Artist Development 3 month evening course

The Artist Development course is part of ICMP’s range of Music Industry courses.

Whether you’re new to releasing music or an old hand, this three-month course will guide and empower you to reach your next level of success as an emerging artist. From developing your music and artistry, to managing your release campaigns, you’ll learn the essential skills to successfully create, release and monetise your music in today’s ever-changing music industry.

Through a blend of informative lectures, in-class discussions, songwriting, and music production workshops, you’ll gain a firm understanding of key artist development topics in the context of your own artist project. You’ll learn by doing as you navigate the challenges and opportunities faced by independent artists striving to succeed the music industry.

 Across the course’s foundational weeks, you’ll explore your musical and sonic identity, goals and visions, while discovering how artistic voice relates to cultivating a fanbase. You’ll concentrate on the music you make and the creation of your own body of work, to support your growth as an artist.

 Next, you’ll gain a clear understanding of the music copyrights you create and own. Whether you release music independently, or through a distributor or label , you’ll learn how royalties are generated and collected. The key elements of contracts and music agreements are also discussed.

 As the course continues, you’ll discover crucial brand development skills to grow your artist project, including brand building, finding your audience and relevant industry contacts, and creating content. Along the way, your expert ICMP tutors will support you to create a host of marketing assets, such as press shots, biographies, press releases and more.

The final part of the course focuses on your release campaign strategy. As the core way to grow your music profile, you’ll learn how to identify who you need to collaborate with for a successful release ­– from distributors and labels, to radio, blogs and playlists. At the end of your three months with us, you’ll have the confidence and skills to develop highly effective strategies for your artist project, as well as the knowledge to manage a series of successful release campaigns.

Module details

Artist Identity

Music is the foundation of all artist success stories. During this module, you’ll learn to understand and realise your artistic voice and discover how to create and use your sonic identity – a vital stage of artistic development. You’ll also examine professional strategies to develop your artistry and music, building an audience and career momentum as you go.

Creating a Body of Work

Across this module, you’ll explore how to develop a coherent body of work that supports your artistry and identity and the best strategies for selecting and releasing singles. You will develop your songwriting skills, including co-writing and writing to brief, and understand how to develop your personal style and your own song portfolio. In music production workshops you will gain a solid understanding of the entire production process including demos, producing, mixing, and mastering. You’ll learn how to record your own demos and arrangements, explore your sonic identity, and become capable and confident to get the best from your future productions.

Branding for Artists

During this module, you’ll gain a deep understanding of how to develop your brand, as you work on your music and artist project. You’ll use this to strategically promote and pitch your music, and we’ll show you how to seek out and find relevant industry contacts. Exploring your artistic community and discovering your audience is also covered.

Asset Creation

If you’ve ever wondered how the music industry uses marketing assets for promotion, fanbase building and artist growth, this module will see you discover the strategy behind a successful music release campaign. From press shots, artist biographies and press releases, to electronic press kits, videos, websites and social media, you’ll learn how to create these marketing tools and use them to promote your own brand and artistic voice.

Release Strategy

In this module, you’ll examine the strategic concepts and logistics involved in creating your own release strategy, as you plan a series of ongoing release campaigns. You’ll begin by exploring the music release options of distributors and labels, delving into how they operate and the main deals and contractual terms all independent artists need to know. You’ll also learn about spreading the word through third-party services such as plugging, PR and playlist pitching, plus how to ensure your campaigns are both on time and on budget.

Promotion and Marketing

Taking everything you’ve learned across the course to date,  you will next learn to execute your own release campaign! You’ll explore effective pre-release and post-release promotional activities and campaign management, and digest the logistics and timings involved. Your tutors will guide you in the ‘how’, ‘who’ and ‘when’ of pitching, and you’ll cover both effective communication skills and relationship-building tips. At the end, you’ll be in an ideal position to release and promote your own music, and amplify your artist project far and wide.

YOUR TUTOR: SEAN Mcdermott

Sean is the co-founder and Director of artist management company Amour Music and has managed a roster of artists, songwriters, and producers who have achieved millions of plays on streaming services, performed live in theatres and arenas around the world, released numerous singles, EPs and albums, and written and produced tracks for an array of acts.

Sean is also the co-founder of The Artist Guides, providing artist development and education for independent music artists, and specialises in career coaching, artist management, music business, artist development, performance, and musicianship.

Collectively, they have worked with thousands of music professionals and a variety of artists including APRE, Matt Maltese, Bear’s Den, Natalie Lindi, Charlotte Clark, Laura Welsh, Elena Tonra, Remi Aguilella and Igor Haefeli (Daughter & Ex:Re), Richard Fairlie, scott is okay, Louisa Allen (Foxes), Arni Arnason (The Vaccines), Stealth, Mike Dignam, and many others.