40+ Music and Artist Goals (an epic 2024 creative goals list)
Welcome to my epic list of creative goals for this year. It’s a collection of my favorite music and art goals that are most relevant for the modern creator.
I see these creative objectives as checkpoints (not end points).
As that old cliché goes: it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters.
So I’m psyched to have you here and I hope these ideas inspire your creative goal setting.
Now enough small talk, let’s get it.
Hey there, just a heads up that some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. That means I earn a small commission. This is at no extra cost to you, but helps me keep the lights on. Thank you for your support!
The Benefits of Setting Art or Music Goals and Objectives
Before we jump into the list, let’s explore some of the benefits for having and setting goals.
It’s an important piece to the success puzzle, so here are some of top advantages of knowing and focusing on new goals:
You’re focused on growth and improvement
Meeting goals creates motivation and satisfaction
Goals can help you measure your progress
Goals can help you realize or determine what you want
Goals help you avoid shiny object syndrome
Goals keep you accountable
Goals encourage action taking
40+ Creative Musician and Artist Goals for 2024
This list is living. So I’ll keep things updated as I stumble across fresh ideas.
But of course, if you’ve got any other creative goals you’re working on or planning for, I’d love to hear about them – so let me know in the comments below!
Otherwise, let’s jump in.
1. Tackle your artistic or performance fears
This is something I just started doing recently. I wrote down my top musical fears (like playing live shows alone) and now I’m making a plan for addressing each one.
I’m confident that if I keep facing these fears, I’ll become stronger, more confident and grow as an artist. So what are your creative fears and challenges?
2. Post on social media daily
It’s so easy to do, right? Just take a picture or short video of whatever you’re doing and post the dang thing. Still, we struggle. We overanalyze. We lose motivation.
So make a commitment to posting daily on your core socials (or weekly if they’re longer pieces of content, like YouTube videos). This habit will be instrumental in growing your creative brand.
3. Start a music or art blog
I’m a huge supporter of starting a blog as a creative brand. I feel like it’s not talked about that much though (as social media usually takes the spotlight).
But if you do it right, it can become a free and organic traffic source as well as a passive income channel with a lot of monetization opportunities.
Besides, writing and sharing your thoughts and insights as a musician or artist is actually pretty cathartic. You have a lot of knowledge and expertise you could be sharing – it’s kind of fun.
Starting this blog was the best decision I ever made. It represent my brand and is an opportunity for people to find me.
Recommended: How to Start A Music Blog
Recommended: How to Start An Art Blog
4. Get 1% better every day
Think critically — what are your weaknesses and what are your core objectives? We can reach our goals (in time) by simply committing to taking small daily steps — even just 10 minutes a day.
Small actions add up and compound — as compounding does. It’s the secret sauce to sustainable growth and success.
5. Collaborate with someone who inspires you
Collaborations are amazing opportunities. You can expand and share your audiences, learn new skills, meet other creatives and grow your network.
So who is someone you’d love to do a collab with? Start reaching out – or if they’re a larger creator, you can start small and connect with other artists of similar sizes. Either way, start growing your network.
6. Create income streams
Whether you’re creating your first income stream or building out multiple sources of income, this is an awesome goal. Learning how to monetize your craft is an essential skill.
You could sell prints, collect royalties, sell merch, get sponsored posts, create a course or even write an ebook. The options are endless.
7. Learn a new skill, medium or creative technology
There’s always a new tool, plugin or artistic medium we could be learning. Personally, I’m learning how to leverage AI to become a stronger and more productive artist (rather than trying to fight it).
So challenge your skills and try something new. Maybe that means trying graffiti art. Or maybe it’s learning how to use new synths in your music. Whatever the case, repertoires can always expand.
8. Release 1 new song or artwork every month
This is one of my own top goals moving forward: to release at least one new single every month.
It’s simple enough, but for some reason finishing my dang songs is still one of my greatest weaknesses.
(I’m getting better…lol)
9. Prioritize your artistic mental health
Do you stress about your art or music? Is your creative brand something you still have fun with? Do yo feel like an imposter?
Is your relationship with your craft healthy and exciting still?
If not, then prioritizing your happiness and mental health is a fantastic goal. For me, I like to meditate, self reflect, practice gratitude or talk things out with a friend over coffee at a cafe outside the city.
(it’s always important to just step away and take a break — avoiding burnout is key)
10. Meet more like-minded creators and artists
Jim Rohn is famously attributed with the idea that you become the average of the five closest people in your life.
There’s definitely truth to this idea. So audit your inner circle and try to expand your network and friends to include more peeps with similar goals, visions and artistic interests.
11. Start your website
Having a website is essential as a modern creative.
It’s your main hub and a place to house all your goods, start a blog and sell your stuff. It’s a way for people to contact you and learn more about your brand.
It makes you look way more professional and authoritative in your craft. It’s also just super fun and feels like creative play when designing it.
Personally, I use Squarespace, which is my top recommendation for creatives and creative entrepreneurs. It’s aesthetic, intuitive and super powerful.
Recommended: The Best Website Builders for Creatives
12. Learn about business and digital marketing
As modern creatives, we’re more like entrepreneurs than ever before.
We have unlimited opportunities, resources and creative tools available to us – there are no gatekeepers. But this means we need to seriously level up our business and marketing skills.
Luckily, you can find a ton of free resources and courses online. I’m currently building out a library of this type of content here. So if you want to learn more, you can start with my blog mastery series.
13. Learn how to do SEO
Learning how to generate passive traffic to your website or videos is an awesome creative skill. And this means leaning how to do SEO (search engine optimization).
Here are some quick tips for starting:
Learn the basics and focus on how to find good keyword opportunities
Create amazing content for the reader on topics that you know well (or things that interest you)
Understand the search intent for keywords – analyze the first page results of Google or YouTube
Look for inspiration from other creators in your orbit
Recommended: How to Do SEO for Creatives
14. Start a YouTube channel (and post weekly)
YouTube for artists and musicians is an incredible opportunity. You can post performances, tutorials, day-in-the-life type of content…or anything!
It does take some work though – especially to grow your channel. So stay patient and focused, because the payoff can be huge for your brand.
15. Learn more about your audience and engage more
Audience engagement is a two way street. We tend to prioritize engagement metrics like hearts and comments too much.
But what about interacting with your audience in more personable ways? For example, DMing someone with a personal message, including people in your process or giving back in some way.
16. Fall in love with setbacks, mistakes and “failures”
This is all about loving the process and reframing setbacks as opportunities and paths forward.
It’s incredibly healthy and helpful to love your setbacks and reframe perceived failures as learning opportunities and paths forward. It’s really all about cultivating a creative growth mindset.
17. Fall in love with your work and your authenticity
We can be way too hard on ourselves and our art. Maybe we’re comparing our ideas too much to others or maybe we’re just not having fun with what we’re making anymore.
But learning to be obsessed and absolutely love what you’re doing is an awesome skill and a goal worth pursuing as a musician or artist.
18. Learn how to stop comparing yourself
Comparing yourself to other musicians or artists is super unhelpful. So we should strive to be inspired, not jealous.
If you’re struggling here, you may want to consider taking a social media detox or limiting your time online. Meditate, practice gratitude and cultivate self awareness as a creative.
(you’re more awesome than you give yourself credit for)
19. Headline a show or get featured in a solo art exhibit
This is sort of an obvious goal for musicians or artists. But being the feature of some exhibit or show – big or small – is an awesome thing.
It may take some work and focus to build an audience and credibility. So if this is a goal you’d like to pursue, start by breaking things down into smaller, more actionable steps and stay patient.
20. Start a journal
This is different from the blogging goal above. This is something private and is a great way to get your ideas and thoughts out.
There are no style guidelines or rules here. Just start pouring your thoughts out on paper. It’s super cathartic and can help you grow on a personal level.
If you’re needing some help on what to journal about, you check out my post on growth mindset journal prompts.
21. Share more
Sharing requires vulnerability and creative confidence. It’s hard.
But people want to know more about you and your life.
So let them in — share your process, your journey or your day-to-day life. Practice getting more comfortable with putting yourself out there and being artistically vulnerable (and f*ck the naysayers).
22. Become a mentor and teach what you know
Sharing your insights, knowledge and unique perspective on things is super rewarding.
As a double benefit, teaching is a great way to get better and more confident at what you’re doing (it’s called the protégé effect)
23. Finish more of your unfinished ideas
I’m assuming most of us have a whole library of unfinished projects and ideas (I know I do). I mean, the amount of ideas I have spread across various devices and harddrives is…concerning.
But I know I’m not alone.
So make this one of your core goals this year – finish those abandoned ideas!
24. Get press coverage
Getting press coverage can be a huge opportunity to establish authority and reach new audiences.
Whether it’s an article or an invitation to do a podcast, this is a great goal.
To start, I would focus on just building your brand out and creating quality content. From here, you can start reaching out directly – and with any luck, opportunities will eventually find you.
25. Grow – spend time outside creative comfort zones
Growth usually happen by doing things outside of comfort zones and within our zone of proximal development (i.e., the area just outside your current skills).
So practice challenging yourself and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Practice a growth mindset and be carefree about the whole thing (that’s what works for me, at least).
26. Grow your fanbase and reach more people
This is another obvious goal – but one worth pursuing. And there are a myriad of ways to do this.
But I’d say just focus on your content strategy and how you can create more engaging, value-adding stuff. There are tons of social media growth strategies to try, but at the core of them all is consistency and improving over time.
27. Learn how to read the data
Your social media and website data is a treasure trove of value and insights. So take the time to learn what your audience responds to most and what works best.
This way, you can make more data-driven decisions for content and develop a stronger audience-first strategy.
28. Start a newsletter
This is another writing goal (I know, can you tell I run a personal blog?).
But newsletter are super valuable. They are an audience that you “own”. That is, the followers you have on social media are not yours. You don’t have their data or contact information (the platform does).
But an email list is a way to connect directly with your audience (to promote new projects, build a stronger brand, etc.). Check out Substack as a free place to try out newsletter writing.
29. Learn AI (Use AI)
There’s no turning back. AI is here and it’s not going anywhere.
But I’m super excited about it. I’m not worried about AI replacing creativity or my value as an artist. People always want to follow people and their unique story.
AI is simply the next game-changing technology that we can leverage to become stronger creatives and more time efficient.
30. Become more carefree
My greatest asset is my ability to stay casual and carefree about life.
And when it comes to my artistic wellbeing and enjoyment, it’s a fantastic tool I like to leverage.
I know this is way easier said than done (and I apologize for sounding a bit reductionist and simplistic), but practice stressing less. Try learning to ride the waves more than trying to control them.
31. Get sync licensing or royalties for your craft
Imagine getting royalties for your art, music or creative assets. For example, getting your music in television or selling your photos on a stock website.
This requires planning, research and creativity, but it’s a pretty sweet goal to strive for.
32. Create or refresh your home studio
This one is fun (and can be a quick goal to check off).
But refreshing your creative studio – whether it’s an art studio or your music studio – is an awesome goal. Besides, making your space conducive to creativity and focus is essential.
So hop on Pinterest or social media and start crafting together design ideas.
33. Re-release a song or art project
Time to revisit some of those old projects. This can be a fun goal and a creative challenge as well. I mean, it’s hard to say when a song or artwork is ever actually “finished”.
So revisiting your old ideas with new verses, colors or ideas can be a fun activity and goal to try out.
34. Make an EPK (electronic press kit)
Creating and having an EPK ready to go is an important part of your brand.
It’s a business asset and will come in handy as you start growing your brand and audience online. It’s like your digital resume/business card for brands and sponsorship opportunities.
35. Get some fresh photos and headshots
It’s photoshoot time. This is a fun one and you don’t need to drop thousands on equipment or a professional photographer either.
Here are some minimalist ways to approach this goal:
Go with the DIY approach
Sorelle Amore is a super talented creator, popular for her advanced selfie tutorials
Find a friend that likes photography (my friend in Tokyo took mine — I’m lucky though, as he’s an amazing professional photographer)
Watch some tutorials and just use your phone
36. Make a music video or mini artist documentary
This can be great content if you’re also starting (or already have) a YouTube channel.
And don’t stress or think that you need to drop thousands on a professional music video or documentary crew.
You can reach out to smaller channels or beginner filmmakers (it’s a great experience for them too) or just go with the raw footage approach and use your phone.
37. Take more creative risks
Being creative requires some risk taking. These should be reframed as fun and experiential.
So push forward, get weird and try new things. Challenge your creativity and try to make interesting new connections between seemingly different niches. Try something contrarian — be provocative.
38. Read more books + level up
Always be learning. Reading and acquiring new knowledge is always a benefit.
Remember, we’re actually more like creative entrepreneurs. We handle everything from production to marketing, distribution and finance management.
So read books and be forever curious.
39. Learn video and editing skills
Learning videography or video editing will give a lot of creative control and ability to create more engaging, high quality content.
Actually, as a creative person, you may find that filmmaking becomes a solid side passion of yours (it definitely has for me).
So learn more about video production and editing – it’s a great modern skill to hone.
40. Build more creative discipline (+ get more done)
Getting into the habit of taking action when you’re not motivated is one of the best skills you can acquire as a human person.
Because we can’t rely solely on motivation to get things done. It’s fickle and a recipe for even more unfinished projects and unrealized goals.
So practice discipline and remember — oftentimes — motivation follows action (not the other way around).
41. Get more organized
Distractions and time-wasters abound. Creative productivity is a modern skill.
Whether it’s making a creative workflow, organizing your life or building a habit and making a plan to reach your goals
A good workflow should be attached to some specific goals and will address your weaknesses or process bottlenecks.
42. Strengthen your artist mindset
Mindset matters. It’s the first step to realizing and reaching your goals (and I’m a bit obsessed with it).
Practicing your artist or music mindset is like having a tool that will help you overcome any obstacle, challenge or concern in your creative life.
Because being creative isn’t always easy – but my mindset is the best copilot I could’ve asked for.
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