Before we get started, we have a free Mission Statement Worksheet for musicians. Use our Worksheet to build your musical mission statement from scratch. Click here to get our Free Mission Statement Worksheet.
What is your musical mission as an independent artist? Why do you do what you do? What keeps you making tunes and singing beautiful melodies? What contribution are you making to the world and why? Do you know?
A mission statement is your declaration of purpose to your fans and to the world. It describes how your music impacts your community, your fans, your friends, and whoever else happens to come into contact with your music. The music you create and share is about so much more than just the music. Whether you know it or not, you’re doing it for a reason. That reason is what attracts your fans, detracts your haters, and resolves the problems or conflicts it’s supposed to.
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The bottom line is, your mission statement as an independent artist is uber important because it will help you do several things:
- Make better career decisions
- Take more calculated risks
- Make investments that will pay off
- Achieve fulfillment from your music career
A mission statement for musicians is a guide that if followed will solidify music careers and help propel a musician into full-time status if so desired. A mission statement clearly identifying your musical purpose will help you select the opportunities that are the best fit for what you’re trying to accomplish in the world. Knowing what your mission is together with quantifying goals will guide you to the right investments, partnerships, and opportunities that have a better chance of paying off in the long run because it will be a good fit for you. If you align your actions with your mission statement, you’re guaranteed to have a satisfying and fulfilling career.
That’s why you need a musical mission statement!
How to create a mission statement for musicians…
Basically, a mission statement is a short sentence or two describing what your music is about and how it will impact a group, a community, or a world. It’s not a long-form paragraph. A mission statement is simplistic, short, and succinct.
The lack of a mission statement is why some artists lose their way. Don’t get caught without a mission statement for your music. It is your guiding light to fulfillment in your music career.
— The Crafty Musician (@IndieArtistsDIY) May 17, 2018
It might be difficult to pinpoint what your music is about and what impacts you expect your music to make in the world in just a few words. So here are some questions to help get some ideas flowing.
Step 1: Answer the following questions with adjectives – descriptive words…
- Who is (fill in your name here), the artist?
- What feelings does (fill in your name here), the artist invoke?
- What is my music?
- Who is my music for?
- What feelings or inspirations does my music invoke?
- What does my music contribute to my fans, to listeners, to my community, or to the world?
Step 2: Now take the answers from step 1 and make a cohesive sentence or two out of them.
Here is an example using my own answers to the questions above.
- Anitra Jay, the artist is passionate, bold, organic, soulful, colorful, empowering.
- Anitra Jay, the artist invokes self-empowerment, positivity,
- My music is acoustic soul.
- My music is for those wanting to escape woes, relax, enjoy life, overcome adversity, be true to their own self, find their purpose.
- Love, happiness, joy, bravery, courage, hope.
- My music helps listeners overcome adversity, relax, unwind, gain courage and hope.
Here’s My Mission Statement: I am a passionate acoustic soul artist full of bright tones and organic tunes to bring hope, balance, restoration, and self-empowerment to people seeking to be their truest self in life.
Use these steps as building blocks to help build your own mission statement. Here are a few examples of mission statements from well-known companies borrowed from this blog. As you’ll see, a mission statement is concise and to the point. It really gets to the root of the ‘why’ you do what you do.
PayPal > “To build the Web’s most convenient, secure, cost-effective payment solution.”
Twitter > “To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”
Facebook > “To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”
Amazon > “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.”
If you need more help creating a mission statement of your own, consider asking your fans. They can let you know first hand how your music inspires them and what feelings it invokes in them.
How your musical mission statement works for you…
There are so many ideas, thoughts, gurus, methods, tactics, and avenues to choose from in deciding the direction of your day to day workflow, your songwriting, and even your career. It’s too easy to get lost and lose your way. How do you decide what to do, who to go with, what decisions to make, what gigs to take, etc?
Your mission statement keeps you from doing things that don’t align with the heart of why you do what you do.
It keeps you from getting into partnerships or selecting opportunities that might not be the best option for you in the long run. It helps you focus on who you are as an artist. It helps you focus on your true purpose. It gives you ideas on how to present yourself. It empowers you to write the songs that come from your heart which ultimately attracts the people who need to hear your music the most. Most of all, it’s a part of building your brand and music persona.
Share your mission statement on your blog, in your songs, while you’re performing live, in your elevator pitch, on your social media, and in your communications with your fans. Conversations from this point of view will flow naturally and not seem overly sales-y because it’s your mission. It’s the root of who you are and why you do what you do.
Print it out and put it on your wall. Read it often. Let it guide you.
If something does not align with your mission statement don’t do it. Everything you do should flow from your mission statement. It will attract the right people to you. Your mission statement will help clarify and reinforce your brand identity and who you are as an artist. It will be a magnet for your ideal fans and it will help you accomplish your heart’s desire. It will help you be a heart happy musician. Heart happy musicians have no trouble sharing their beliefs, sharing their art, using their art to establish their legacy in the world, earning money, and finding fulfillment from their art. If you’d like to take your musical mission statement a step further and re-engage your fans/prospective fans with even more high-converting content try our Finding Your Musical Purpose Challenge. It’s a 5 day workshop that helps you identify your musical purpose and use it to build the fanbase of your dreams!
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Nice! I never really thought of creating my mission statement before until now.
Thanks Sandy. I hope it helps bring even more clarity and focus to your aspirations.
Brilliant post. By filtering all your business decisions through “who are you? + what do you stand for?” it keeps you on-brand, and looking out for what’s best in the long term.
Thanks Clara. That’s so true. It literally paves the way. Ensures you don’t get caught up in any BS.
So good. Having a clear mission statement is super helpful in this marathon called being a musician. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks Caleb. It sure is a marathon!
That’s an amazing step by step guide that we can actually take action on. Thanks Anitra
This is a great step by step guide we can actually take action on. Thanks, Anitra!
Thanks Silviya. I’m glad it’s helpful. 🙂
Very nice. I like the Overall presentation! From one fellow musician to another wishing you well on your career. Ant
Thanks Anthony and thanks for stopping by. Best wishes to you as well.
Great to have a guide on where to begin. I was feeling paralysed as the task seemed too big and daunting. This first step has made a huge difference. Only recently discovered you. Thanks for this.
Peter
London,UK
Hi Peter! I’m glad you’re finding this guide helpful and thanks for stopping by. Welcome to The Crafty Musician community!