| Black Veil Brides Photo Credit: Miss Ephebiphobia |
Everywhere you look, career advice articles and books are encouraging us to “follow our dreams” and never give up. While that sounds good, when the work you love requires a great deal of risk, it can be hard to know how to chase your dream without ending up living on the street. This is especially true if your dream is to be a musician. The good news is that the tough job market and limited options are making it easier than ever to go ahead and take the gamble.
For some people, playing in a band can be a dream that brings in a little money on the weekends and for others, it is a way to test the waters to decide if the dream is worth chasing. For most musicians, music is in their blood, it is something they couldn't walk away from. It is their passion, but in order to turn it into their business, it has to be treated as just that – a business.
If you want to make your living off of your passion, you have to create a business plan that will take you where you want to go. Success doesn't just happen. Just like any other business, you have to plan ahead and have a strategy for success. Here are some tips for music career success:
- Work on your talent everyday – You know the old joke, “what's the best way to get to Carnegie Hall?”, the answer, of course, is “Practice, practice, practice.”. Look for ways to get more practice and more experience. This can mean offering to teach music lesson or collaborating with other musicians. Helping other bands can give you different opinions, can give you a chance to practice other skills and allows you to network with others in your field. Which brings us to the next point -
- Networking – In the music business, who you know is crucial. With any artistic pursuit, it is easy to view others as “competition”, but collaboration and building relationships with other musicians, venues and fans is the key to success.
- Take ownership of your career – Don't wait for a big break. Make your own break. You have to be willing to look at it like a business and think of ways to promote your business and connect with your audience. The idea of opportunity being this random thing that knocks on your door is outdated. Create a plan to market yourself and your music. Create a website and find ways to reach out to your fans and get market visibility.
- Look for marketing opportunities – Partnering with non-profits, coffee shops or local businesses may be a way to increase your opportunities. Some of them might not lead anywhere, but others could be a step toward something bigger.
- Be flexible – When you run your own business, you have to be prepared to wear a lot of different hats. It is a unique challenge, but it can be a great way to learn the music business inside and out. Even if you have a day job to pay the bills, find time to read books about management skills, productions, personal branding and marketing. All of these skills will help you run you business effectively.
Chasing your dreams is fulfilling, but it is a lot of hard work. Success doesn't come overnight, it takes a lot of hard work and willingness to try new things. The first step is to look at your passion as a business and make decisions that will grow your audience and your market visibility.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManhattanJobsBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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