The Business of Music

There are many ways to "make it" in the music business. It all depends on what you want. If I could give only one piece of advice, it would be this:

TAKE CARE OF THE MUSIC FIRST!

Of course, there's a lot of pressure to gain recognition, but if that's your biggest concern, this advice may not interest you. I've seen musicians devote a lot of energy to promotion at the expense of music, sometimes even putting down musicians who sit at home and practice. Impressive inroads are made in a very short amount of time. All the right people are met but once it becomes obvious that this person doesn't have the music to back it up they sort of fade into the background. Obviously there has to be a good balance between practicing, writing and promotion.

That said, my other piece of advice is:

DON'T WAIT FOR AN INVITATION!

There are some musicians who seem to expect opportunities to come to them rather than creating situations for themselves. Yea, you deserve it. Sure, the scene can be messed up. So what? Rather than chasing it around, always one step behind, why not create your own niche? Make people come to you. If they don't, you'll still have your music. That's what it's about anyway, right? A career is only a means to that end, to serve the music and not the other way around. Once you confuse this issue you begin to create potential problems for yourself.

The basis for "taking care of the music first", means that you might actually have something worth promoting. Rather than trying to figure out why the phone doesn't ring, think about writing some music. There's nothing like a finished project to get you excited and give you the best reason in the world to promote yourself. Then it becomes mandatory; imperative for you to take the necessary steps to get it out there. Keeping focused on the music can help keep from developing a negative attitude. There's a lot that can discourage us, at least we have the creative process to keep us positive.

Beyond that, it's important to connect with people who inspire you or who are doing the kinds of things that you would like to do. I often notice a self defeating attitude among musicians in which those who are successful are looked upon as having "gotten over" somehow. This is just plain alienating. It's easy to become frustrated by the success others may have attained. Believe me, it's a small scene and there's not that much that separates us. If somebody's music reaches you, go after them! Deal with it on a human level. Share your excitement and be real. There's nothing like a great performance to motivate you into starting a conversation with someone you don't know. So it's uncomfortable at first. Big deal.

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Excerpt from “Taking the steps”

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