Do you want to become a professional musician? Are you struggling to get gigs, students, or work in general? Consider how to find your niche so that you can stand out and give your career some direction.
Finding your niche is essential to starting and growing as a pro musician. Whether you focus on performing, teaching, or a combination of things, your niche will help.
Keep reading to learn more about what a niche is and how to find yours.
What Is a Niche?
A niche is a specialization that you can take on in your career or business. When you have a niche, you can better explain what you do and who you server. Then, you don’t have to list off tons of things when talking about your work.
You may already have a niche without realizing it. For example, many musicians only play one instrument or a couple of related instruments. However, you can take your niche further, such as to be a piano teacher or a baroque flutist.
Tips to Find Your Niche
As you start your music career, you should find your niche. That way, you can become in expert in that area. You’ll be able to market yourself as an expert, so you can be the go-to person for that specialty.
Now, you don’t have to be the only person with your niche. But you should avoid an over-crowded niche if you can. Then, you won’t have as much competition when it comes to finding work.
Here are a few other tips to help you find your niche as a musician.
Look at Your Skills
First, you should think about what you’re best at either in music or in a related field, such as journalism or administration. If you work well with kids, being a music teacher can be an excellent niche.
On the other hand, for someone like me, being a music writer/content creator makes more sense. So think about your skills in music and other fields that you can connect back to your music.
If you can’t think of anything, ask your friends or family about your skills. Consider what people come to you for the most, such as practice tips or help with quick instrument repairs.
Determine Your Passions
Along with your skills, you should figure out what your passions are, specifically for music and similar work. While you may work well with kids, you shouldn’t become a teacher if you don’t like doing that.
Of course, it can make you money, but that won’t be worth the stress. Music can be a lucrative career, but you need to enjoy what you to at the start. That way, you’ll be able to show your passion through your work.
Now, I’m lucky because I both enjoy writing and am good at it. So, it’s a natural fit for me to focus on creating written content about music. But for you, the perfect niche might be totally different.
Focus on a Problem
A lot of entrepreneurs and freelancers want to focus on creating a product or service. While that can be a good way to get started, you should focus on a problem rather than the product.
Focusing on a problem will give you inspiration for more offers to create in the future. That way, you won’t have to worry about creating something that will be a big waste of time.
Instead of offering private flute lessons, consider a problem related to them. Maybe no one in your area teaches adults only, but you love doing that. You could offer flute lessons for older beginners.
Do Market Research
Once you find a problem you can solve, you need to make sure it’s as big of a problem as you think. If it’s not a problem, you won’t be able to make any money, and that’s not good.
Market research can tell you if people have the problem you want to fix. You can learn how much competition you have and if you can realistically pursue your chosen niche. For example, there are TONS of flutists auditioning for orchestras, so you have to be pretty good to have a chance in that field.
But you may have more success creating your own solo concerts or forming a chamber group. It will still take a lot of work, but you won’t have to travel all over to auditions for the chance at getting a job.
Go Small
As you start to find your niche in music, don’t be afraid to go small. It can be tempting to try and serve everyone, but that’s not easy. When you try to speak to tons of people, you won’t be able to speak DIRECTLY to anyone.
For example, I could create resources for every classical musician. However, I choose to focus on freelancing and productivity for advanced music students and recent graduates.
Could I make more by selling to beginners? Maybe, but I wouldn’t be able to market myself as efficiently. You can always broaden your niche later, but you should start small to gain some traction.
Can You Combine Niches?
When you try to find your niche, you might narrow your choices to two. If the two niches work together, you can combine them. A good example of this is to offer private lessons and perform on your main instrument.
Another way you can combine niches is to work in arts administration and social media management. So you could serve musicians and organizations with a focus on managing their social media.
Using myself as an example, my two main niches are music writing and music arranging. I create digital downloads using my writing, and I also compose and arrange music that I sell online.
Example Niches for Musicians
If you need help to find your niche, you aren’t alone. While you can look at your interests and skills, you may still need some inspiration to get started. Here are a few ideas to help:
- Woodwind specialist
- Baroque specialist
- Contemporary music specialist
- Private lesson teacher
- Arts administrator
- Content creator
- Composer/arranger
I also recently published a list of ideas for flute players looking for a niche. However, you can apply most of the ideas to any other instrument.
Do You Need to Find Your Niche?
Having a niche can help you stand out amongst all of the other talented musicians out there. You can focus on one or two things to help build your career so that you don’t waste time.
Then, you can get more gigs and even charge more because you’re an expert. Would you like a more in-depth guide on how to find your niche as a musician? Comment below or send me a message!