https://journalcloset.com/misery-business-lyrics/ Want to know how to become a successful full time musician in the music business? First, you should forget about all the ‘conventional wisdom’ you’ve been told by those who have NEVER been highly successful in the music industry. It’s a fact that most musicians who try to succeed in the music business will actually fail… but YOU do not need to be one of them!
On the other hand, musicians who build and sustain successful music careers utilize an entirely different set of skills, thought processes and values that help them achieve music business success. These things are not music business secrets that are only available to rock stars and music industry executives – anyone can learn and utilize them (this includes you). Throughout the rest of this article I will discuss these various qualities and help you understand how you can use them to benefit your personal music career.
Contrary to what you might first think, learning to play your instrument at a ‘professional’ level isn’t included in the list below. Why? Because it is a ‘given’ that you must be working towards that goal already every day. In addition, your musical abilities (on their own) will not be enough to guarantee your success in the music business. Fact is, there are countless musicians who can play extremely well, but nevertheless do not build a successful music career… so it is clear that musical talent alone can only take you so far.
Most of the qualities I will be discussing have to do with the way you ‘think’ rather than the specific actions you take. It is rare to find someone who has the right mindset that contains all of these qualities. However, you can get ‘trained’ to develop a success oriented mindset and thus massively increase your chances for making it in the music industry.
Here are the most important qualities to develop for yourself in order to build a highly successful music career:
The Right Work Ethic Mentality
Of course it is obvious that you will need to work hard to build a successful music career. However, most musicians do not understand what ‘kind’ of working mentality is required to truly ‘make it’. The type of dedication needed requires more than just working a lot on your career. It requires:
1. Understanding the ‘correct’ course of action to take in order to make progress. This means not just ‘working a lot’, but working on the ‘right things’ that will lead you where you want to go.
2. Working in the most effective and productive manner possible. Tons of people stay busy throughout the day, but never actually accomplish anything important. You don’t want to become one of these people.
3. Being aware of how everything you do factors into the growth of your music career in the long term.
4. Having the patience and commitment to do all the hard work ‘up front’, long before you get a payoff of any kind. A common example of this would be recording a full length album in the studio before actually making any profit from it.
To develop the right work ethic mindset, work to clearly understand your long term music career goals and find a mentor who will help you determine the steps you must take to reach them.
Steadfast Loyalty
In the music industry, you will not reach a high level of success alone. Music companies, musicians, promoters, managers and other music industry types will all act as your business partners at one point or another in your music career. These people will all invest their time, energy and resources into you and because of this they will expect your loyalty (as you will likewise expect it from them). Musicians who are not loyal are frequently banned from future business ventures and music career opportunities. The majority of musicians take loyalty for granted and only ‘pretend’ to be loyal until they can take advantage of an opportunity at the expense of their partners.
Although there exist many definitions for what ‘loyalty’ is – as a general concept it refers to not pursuing opportunities that will benefit you while bringing down those who work together with you. Of course, being loyal does not mean letting others take advantage of you either. There is a balance here that you must learn as you work in the music industry. Without this balance, you will struggle to achieve great success for an extended period of time.
The Ability To Create Value Outside Of Skills Related To Playing An Instrument
No matter if you are working as an independent musician or together with a music company, you will greatly benefit by knowing how to negotiate, book shows, build a following of fans, put together a tour, communicate effectively, think of profitable business ideas and much more.
Certainly you do not need to be the ‘best’ at all of these things (you should find others who are strong in the areas that you are weak in) and it isn’t always good to attempt to do everything on your own. That said, when you can do these things yourself, you become capable of adding a lot of value to any situation. This gives you the ability to:
1. Become the ‘best choice’ for any bands looking for a new member
2. Determine different ways to earn a living in the music business
3. Reduce the amount of money you need to spend on hiring others to do the tasks you can’t do
4. Make a lot more money due to the additional value you offer
5. Greatly increase the chances for success in any musical project you pursue
The main idea is that highly successful professional musicians are multi-dimensional, and do not merely ‘play an instrument’. This is why other musicians and music industry professionals always want to work with them (increasing their chances for success).
