Sensible insights from ICONAC, the agency serving to rising artists navigate the monetary aspect of touring.
With pyro-fueled festivals, packed golf equipment and big social media followings, the touring DJ life appears glamorous from the skin. However behind these shiny lights, DJs face tough monetary puzzles that each rising artist has the ability to navigate.
ICONAC, a enterprise administration agency that works with over 130 artists throughout music, movie and gaming, sees the identical errors repeatedly. Many younger DJs deal with their profession like a interest that abruptly went skilled, monitoring revenue in Notes apps, mixing private and enterprise bills, and discovering tax obligations solely when it’s too late to plan round them.
The transition from bed room producer to booked artist occurs quick whereas monetary infrastructure hardly ever retains tempo, and the technical expertise that make somebody nice behind the decks hardly ever translate to cash administration or retirement planning. ICONAC’s aim is to demystify the serpentine optics of accounting, bookkeeping, tax providers and money administration for artists to allow them to give attention to the artistic.
They know touring doesn’t final without end, so recognizing that hole early might save tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} down the road. The corporate counts as purchasers bass music stars ALLEYCVT and Of The Timber, who have been named to EDM.com‘s Class of 2025 and Class of 2024, respectively.
Learn on to find sensible insights from the ICONAC staff, in their very own phrases.
1. Enterprise: Set it up early
Forming an LLC (or the appropriate entity to your scenario) helps you draw a transparent line between private and enterprise revenue. This separation makes taxes clearer, retains legal responsibility restricted, and helps you benefit from enterprise deductions from day one. In different phrases, it’s a easy step that may imply extra money stays in your pocket.
“Deal with your DJ profession like a enterprise,” says Jasmine Kwok, Director of Operations. “You’re the CEO, with a supervisor as COO, an agent as CRO, a enterprise supervisor as CFO, and a lawyer as Basic Counsel.”
2. Taxes: Pay them quarterly
Each DJ should file taxes yearly, whether or not you made a revenue or not. The IRS just isn’t forgiving with late or missed funds, and “my canine ate my tax return” gained’t lower it. Paying quarterly taxes retains you forward. Put it off till April, and you might be staring down stress and a invoice that feels inconceivable to cowl.
3. Budgeting: “Revenue First” Technique
Loads of DJs pulling six figures nonetheless really feel broke. The problem is life-style, not revenue. Personal jets, entourages, and massive nights out drain cash quick. Touring additionally makes money really feel prefer it comes and goes in waves, with massive payouts one weekend and heavy bills the following. Use the “Revenue First” technique: put aside revenue first, then pay your self, allocate for taxes, and canopy bills with what stays. It builds self-discipline and retains you from counting on the following gig simply to catch up
“‘Revenue First’ flips the same old script,” says Daniel Berrocal, proprietor and founding father of ICONAC. “As an alternative of hoping there’s cash left over after bills, you lock in revenue first. It offers DJs management over their money circulate and retains them from residing gig to gig.”
4. Money circulate: Money foundation
Money circulate points sink artists sooner than low revenue. The golden rule is straightforward: don’t pay cash out till it is available in. Whether or not it’s commissions, distributors, or manufacturing prices, follow a money foundation so you might be by no means fronting cash you haven’t but acquired. This aligns completely with the Revenue First system: put aside revenue first, then cowl bills with the money you even have. That manner you keep accountable for your cash as a substitute of chasing it.
“Pay commissions on a money foundation so that you shield your money circulate,” says Nick Aliantro, Enterprise Supervisor at ICONAC. “Solely pay upon getting been paid.”
5. Income: Observe each stream
For a lot of DJs, touring is the principle paycheck, however it’s removed from the one one. Streaming royalties, merch gross sales, model sponsorships and sync offers can add as much as critical cash should you truly observe them. Too typically, artists neglect these income streams and miss out on revenue just because no person is monitoring them.
Observe ICONAC:
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LinkedIn: linkedin.com/firm/iconac
