Being a music publisher and a career coach to creative people, I have sat across the table from some wildly successful artists. It is one of the easiest things I do. When working with these people, we are finding new and better ways to build on their past successes. The second easiest thing I do is work with new artists who seem to be on an unstoppable path to fame and success. The world is before them and my task is to point out and help them build on the necessary stepping stones for career and mental sanity in a crazy-making business. These people represent the top of the heap and are the pacesetters for the world of music.
Believe it or not, some musicians will fail at being successful. This is antithetical to all I have been writing in the previous blogs. I know this is self-demising too, since I am in the business of helping musicians succeed at their craft. It’s hard to get someone to pay you to tell them to pack it in and go back to Peoria. We all want encouragement and need to be bolstered along to strengthen our confidence. It’s kind of anti-American to say to someone, “It’s time to stop accumulating gear, quit pitching your songs, stop spending money on your demos, give up on your dream and get a job in radiology so you can pay the bills.” The very thought of that goes against everything we have in us that says we must be successful and have a right to try.
It is incredibly difficult to fully predict who will “make it” in the music business and who will fail. But there are some very strong indicators and people with the right kinds of experience and insight can, with a high degree of accuracy, predict who will go on to make a living and who will fail and move on to some other field. The following list will help in identifying some of the main areas of concern for the musician who wants to succeed. If you find yourself listed among these “negatives” it would behoove you to address them now or make the tough decisions for a career choice.
I am going to give you the Top 10 Reasons to Pack it In (or make a change).
1. You aren’t organized enough to make contacts
2. You hate criticism and are immobilized by it
3. You hate rehearsals and the thought of repetition
4. You think of fans as a nuisance after the show
5. You have an all consuming job that occupies your every thought
6. You quit easily
7. You don’t have fans who follow your music and don’t know why
8. You don’t have your music in a purchasable form
9. You are uninspired and uninspiring
10. You are out-of-control in the rest of your life
There are at least 10 more, but any one of these reasons can be devastating to your music career. If you have several of these reasons working together it is nearly a sure thing that you will not succeed in the business of making a living in music. Make the changes necessary to put yourself on the road to a great living in this crazy music business.
©2009 WalkWay Group, Steven Blanton, All Rights Reserved
