.
✅ 3. Automate What You Can
Let tech carry some weight.
Auto email replies for gig enquiries
Social media schedulers
Recurring invoice reminders
Automation doesn’t mean disconnecting. It means working smarter so your creativity has room to breathe.
✅ 4. Store Everything in the Cloud
Dropbox. Google Drive. iCloud.
Put your music files, artwork, tech specs, contracts, and bios in one neat folder.
Name your files clearly. Sync them across devices.
This way, when a venue calls and wants info now—you’ve got it at your fingertips.
✅ 5. Use a Real Bookkeeping System
Receipts in shoeboxes are not a vibe.
Try Xero, QuickBooks or Hnry.
Track every dollar in and out—from merch to parking. It’s not just for tax time—it’s for knowing your actual income, expenses, and profit.
✅ 6. Create a “Music Means Business™” Folder
A digital HQ for your music career.
Inside:
Invoices
Contracts
Setlists
Bios
Tax records
Tour budgets
When everything lives in one place, nothing gets lost—or left till the last minute.
✅ 7. Outsource What Drains You
Hate spreadsheets? Hire a bookkeeper.
Not into editing gig clips? Get a content editor.
Can’t bear social posts? Bring in a VA.
You don’t have to wear all the hats. Especially the soul-sucking ones.
✅ 8. Set Business Hours
Your time is valuable—even when you’re not “working.”
Train your network.
If you reply to texts at midnight, people will expect that.
Set boundaries. Stick to them. Be consistent.
Respect for your time starts with you.
✅ 9. Keep a Gig Calendar + Business Tracker
Know what’s coming in and what’s already paid.
A shared calendar for shows.
A spreadsheet or app for earnings, expenses, and mileage.
Visibility = control = confidence.
✅ 10. Check In With Yourself Weekly
Every Sunday (or whatever day feels right), ask:
What worked this week?
What drained me?
What do I need to shift?
This is your weekly reset. Realign, re-energise, and remember why you do this.
Final Word
Running your music like a business doesn’t mean selling out or losing the art.
It means you’re in control.
Of your time. Your energy. Your income.
So the next time a 3am gig text rolls in, you won’t feel panic—you’ll feel peace.
Because you’ve got systems. You’ve got space.
You’ve got this.
🎶 Need help building your “Music Means Business™” folder? Subscribe to the Musoverse to access our resources.
Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2025
