Category: Being A Successful Musician

From the millions of people who want to become professional musicians, only a handful ever do. One of the main reasons for this is that most musicians waste years pursuing the WRONG things that never bring them closer to becoming successful in this industry. Even though many honestly try and work hard to make it, they only grow more and more frustrated as their efforts don’t bring the results they are looking for.

Here are 6 reasons why you currently are not yet a professional musician and what to do right now to move your music career forward:

1. You’re Building A Career As An AMATEUR Musician (Not A Professional!)

There are several key differences between how successful musicians build their careers , and how amateurs (try to) do it. Professional musicians succeed in the music industry because they expect greatness from themselves in everything they do and from everyone they associate with. Amateur musicians remain amateur because they accept mediocre results in their music careers.

Here are some examples:

Amateur musicians spend most of their time playing in bands with musicians who aren’t serious about becoming successful at the highest level.

Professional musicians only work with people who are 100% dedicated to making it in the music industry. Here is a quick test to tell you if your band is on (or close to) the pro level: Would everyone in your band drop what they’re doing to go on a big tour across the country (that would lose some money in the short term), to secure more profitable opportunities for the band’s future? If they wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do this, then your band has a long way to go to get to the pro level. To learn how to fix this situation for yourself and for everyone in your band, study this article about doing music as a full time career .

Amateur musicians continually associate with band members, friends or peers who are pessimistic and criticize their dreams of becoming successful in music.

Professional musicians fill their lives with people who empower and inspire them to achieve their musical dreams. They don’t waste time around negative people who bring down their ambitions of doing music as a career. I call this concept weeding your garden - something I described in more detail in this article on how to start a music career .

Amateur musicians assume (wrongly) that they can navigate the music business on their own, without training or coaching. Instead, they are content with relying on trial and error or (even worse) simply copying what other musicians are doing. They assume that if they merely mimic what successful musicians do, they will get the same results. This approach is one of the primary reasons why most fail to break into the music industry .

Professional musicians work with a music career mentor rather than mindlessly copying what others are doing, to make sure every action they take works as part of an effective strategy to bring them closer to THEIR musical goals.

2. Your Live Performance Skills Are More Suitable For Your Bedroom Than For An Actual Audience

One of the most obvious signs of an amateur musician is the inability to perform well on stage. Being able to simply stand on stage and play your instrument is not enough if you want to put on a professional show that draws tons of people, sells out your music/merchandise and takes your band to the next level in the industry. Every time you perform on stage, it should inspire everyone in the audience to rave to all their friends about how awesome your band is (so they come see you next time you perform). The more you do this, the faster you/your band will transition from playing small bars to larger music halls and eventually stadiums or major festivals!

3. You Self-Sabotage Your Own Music Career

Musicians like to talk about how they lack of opportunities and how if only they were given a chance to grow their career, they would jump all over it. Fact is, most people PASS on most major opportunities that are put in front of them due to their own fears and insecurities.

Case in point: from the thousands of people who apply for my Music Careers Mentoring Program every year, I screen and choose to accept only a fraction of that number (to ensure that I only work with those who are serious and have the best potential to become successful). Yet from the number of musicians who are accepted, there are always those who are AFRAID to join the program! Yes, you read correctly! Many begin to offer reasons (that I recognize immediately as nothing more than fear-based excuses) about not having the time, needing to think about it, not being ready, or a variety of other stories .

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The point is that those same musicians who complained non-stop about not having the opportunities for growing their careers, now find themselves turning DOWN the big chance to finally get into the music industry on a big level. I hear from some of these musicians years later, and they invariably tell me the same sob story about how nobody ever gave them a chance to become successful and this is why they failed to become pros in this industry.

Don’t be one of these musicians. Don’t let procrastination and inaction be the reason why you never become a professional musician. Don’t let your irrational fear of failure become the DEATH of your music career dreams... There will never be a better time than NOW to begin recording your first album, start a new band, work on your songwriting skills or get the music career training you really need to make it in the music industry. Any rationalization to the contrary is nothing more than an excuse.

To take big steps to advance your music career, first determine your greatest musical goals , then work together with a mentor who will guide you every step of the way until you have achieved them.

4. Your Life Situation Holds Your Music Career Hostage

It’s simply not possible to build a successful music career if you spend every moment of your free time exhausted because you work all day (at a non-musical job).

One way to break free of your day job and start working full time on your music career is to develop a strategy for smoothly transitioning from one to the other. For example, you could reduce the hours you spend at your day job from 40 per week to 35 and spend the extra 5 hours working on your music career. Once you begin making music related income, you can continue to reduce the amount of time you spend at your day job and phase in your music career even more.

Learn more about how to do this in this article on how to transition from a day job to a career in music .

5. You Gave Up On Achieving Your Musical Dreams, But Don’t Know It Yet

One of the best ways to sabotage your music career is to listen to people who are NOT successful professional musicians, who tell you things like:

• “Being a musician isn’t a real job.”
• “You want to become a rock star? Yeah right!”
• “All musicians are starving artists who play for change on the street corner.”
• “The music industry is too risky, you should get a job doing something more secure.”
• “You should get a degree at university and do music on the side in case it doesn’t work out.”

Truth is, the music business is an extremely secure industry to work in (for those who follow the right steps for making a living in music ). Most of the true professionals in the music industry are NOT starving artists... they earn a comfortable living doing what they love and are simply not famous enough to be well-known. In fact, it is much easier to make a lot of money in the music industry than most people think and have that income be very secure. Despite this, countless musicians listen to the pessimistic advice of others who haven’t even worked in the music industry. As a result, they start believing that their musical dreams are too unrealistic or even impossible .

To become a successful professional musician, you must ONLY listen to those people who have achieved the success you want to achieve. It makes no sense to listen to well-meaning (but misguided) advice of friends and family members who only parrot back myths and conventional wisdom about the music business without any first-hand experience in this industry. Remember, your favorite musicians all began at or below where you are now in your music career before going on to achieve great success. The only thing that prevents you from accomplishing these things is your own mindset!

6. You Don’t Really Know How To Make Money In The Music Industry

Amateur musicians spend a lot of time recording their own music and practicing their instruments, but have no idea how to make a living from these things. It’s very common for musicians to spend months writing and recording their first album, then finally release it online where no one ever hears it (much less actually buys it). As a result, they become frustrated, their music careers completely stall and they never attempt to do anything significant ever again.

You will not make a good living as a professional musician by taking isolated actions like the above. Pro musicians earn good money by thinking (and acting) as entrepreneurs, building strategically connected multiple streams of income and by studying with a proven mentor to learn how to create their own opportunities in the music business.

Now that you understand the reasons why you aren’t yet making a full-time living as a professional musician, learn the strategies you need to break into the music industry by reading this page about music career training .

Build a highly successful music career by working together with a music career success mentor .

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The Melody Of Success - Music Career Resources

Work with what you’ve got. Play to your strengths (literally). If you have a great range, showcase it with big sweeping melodies (Queen, Mariah Carey, and other non-cheesy artists as well!). If your tone is average but you have a great sense of groove, cover more rhythmic songs that highlight that. Choose a song that could have been written for you.

Find your key. Just because the original singer can hit that low G doesn’t mean that’s what is best for you. Find your best range and make sure you are hitting your sweet spots. There are plenty of apps that can transpose your favorite song to your perfect key if you don’t want to do it yourself (or, there are people like me that can help you).

Do it your way. Unless you are playing a wedding and it’s the couple’s special song, don’t feel married to the original version. Try different embellishments. Find your voice and treat the tune like you wrote it.

Experiment with arrangement. Try changing the time signature/feel. ( Here is my rendition of Outkast’s “Hey Ya” as a waltz, for example.) Make a rock song into a ballad, or vice versa. Put jazz chords to a simple pop song. Turn a heavily produced number into a minimalist piece (this is also a good way to go if you are still struggling with self-accompaniment ).

Get permission. If you’re playing an open mic, this isn’t such a big issue. But if you plan on recording a cover and sending it out into the world, check out the info on licensing at the Harry Fox Agency .



Robin Yukiko is a Berklee College of Music grad, singer-songwriter, pianist, and music educator in San Francisco. She hosts the SF Singer-Songwriters’ Workshop at the Musicians Union Local 6. Learn more at www.robinyukiko.com .

https://musicclout.com

1.    Your Songs Suck  – Consumers will instantly click past a crappy song to thousands of online radio stations till they find a good song that really moves them in the first 10-20 seconds.  You better have GREAT songs.  It’s a CRAFT; it always has been.  Treat is as such.  You need to seek out a few mentors to teach you what they know about their CRAFT and apply your unique vision and perspective to that knowledge.  Easy to do with all the online writing societies.

2.    You’re Producing Yourself  – Have you ever wondered why a record label would NEVER let you or your friends produce your own record?  Have you ever wondered why most of the iconic Superstars STILL use producers?  Why aren’t they saving money by producing themselves?  Surely a producer at that level is pretty damn expensive!  Get it?  Just because you can work Pro-Tools or Logic doesn’t mean you can or should make a record.  The label would put you with someone who is not only experienced at the entire process of making records, but a way better musician than you.  The smart artist always thrives being around true pros that are better than them to soak in the education and grow to a new artistic level; fearless of the journey.  Most artists will tell people why they can’t or won’t afford a producer and spend their money on their 25th guitar and new plug-ins for the home studio; avoiding the journey.  Do you want to make great records or collect gear?

3.    You’re Not Marketing…At ALL  – Putting your music on iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby, ReverbNation, etc. is digital distribution NOT marketing.  Marketing is the art of influencing buying decisions.  Having your CD available for purchase “wherever it’s sold” isn’t influencing buying decisions.  Twitter, Vine, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Live Shows, Music Blogs, Indie Radio, Internet Radio, and PR are the marketing tools you need to master.  These tools create awareness and drive traffic to your squeeze page where you get the consumer’s email address.  It’s through their email that you will influence their buying decisions.

4.    You’re Operating With An Out-Of-Date Business Model - You are still trying to cut cheap demos to shop to a record label to try to get a deal.  You still think radio is the key to marketing your music.  You still think that radio will be a powerful marketing tool when you do get your deal.  You still think the labels make money selling records.  You still think that if you get a deal that’s when you’ve made it.  Wake up, that ship sailed a decade ago; you have to develop yourself, today.

5.    You’re Not Thinking Like A Record Label  – If you got signed today, the label would surround you with people that make a living writing songs, engineering, producing, doing public relations, marketing, promotion, booking bands, image consulting, Photographing, etc.  All these people would be highly professional and much more dialed in to the market and process than you and your friends.  If you’re thinking like a label, you are looking for a team of people to help you with at least some of these important items.

6.    You’re Not Selling Your Music On Your Website  – .  If you were truly DRIVING traffic anywhere to purchase your music, you would drive them to YOUR site and take all the money.  Everyone needs a presence on iTunes, CD Baby, Reverbnation, etc., but why on earth would u pay someone 30% of your record sales to do what you can do with a free plug in on your WordPress site?  If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.

7.    You’re Not Posting Regular Videos To YouTube  – YouTube is your new Radio with an amazing potential for reaching millions, no wait…now BILLIONS of people and you don’t need to spend 1 million dollars to bribe a freaking Program Director for a CHANCE at getting a few spins.  The “shelf space” is unlimited (Unlike radio) and they pay royalties and advertising revenue.  “I don’t get it because I just want to make music” is a cop out.  why aren’t you learning everything you need to learn about this amazing opportunity?

8.    You Suck At Project Management  – If Steve Jobs approached the first products from Apple the way most of you approach managing your musical projects he would have died homeless.  Jobs was a true artist, the first computers he and Wozniak made looked good, worked good, were packaged well, and were made in his garage.  Instead of making 500 crappy computers with the limited budget they had, he made 50 AWESOME computers and the market place responded; the opportunities that came from the first run of AWESOME computers provided the momentum they needed to reach the next level.  If you want to find someone to cut your songs for $300/song, I PROMISE you will find them.  Record your 3 BEST songs for the same price as what you have to spend on 12 and do it RIGHT with a TALENTED TEAM.  It’s gonna cost money, so think of it as an education.   Then watch the market respond!

9.    You’re Waiting For Your “Big Break”  – Deep down you wish it was the old music business because, on the outside (from the cheap seats) it seemed easier when the labels took care of everything.  Well they did and you would have paid dearly for that “EZ Button”.  I got news for you, the Superstar Artists that are still around today, never let the labels take care of everything.  They worked smarter and harder than that in a sea of sharks.  You have to create your own opportunities, your own momentum.  There’s no way around it.  Nobody gets “discovered” anymore so get off the couch, put the bong down next to your baggage and get to work!

10. You Still Think Record Labels Develop Talent  – Record labels don’t develop talent like Coca-Cola doesn’t repair cars; they don’t care about your music, they care about your current cash flow, and how many fans you have a measurable connection with.  They care about what kind of market you created for yourself and if they can make money by adding fuel to the fire you already started.  Think YouTube and Google.  Google didn’t develop YouTube, they purchased them.  So those smart guys at YouTube had to PROVE their idea had value in the market place; so do you.

11. You Don’t Think Of Your Music As Product  – Until you do, nobody is going to hear your art.

12. You’re Self Sabotaging  – This is the most common and most destructive mistake of them all.  Let me save you the suspense, you’re gonna make mistakes.  You’re gonna hit speed bumps.  You’re gonna be rejected.  You’re gonna have to get over it!  You have to get out of your own way and just move forward.  Stop making excuses.  If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.  PERIOD.  So make a change and watch massive amounts of energy quickly flow your way.

13. You Are Too Sensitive To Take Constructive Criticism  – You would be amazed how many of your favorite Superstars were brutally schooled by the label on their first record.  They were green just like you!  “Go back and write us a single we can promote on the radio or we’re gonna drop you”.  If you’re too dumb to know that you don’t know, you’ll never make it.  Be professional and LEARN.  It’s always better to stay quiet in a room and appear stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

14. You’re Listening To Haters  – When you do start to get momentum, people you don’t know and sadly, many that you do will spit poison into every part of your life.  Get used to it.  You are doing what they can’t.

15. You Haven’t Defined Your Lane  – You are afraid to pick a genre because you write in many.  Consumers need ONE lane to connect with you in.  Just because you pick one doesn’t mean you are ignoring the others.  Get some traction in 1 lane first, that will help expose a project in a different lane to more people.  Think John Mayer with his first few pop records and then he did a blues project.  That blues project got a TON of exposure because he was now John Mayer the pop star.

16. You’re Live Performance Sucks  – Nothing is more disappointing than seeing a decent band with great songs and nobody sings background vocals; except for a crappy band with crappy songs, and everyone singing background vocals.

17. You’re Not Capitalizing On Your Live Performances  – Today’s music market is about endless content and email addresses.  You should have constant video footage to market on social media.  You should have boatloads of email addresses after every show.  You should be moving product from the stage at every show.  You should be gaining twitter followers at every show…THEN you can get laid.  J

18. You’re Putting Too Much Stock Into Your ReverbNation Ranking  – A #1 ranking for your small town or big city on ReverbNation + $2.54 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  How are you getting paid for your songs?

19. You Don’t Know What You’re Doing On Twitter  – Twitter is a simply amazing surgical marketing tool that allows you to SERIOUSLY target your specific market.  When done correctly, your following will constantly grow.  1 year from now you could have well over 10k followers and now you have the means to drive tons of traffic to a squeeze page, or a YouTube video, or to….Get my point?  Your fans are out there, go find them.

20. You Think It’s All About Music, Not Marketing  – The truth is that it sure is nice when they expertly market a killer record, but if it was only about the music, there wouldn’t be any crappy songs on the radio.  Think about that for a second.  Without marketing, nobody cares about your music because they haven’t heard it.

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