A Career In Music
With these definitions in place, it’s time to start talking, or rather writing, about a career
in music. At the top of the list is the fact that it’s not easy. A search on YouTube will
quickly demonstrate that there’s no shortage of talent out there. If you expect to have a
musical career, talent should be a given.
Even if you’re the best player on the planet, it doesn’t matter much if nobody hears
you. That means aggressively promoting yourself or your band. Right about now you’re
likely thinking, “But I’ll be selling out.” Don’t sweat it. You’re not. If you truly believe
you have something of value to offer an audience, you’re doing them a favor by telling
them about you and your music. If you don’t promote, you’ll probably find yourself sit-
ting on your sofa playing gut wrenching songs of love gone wrong to an audience of
one–you–while thinking, “Why can’t I get any gigs?”
Beyond promotion, becoming a successful musician means setting goals; understand-
ing your audience; having some basic business skills; learning and growing as an artist
and, most important, having drive and the right, positive attitude. The good news is that
all this stuff can be learned. It just takes the willingness to learn it and put it into action.
Unless you happen to be clairvoyant, you don’t know what the future holds. Lao Tsu
is credited with saying, “The journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step.”
So, you’ve got to start somewhere. Hopefully this book will help you take that first step
and then move forward. Who knows? You might just become the next big sensation. Or
not. You might get a steady stream of weekend club gigs, find a job as the Music Minister
at a church or teach. It all depends on your goals.