The music industry is full of quirks and complexities that make it a totally unique place to earn a professional living - and that’s much of the appeal, to be frank. Just think about how complicated it is, trying to explain how somebody makes money from music being played over the radio, for example.
Another odd quirk is the fact that many, or even most music industry professionals don’t really consider themselves in the customer service industry.
In fact - we don’t even call our consumers customers, do we? They’re fans! Well, call them what you want, they are your customers and you are indeed in the customer service industry.
Taking on this mentality is going to benefit you and your organization in some big ways because it opens you up to powerful, data-driven tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. You may be asking:
What is the Definition of a CRM?
A CRM is a digital tool that gathers data, interacts with your customers, and allows you to a) get to know your customer better, and b) provide them with a better experience. It does a lot more than that too - let’s have a look at some functions.
A CRM keeps track of your entire relationship with your customer. It records all of the information that is important to your business. Every time your label or publishing company interacts with a customer or contact, you are able to learn something, keep your information organized, and use any relevant data to make better decisions in the future.
Some of the main benefits of using a CRM for any business include:
- Organized information and customer insights
- Integration with other business software such as accounting programs, which can save your business money
- Manage all of your contacts
- Data Security
- Integration with Social Media
- Real-Time Analytics
- Email templates and campaigns
- Much more
As you can see, there is a lot to be gained by using a CRM, and in this day and age, it’s becoming a standard practice for all businesses. That includes the world of music, which brings us to our next section:
Why Would Music Businesses Use a CRM?
Well, as we said - it’s a business. It sells a commodity, and somebody has to buy it.
You have customers, and they are the reason that you exist as a business. So, you might want to try and learn a thing or two about what you’re doing right, and more importantly, what you’re doing wrong!
If you had spinach in your teeth, wouldn’t you want somebody to tell you? A good CRM is going to do just that, and it’s going to tell you how much spinach, who has seen it, and exactly which tooth it’s in.
Every business needs one.
It’s not a service you should be working up to either - it’s for small enterprises, especially.
If you’re a small music label or publishing business you should prioritize getting a CRM. That’s because, the smaller your company is, the more valuable every single piece of data should be to you because that information is what’s going to help you grow.
It’s a simple concept, really, but the features and what it can do for your business are very cool, indeed.
Now that’s not to say that all CRMs are created equal because they aren’t.
Every industry is nuanced, and the music business might be one of the most intricately nuanced industries that exists! So, it pays to make sure you are using something that caters to your business’ specific needs.
So what are the specific needs of your music business? Are you a label that needs to track sales, manage merch suppliers and an online store? A publisher, tracking ISWC codes and royalty splits? You’re going to need something that’s built to do these specific tasks.
Why is Reprtoir Adapted to Music Businesses?
Did somebody say royalty splits? Reprtoir's Royalty Accounting solution is the perfect tool for all music businesses that want to take their customer relationships seriously. The neat thing about Reprtoir’s CRM is that they reverse-engineered the whole thing to be the perfect instrument for music businesses.
They took all of the needs a music business has from a CRM - contact management, suppliers, customers, rights holders, and contributor/contractor syncing. They took all of these features and then integrated them into a CRM. This has proved an innovative approach, as it functions beautifully, offering an easy-to-use interface that allows music pros to manage all of their assets and CRM data from one place.
Using a CRM like the one from Reprtoir could be the difference between knowing what you did right, and not knowing what you did wrong. It’s up to you to make the call.
