Set your goals Goal setting should be common sense; f you don't have a goal, you have nothing to sin for and nothing to celebrate, For many years | wanted to be a world famous Dj and ive out ofa suitcase, clocking up frequent flyer miles and being a life member of an sirport lounge. Rather than breaking up my end goal into smaller, cbtsinable targets, | was focused on the bigger picture. For ‘example, | would need to develop unique sil, such as turtab- lism, while putting on an entertaining show that would draw big {er crowds exch weet, | would then need to push for becoming a suppert/warmup Dj for touring artists, find management. the list goes on and on. les safe to s5y, | didn't become 2 superstar D} and tour the world. My prionties changed, | gota litle older, and the idea of living out of a suitease for countless nights, no longer held my interest. | eventually got into producing electronic music with + good buddy of mine and realized that | wanted to focus my energy on creating and releasing music. | wrote myself new se of gosle on the back ofa scrap of paper This time, | was more prepared. | set smaller, more reslistic ‘goals that would help me reach my end goal of becoming @ producer. After one year the piece of paper was dirty, smelt ter rible and could have been translated into digital form, Despite it all, [held onto it because ithelped keep me accountable. | knew! wasn't going to recycle that piece of paper until every goal was crossed out. | don't have that piece of paper anymore as these goals have since been hit, but here is what it had scribbled on it: + Release 2 fll length album of musie. 60 minutes min + Collaborate with a talented vocalist + Release a physieal CD Play a headline show These goals were all met; then new goals were created, I's Important to always feel like you are accomplishing something, even if something like “have a top 100 song on Beatport” seems unachievable, write it down. When you cross a goal off your lst, take a moment to celebrate, then get right back to grinding and working on the next one. The next set of goals | created led me to where | am today: + Work out how Spotify, Apple Music, and other stream: ing services work, become as close to a guru as pos: sible+ Make strong contacts that curate large playlists + Get featured on a Spotify editorial playlist + Greate my own playlist brand + Make a living from music, whether it's producing, re leasing, pitching, or a combination of things. + Speak at numerous music industry conferences Tip: Break your time up int blocks to allow 100% of your focus on ‘a specific task, You'l find that by giving all of your focus to that one task it will be mest likely be completed sooner. Use this spare time to stand up, take a quick walk, then come back and focus your attention on the next task How did | tick these goals off? How can you do the same? Fol: low the instructions in this book and you will be well on your way.Types of playlists ‘There are diferent types of playlists, each playlist has value but how you approach the curators will change based on the type of plas. 1. Editorial - Curated by staff who work directly forthe streaming platform, These can provide significant streaming numbers but should not be your ony goal as these curators rately communicte with rsts and their support is never guaranteed 2. User- Also known as thitd pat playlist, These are cu fated by an individual who has an account and has made thei playlists public for anyone to follow and stream, Through making a connection with the owners ofthese playlists you may have a better chance of re- ceiving future support on user created playlists. 3 Brand - A compary profile with playlists, think Nike, Walt Disney, even celebrities can be veried with a brand account (influencers if you prefer). These are usually very hard to contact without knowing who at the company isin charge ofthe playlist. 4 Tastemaker - Very rare to se, in Spotily particularly When you goto a users prof, instead of saying “user* near their profile photo it will say “tastemaker*. Rumer has it these taternakers have earned this status through solid curation and arise have seen more editorial sup port after being added toa tastemaker users playlist. Co- incidence or not, keep an eye out for these golden cura It's not uncommon for record labels to also curate their own playlists. The majors have their own playlist brands: + Universal = Digster (Other labels will curate under their own name, the following ele: ‘wonic music labels have their own playlist for example: + Walt Disney Records + Spinnin + Armada’ Atist playlists ean grow very quickly with the right network of supportive fans. The following artists have signifcant followings online, Queen