You Thought You were a Musician
And now, for the most disappointing realization that every modern musician eventually comes to terms with: You will never be able to just make music for a
living.
The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can get your music career on
track.
Sounds simple, but it’s astounding how many musicians I meet who think
they can succeed by just writing great songs, making great recordings, and putting on great shows. Yes, making great music is of course important. It’s the foundation of the entire operation. Having great music is the baseline. And it’s assumed that you have great music before following any other tips here. But, it is not (and, actually, has never been) all that musicians have to worry about.
How are you going to play live if you don’t know how to book a show? How are you going to get people to those shows if you don’t know how to promote them? How are you going to grow your fanbase if you don’t know how (where, or, gasp, why) to put your songs online? How are you going to generate passive revenue if you don’t know how to collect all of your royalties? How are you going to get noticed if you don’t know how to approach gatekeepers, influencers, and tastemakers?
There are way too many musicians who believe that all it takes is to create one great song, throw it up on YouTube or SoundCloud and wait for it to take over the world and get “discovered” by “someone.”
Believe me, I wish we lived in a world where the greatest music in the world was instantly and universally recognized, cherished and (financially) rewarded. But, the reality is, that’s far from the truth. So! What are you going to do about it? Are you going to live in the majority and do nothing but b*&ch about how ‘people are stupid’ for liking the music they like (while your music disappears into oblivion), or are you going to work your a$$ off to get your music the recognition it deserves? Your choice.
You must split your time equally between the music and the business. Early on, of course, most of your time will be spent solely on the music because you don’t have a business yet. This period doesn’t count. This is the incubation stage. The developmental stage. But once you have decided that music is going to be your
business, that’s when the 50/50 rule comes into play.
When you’re writing and recording your album, 80% of your time will be
spent on the music. And this is balanced by the period after you release the album, when 80% of your time will be spent on promoting the album (the business).
When you’re not working on specific projects, you should be splitting every day (or at least every week) between business and music equally. Maybe Sunday through Tuesday is spent on songwriting, practicing, and rehearsing. Then Wednesday through Friday is spent on booking, promotion, social media, networking, and research. If you’re ever bored as a musician, you aren’t doing it right.
But the 50/50 rule doesn’t just have to do with your time. It has to do with your money as well. Fifty percent of your money should be spent on your art and fifty percent of your money should be spent on the promotion of that art. Sounds simple enough, but I can’t tell you how many artists run a crowdfunding campaign for $10,000, then spend $12,000 actually creating their album and devote $27 to promote the thing. If your album is going to cost $12,000 to create, then you should run your crowdfunding campaign for $24,000. If you don’t think you can raise that much, then either create an EP or find a way to cut your costs. There is no sense in spending a boatload of money on a masterpiece if no one is going to hear it. And if you spend no money on marketing and promotion, no one will hear it. Period.