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What does it take to succeed in the music biz today?


mbengs1

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First ask yourself what success means to you. Is it artistic satisfaction, a sense of self-actualization? Is it adoration by the masses? Riches? Or simply the ability to pursue one's chosen craft and earn a decent living, maybe enough to raise a family?

 

To be frank, the kind of success that most people think of when they think of success is going to be uphill for anyone, but especially so for those who are not young, attractive, and perceived by label types as malleable and pliant. Of course, those are not qualities that necessarily lead to success on their own -- but they are generally prerequisites for consideration by mainstream music shot-callers.

 

 

However, we now live in an era when the music industry as we know it is being reorganized around the notion of disintermediation -- getting rid of the middle men, as it were.

 

It's now possible for self-directed artists to 'roll their own' music biz to some extent. We musicians can now sell our work much more directly to the public, using 3rd party aggregators to place our songs across stores and stream services as per our choice. (My current favorite aggregator is the no-frills Distrokid -- but no one size fits all, do your homework before deciding.)

 

Of course, making music and getting it in stores is only the first step in the battle. If no one knows it's there, there's going to be little chance of significant sales or streams.

 

And -- get this -- as of mid-2014, one fifth of the music on Spotify had never been streamed -- we're not just talking bedroom producers, either, but some big label product, even familiar names. Not streamed once. (I was so intrigued by it all, I started a mini-blog about it: The Forgotify Files -- named after a service, Forgotify, that feeds up previously unheard tracks from Spotify for their first listen anywhere).

 

So, for those going the DIY route, the hardest job is likely to be selling oneself and one's music to the public. Many of us outside the G-rap field were raised to be modest -- and that's good because, off the street corner, a lot of music fans are strongly turned off by braggadocio and what seems like inflated self-esteem (think Kanye). So the trick is to sell yourself without coming off like an ego-inflated used car salesman. wink.png

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I guess the first thing is having great music to offer, unique sound and style, and good execution of the music. but what does it really take?

 

Great marketing skills, perseverance, winning the genetic lottery and a great personal trainer, tight pants, the ability to dance, no fear of flashpots, an innate ability to understand what is catchy and what people really like, knowing someone with strong Pro Tools skills, and a bunch of luck.

 

There. How'd I do? :D

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Also it's a vast business. Presumably you mean performing star? The majority of the business is people successfully doing the job.

 

Based on the OP, it sounds like the question is about how to become a pop star, and not so much how to create music for video games, make music for documentary films, operate a Pro Tools rig, or do transfers from Akai analog 12-track machines.

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First ask yourself what success means to you. Is it artistic satisfaction, a sense of self-actualization? Is it adoration by the masses? Riches? Or simply the ability to pursue one's chosen craft and earn a decent living, maybe enough to raise a family?

 

To be frank, the kind of success that most people think of when they think of success is going to be uphill for anyone, but especially so for those who are not young, attractive, and perceived by label types as malleable and pliant. Of course, those are not qualities that necessarily lead to success on their own -- but they are generally prerequisites for consideration by mainstream music shot-callers.

 

 

However, we now live in an era when the music industry as we know it is being reorganized around the notion of disintermediation -- getting rid of the middle men, as it were.

 

It's now possible for self-directed artists to 'roll their own' music biz to some extent. We musicians can now sell our work much more directly to the public, using 3rd party aggregators to place our songs across stores and stream services as per our choice. (My current favorite aggregator is the no-frills Distrokid -- but not one size fits all, do your homework before deciding.)

 

Of course, making music and getting it in stores is only the first step in the battle. If no one knows it's there, there's going to be little chance of significant sales or streams.

 

And -- get this -- as of mid-2014, one fifth of the music on Spotify had never been streamed -- we're not just talking bedroom producers, either, but some big label product, even familiar names. Not streamed once. (I was so intrigued by it all, I started a mini-blog about it: The Forgotify Files (named after a service that feeds up previously unheard tracks from Spotify for their first listen anywhere).

 

So, for those going the DIY route, the hardest job is likely to be selling oneself and one's music to the public. Many of us outside the G-rap field were raised to be modest -- and that's good because, off the street corner, a lot of music fans are strongly turned off by braggadocio and what seems like inflated self-esteem (think Kanye). So the trick is to sell yourself without coming off like an ego-inflated used car salesman. ;)

 

Excellent points all around Blue!

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Based on the OP, it sounds like the question is about how to become a pop star, and not so much how to create music for video games, make music for documentary films, operate a Pro Tools rig, or do transfers from Akai analog 12-track machines.

 

Yes I was addressing the OP. Regardless, binnit - and even good money - does run the gamut. What does it take? As far as I can tell, you pay the dues and they like you enough to bring you along.

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However, we now live in an era when the music industry as we know it is being reorganized around the notion of disintermediation -- getting rid of the middle men, as it were.

 

It's now possible for self-directed artists to 'roll their own' music biz to some extent. We musicians can now sell our work much more directly to the public, using 3rd party aggregators to place our songs across stores and stream services as per our choice. (My current favorite aggregator is the no-frills Distrokid -- but no one size fits all, do your homework before deciding.)

 

I do really love this aspect of doing music now. Just get it out there. Immediately. See if it flies.

 

 

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I do really love this aspect of doing music now. Just get it out there. Immediately. See if it flies.

 

 

Aggregators can have your material in stores often within a day of uploading it. No-frills outfits like Distrokid even make it cheap.

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Being immersed in the New Music Seminar last week gave some interesting perspectives. But the talk that made me really think "we're screwed" was someone who was giving career advice like "be awesome" (just in case anyone thought that putting out crap and being ordinary is the road to success), to give all your best stuff away for free, and don't do albums but only EPs and singles.

 

In other words, base the future on what worked in the past. My advice would be to do something different. You never know - maybe after a steady diet of singles and EPs, the first person to come up with a really cool album would enjoy tremendous success because people would be ready for a change. And maybe the best thing isn't to give away everything for free, but to charge $30 for a USB stick with the music, loops and samples used in the music, original artwork for every song, a photo gallery from the musician, a spoken word interview, hell, even some recipes :)

 

Artists are supposed to think out the box, to push new boundaries, and disrupt - not play it safe. Playing it safe at best gets you a bunch of steady but unspectacular gigs. Reaching for the stars means you'll probably crash and burn, but if you don't...you'll reach the stars.

 

One of the things I said in my address at the New Music Seminar was that I wasn't going to offer any career advice except one thing: Be true to yourself. That way if you're successful, you'll always be successful because people want who you are. If you're not true to yourself and gain success, then you're going to have to come up with new lies every year or two in order to maintain your success.

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Great marketing skills, perseverance, winning the genetic lottery and a great personal trainer, tight pants, the ability to dance, no fear of flashpots, an innate ability to understand what is catchy and what people really like, knowing someone with strong Pro Tools skills, and a bunch of luck.

 

There. How'd I do? :D

 

 

not bad!

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I guess the first thing is having great music to offer, unique sound and style, and good execution of the music. but what does it really take?

 

 

I'd add work hard, stick with it, and be easy to work with. But generally, I think it pretty much boils down to what you said. :idk:

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Although this isn't what the OP wasn't looking for, I'm going to throw this in anyway...

 

Establish as teaching practice.Private lessons. Get yourself a financial foundation by having at least 10-15 hours a week of billable teaching hours. I a gig falls through or you hit a slow patch, it can be a life saver to have that safety net income.

 

I don't know about marketing. That's why I'm about to retire from a day job (yabba dabba do!). I've struggled all my adult life to make time for cultivating music and have managed to keep my piano skills up to snuff. After retirement I plan to spend around 4 hrs per day working on music. That means playing, writing, listening, and studying it. Success for me will be playing out 1 or 2 times per week. Actually success for me will simply be making excellent music.

 

One other thing that I'd say. For Dog's sake, be able to read music. I mean the road sign big band style charts with all the "back to the sign" and "Coda" symbols. There are a lot of mega-church gigs these days that pay pretty well. You should be flexible enough to do anything that might come your way.

 

I'm talking about survival here. I'd say survival should come first before the "making it" fame that you're most certainly headed for.

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