You come across two key types of people when meeting musicians in the music industry:
People who gamble with their careers and people who invest into their careers.
What type of person do you image yourself as?
Are you a gambler or an investor?
Here’s a closer look at what these labels mean and how to use this knowledge to achieve your music career goals:
How gamblers “gamble” in their music careers:
Gamblers in the music business are a lot like poker players you see at a casino.
Gamblers are hoping to get lucky with that one great hand, but if they get a poor hand… they quickly drop out of the game to cut their losses.
Think about this situation:
A new group records and releases their debut record, but it is quickly apparent that no one is really buying it… This leads them to believe that they won’t be able to work with a record label.
So what is the next step for them?
Instead of learning how to sell a lot more albums…
...they quickly get started recording a new record, spend (gamble with) more money producing it and hope to get lucky this next time around.
This pattern repeats over and over until the band has no more money left to spend or becomes frustrated and splits up like most bands.
Is that the kind of band you want to be in?
These musicians are gamblers because they want someone to take a big risk (gamble) with them by giving them a recording contract simply from hearing their tunes.
In the end:
You don’t want to rely on others to gamble on you.
Don't let this happen.
Instead: You want someone to become an investor in your career.
How “investors” work in the music business:
Who are some of the most influential investors in the music industry?
Record labels.
These companies invest tons of money, time and resources into musicians to further their careers.
Companies like this play for long-term gains.
Translation:
They don't get rid of their investment (musicians) due to early struggles. They give them time to develop and prosper.
Music company executives protect their investment during any temporary setbacks, rather than cutting their losses as gamblers do.
However, there is a catch!
Correction: there are two main “catches”.
In other words:
Their goal is to earn a lot of money from their investment into the musicians they sign.
Don't get it wrong – This is the ONLY reason music companies even exist!
They do their homework on everyone they work with to ensure that they experience the least amount of risk and greatest return on their investment.
So what are these people looking for in you?
Check out this video and learn for yourself:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edFqvpYqq9M
What Is The Takeaway Lesson Here For Your Music Career?
Music Career Lesson #1: Make Yourself The Kind Of Person You Want To Attract.
If you want investors to invest into your music career, become an investor yourself.
Like this:
*Learn in-depth how the business side of music works. Learning a lot about this makes it much less difficult to achieve incredible success in the music business. Everything in this industry is easier when you have a firm grasp on topics like marketing, promotion, accounting, managing, sales, operations, working well with others and keeping up-to-date with the latest technological trends.
Invest time into learning about each of these topics. This puts you on a whole new level compared to the majority of musicians who only focus on their music.
*Invest time into nurturing solid music career relationships. Contacts matter little in the music business… relationships matter a lot. A relationship takes time and energy to bloom and each relationship is part of the whole that makes up your public perception.
Read this music business article to learn how (and why) to develop solid relationships in the music business.
*Become a musician with an amazing work ethic. Get accustomed to doing much more than what is expected of you… this includes things you have no obligation to even do. When you do this, you become an extremely rare find in a sea of people all doing and saying the same things.
Music Career Lesson #2: Building A Successful Music Career Is Much Easier Than You Think.
Most musicians are gamblers. They don't really invest into their careers at all.
So what does this have to do with you?
You eliminate all competition.
Make it your central focus to become the #1 version of yourself that you can be with each action you take to grow your music career.
When you do this, you get the music career opportunities that other musicians only dream about.
Music Career Lesson #3: Think With The Mindset Of Music Companies.
So you know how a record company researches a ton of things about you before they decide to work with you?
What if you put together a big list containing all the things you could do to create value for music companies while making yourself a risk-free choice to work with?
For instance:
- You could study the business side of music so companies don’t need to spend their own time and money training you on how these things work.
Checking out articles like this is a good start. Getting music career mentoring from a successful professional musician takes you to a much higher level.
- Do the things you want music companies to do for you… at a smaller scale.
For example: set up a small tour around your local area.
You likely won’t make great money with this at first, but this helps you gain valuable experience in:
*Stage performance
*Setting up and organizing events
*Creating a budget
*Selling merch
*Selling tickets for your shows
*Growing relationships with promoters and owners.
Question: “Tom Hess, am I guaranteed to get signed to a record deal if I do these things?”
Answer: Not at all. There are no guarantees in this business (or in life).
With that being said:
If you aren’t investing your time, energy and money into developing your career, why would anyone do it for you?
You now understand a lot more about what it takes to build a career in music than. The next action to take is to learn how to make tons of money selling your music, so your career grows faster. Download this free music business eGuide to learn how to get your fans to buy your music and have the success other musicians only dream about.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is an online guitar teacher and music career mentor. He trains and mentors from all over the world on how to develop a successful career in music. Follow Tom Hess on Facebook for daily tips to help you grow as a musician.