This presentation accompanied a class given by Keith Hatschek and Dana Myers addressing the importance of defining a market niche for every artist to maximize the opportunities to connect with the most likely group of fans that will support an artist.

1. BEFORE SITTING DOWN . . .
 Grab a pen and write down your favorite genre of
music on the whiteboard!

2. FINDING YOUR NICHE MARKET
Pacific Music Business Camp
July 2013
Presented by Keith Hatschek & Dana Myers

3. WHAT IS A MARKET?
 Webster’s Dictionary:
 Market: A specified category of potential buyers
 Marketing: the process or technique of promoting,
selling, and distributing a product or service
 What’s the point?
 Goods/services  Consumers
 Music  Fans

4. WHAT IS A MARKET NICHE?
 Mini-market/market segment
 Well-defined and specific
 Picture in your mind the person that
consumes/purchases these brands/products:
 ESPN
 Whole Foods / Trader Joes
 Sanrio / Hello Kitty

5. WHY DOES IT MATTER?
 Fewer wasted resources when you can target
market to your specific niche
 You appear to be a bigger fish in a small pond

6. WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
 Defining a niche that is far too large
 Ex. Music
 Defining a niche that is too narrow
 Ex. Roots reggae music in a minor key with no lyrics
and lots of reverb on the guitar

7. UNDERSTANDING A NICHE - REGGAE
 Age
 Ethnicity
 Gender
 Geography
 Wealth
 Media usage
 Other characteristics (details are important!)

8. WORKSHOP
 Form a group
 Pick a niche – get it approved
 Build a profile of who makes up your niche
 Start with the bullet points from previous slide

9. GROUP REPORTS
 What is your niche?
 Describe its inhabitants
 How do you know what you know?
 What else would be helpful to learn?
 How can you gather that info?
 How might you use the info you have gathered?

10. WHY THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT
 Successful musician, manager, label has to always
ask and answer the questions –
 Who will be most interested in my
music/concert/record?
 What will motivate them to take action?
 How can I most effectively reach and persuade my
niche?
 Can I eventually cross over
to another niche (Taylor Swift)