A Music Career Thrives With Spokes, Not Just Songs
Hub and Spoke is an organisational framework from the business world, especially the logistics and transportation sectors.
Author and entrepreneur James Altucher outlines a variation of Hub and Spoke for creators in the digital economy. His version describes the idea of an individual leveraging their core expertise and focus to create content and value across multiple channels or touchpoints. Such a strategy can increase opportunities, gravitas, perceived level of expertise on a subject and, ultimately, an individual’s number of income streams and earning potential.
Imagine a bicycle wheel. The “Hub” in the centre would be you. Your main music goal would be the focus of the Hub, formed by your main ideas, skills and experiences. Spokes radiating outwards from the Hub represent all the different ways you can create and deliver value related to your main goal, but not necessarily directly associated with it.
As a musician today, making a living from your music alone is challenging. The Hub and Spoke framework encourages you to think beyond the obvious, singular route. It forces you to invent multi-dimensional ways to promote and monetise your music-related skills. These might include:
Tutorial YouTube videos of your favourite artist songs
General music instrument lessons on YouTube or creation of courses to sell online
Tips and tricks YouTube videos on music production for home producers
Full, recorded cover versions of your favourite artist songs to share on YouTube
Newsletter or blog about your favourite artist, reviewing old and new music or providing gig reviews
Regular podcast, with similar content ideas as for a newsletter
Fashion or make-up content tips for music artists in specific genres
Listen-along YouTube videos with some of your favourite artist tracks
Music equipment reviews based on your own use or shopping experiences
If the subject matter of your Spoke content is even loosely related to your main musical endeavours, it’s entirely possible to cross-engage the Spoke audiences to help achieve your primary goal as an artist.
For example, let’s say you decide to review song tracks or albums by your favourite band via a dedicated YouTube channel. The same band also happen to be a key influence on your own music and writing. You build an audience for the review content over time, then subtly and carefully use your secondary vehicle to promote your own music, video and other content. Your Spoke becomes a route to exposing new individuals to your main body of work. It provides a completely new source of Fanbase growth.
Related Spoke initiatives can also be fantastic for creating real and diversified income streams, supplementing your main job or providing additional funds for your main music career. Whether you choose digital advertising revenue derived from YouTube, sales of your own digital products such as music education courses, or third-party product sales derived from affiliate links in your content platforms, there are numerous clever ways to monetize any audience you’ve spent time and effort nurturing.
Generation of any type of Spoke content does of course require additional time and other resources. This needs to be balanced against your primary music activities and main ambition. However, there are solutions available to making additional content creation easier. From AI workflow streamlining and creation tools you can personally access, through to cost effective freelance help via the likes of Upwork or Fiverr, you can organise things to ensure an optimal approach suiting your lifestyle and goals.
Whatever your approach, having at least one secondary “Spoke” element is a great way to indirectly grow your core music Fanbase, while also developing your own musical or other content creation skills.
What interests, knowledge and expertise related to your music could you apply to other digital content creation channels using the Hub and Spoke concept?