This site is a blog for musicians and music industry people. It is a free educational resource and it is also the way I advertise my music consulting services. I am an entertainment professional with deep roots in the music industry. Throughout my music career I have been a major label A&R representative, a music supervisor, an artist manager, a reality show producer, a bass player and the head of a digital record label.
Top 5 Music Business Mistakes of 2010 #5 Black and White Thinking
* #1 – Waiting
* #2 – Unreasonable Expectations
* #3 – Poor Planning
* #4 – Comparing Apples To Oranges
*#5a – Black and White Thinking (Day Job)
For me personally, this is the bitch of the bunch. When I hit a speed bump along the road of life like not getting one of my client’s a much needed tour or losing out on a new client to a larger company it is often the case that my thought process and solutions to these problems are far worse than the problems themselves. When I don’t close a new client I really wanted my mind doesn’t automatically jump to “Well, I’d better find some more potential clients to pitch” it jumps to “I’m going to wind up dying homeless on the street in a cardboard box and I won’t even have any pets to love me”. The upside to my having this warped way of thinking is that it is VERY common among musicians and creative folks. Doing what I do it’s important that I relate to this issue and believe you me- I understand.
So what does this look like? Well, in my experience there are three very common topics in a musician’s existence where this thinking really shines through namely in their relationship to their day job, their relationship to their career trajectory and their relationship to the industry.
1. Your Day job.
So this is usually among the younger set of musicians but have you ever heard a statement like this? “I just quit my job so I can focus on music full time”. Now before you rip my head off- yes, in general this is the plan and we all want to be in a place to do this BUT there is a small matter of timing here that is crucial. This transition needs to be well thought out and handled very delicately and with the understanding that you are going to need some source of funding for your life for at least a few years. This is very much an A to Z move so if you just got your Daisy Rock Acoustic Guitar Starter pack in the mail and wrote your first song about your pet ferret George – welcome to letter A – and don’t quit that job yet.
Daisy Rock Acoustic Starter Pack - A reason to have kids.
This step is really difficult for many a musician especially if there isn’t some kind of structure in place. Few people take in to account the paralyzing effect of being granted nearly limitless options with your day after having been part of a routine (no matter how unpleasant that routine may have been for you). Back to the black and white part- the point is it is very difficult to jump into full time music without having built something. If you work a job and have a music business on the side that is beginning to make less money because you can’t break away from the day job it may be time to transition from full time to part time at your main gig or to lobby your boss to let you work from home or to find a job with more flexibility (even if it means less pay). None of this is easy but it is possible.
A steady gig has the obvious benefits of stability and insurance but it also provides a regular source of human contact. People often forget how isolating self-employment can be and let’s not forget- you have to invite someone to your shows, right? I’m all in favor of going to music full time but I am also of the belief when you are shifting a car from first gear to overdrive that you will have a much easier transition by shifting through the intermediate gears.
Click here for the next part of this series.
If you missed part 4 you can check that out here
Tags: day job, Music Business Mistakes
January 12th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Hey Rick,
Here are some I’ve come across from baby bands and aspiring “Brittneys” lately..
1. Paying a big name producer TOO MUCH money to produce your songs thinking it will give you cred!
2. Having 12 mixes and remixes of the same average song.
3. Paying a “promoter: to get your songs (that are sometimes not available for sale) heard on Intenet radio shows noone is listening to.
4. thinking a couple of thousand views or downloads on youtube etc. is going to knock anyones socks off!
5. selling your soul for a singles deal for very little $..
4.
January 12th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Agreed…
January 12th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
this article makes me feel very lucky to have a very long time husband where we have both allowed the other to start new careers… and it’s my turn with my music (I am still a full time mother which works well now they are both in school!).
But I am getting somewhere and I DO treat this as a job!… and it’s starting to pay!
January 12th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Happy for you Helen!
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:18 pm
So true! I think a day job can actually help your musical career in many ways. Not only does money give you artistic freedom, but a job can be an excellent way of networking and getting resources. I’ve also witness how many people have stopped enjoying making music when it has become their day job.
February 1st, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Love these articles! very helpful. really good.
February 1st, 2011 at 5:28 pm
A Day Job is very important to me for all the reasons you mentioned. It gives me structure, somewhere to go, people to see and things to do. It also pays my bills and keeps me motivated on my music. I find I write much better when I know I have to go to work in the morning (or when the weekend is over). It just puts it all in perspective for me. I think the whole article is great and I will definitely pass it around to my producer friends.
Peace
February 1st, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Hi. I have seen lots of articles on the net but I have to say…your articles are very, very good. They give a real hands on perspective of what it is like to be a musician, especially one that wants to make the big time. I have been a musician all my life but I always had to have a day job in order to live and have the basic necessities. Now I have put together my own stage show where I charge $10, $15, $20 and sometimes $25 a ticket to see our show. We travel up to ten hours from our home town to do these shows, which are done on weekends. Very few venues will book during the week and even if they do, very few people will come out. They have to work the next morning. So we target an audience that normally does not get much in the way of entertainment, and we are able to sell most of our tickets before we leave town. And we have to do both covers and originals. We have no choice if we want to get the gigs. So we throw a few originals in the mix and check out the response…and for the most part people are blown away by them. But this did not happen overnight…Lots of musician changes, song changes, etc and we are still refining things. I have been doin this particular show for the past 5 years and only now getting a handle on it. I have only played two places twice in the last 5 years…every time we play it is always in a different community and we normally don’t go back there..we always search for different places. It should be another 5 years at least before I will try to get back to the places I had started with. And the best thing about all this is that I am in control and all the other members trust me and leave everything to me to set up.So I can’t let them down. As far as being rich and famous. If it happens then that’s great…but I am not going to chase something that probably is out of my reach. You have to set goals for yourself and advance yourself accordingly. But you can’t set your goals too high, too soon or you will be sadly dissapointed. My advice, take your time and plan ahead, and if something doesn’t work then go back and change it. Persistance will pay off.
February 1st, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
-R-
February 2nd, 2011 at 9:59 am
Hi Rick~ I don’t usually read articles like this, but yours has great reminders and insight. As we are preparing for our follow-up to “Dark Sunshine” you confirmed ideas I have about getting the word out before the CD hits. Kind of did things backwards last time, but still managed to get played on multiple
stations across the country and chart here and there without a label or financial backing. You also eased my mind about touring. There’s a lot of pressure to play all over the place, but we’re doing just as you suggested and in reality it’s the only logical way we can play right now due to finances and time constraints. Thanks for reminding musicians like me to keep going and to do what we love best! Peace~
February 2nd, 2011 at 11:52 am
I had a really good time reading this thank you !!!
February 2nd, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Great articles! I related at so many points. I’ve been playing keys 40 yrs plus and self employed as many. (in construction)The mental battles seem to hold me back the most. If I could only reason and execute business as well as the keys! Thanks agin for the good insight!
February 2nd, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Thanks for the articles. Wish I’d had access to this kind of insight 25 years ago. Still working a day job. Still touring. Still recording. Still loving it all. Family demands require the health insurance, mortgage payments, etc. However, we are creative aren’t we? We can develop a way to get it done. Do it all. Live the dream. To my knowledge there’s only 1 Beatles. Only 1 Bob Dylan.
I don’t hear Dylan whining because he’s not Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi has sold 120 million records while Dylan has been at it twice as long and only sold 32 million. So, you can’t do it on anywhere near that level. Are you gonna’ give it up? If so, then it wasn’t who you were to begin with. Just do it and stop talking about it. You can find a way.
February 3rd, 2011 at 6:54 am
Thank you very much for that article. It was well written, informative and confirming of many things that I have seen an thought about as an amature. I almost died at the Daisy Guitar reference. Many Thanks.
February 8th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Ahhh, the dreaded day job. How I relate to this step. I remember when I finally worked up the nerve to quit my secure day job how quickly I lost focus and motivation. Nothing like 40K in credit card debt to get me back in the rat race. Sigh… The lessons learned. If only I knew then what I ….(you know how that one goes.)
Thanks so much for posting these. You are dead on with every step.
Sending love your way,
Heather Renee
February 14th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Thanks for your humorous prose and, more importantly, insights into the field. #5 especially hit home for me. I’ve been teaching for nearly a decade and recently transitioned to the world of “full-time kids’ musician.” The gigs/finances are going fine but the trickiest part for me has been the isolation after leaving my co-workers. Never saw it coming. Nice to see you mention it here.
February 14th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment Jeff. Yea- the isolation is one I’ve lived first hand too. It’s amazing what water cooler time can do for you.
July 13th, 2011 at 11:13 am
I think I got confused and called you “Vance” in a different comment thread…hmm…anyway…you’re so right! A lot of musicians think that they can quit their jobs too early. There are many different definitions of a “career in music”, but everyone seems to focus on the music celebrities. I had a student with a great voice who told me that she was going to be famous because she was singing at an open mic once per week…I asked her if she had ever heard of any of the people on Broadway singing to hundreds of people twice every day…oh yeah…and you can have my cat if you need a pet to love you. -Sara Tiemogo
July 21st, 2011 at 3:47 am
Good information. I have been on the grind for quite a while. I got a whole album completed and am working on the next one, but have been making the connections to get it out right so that I can quite my day job. I feel that I have one shot to do this right.
Meanwhile, I am doing all of the things that need to be done, raising a wonderful family, have detached from making it big and living the art, and getting my legacy prepared for my kids, should I entice them enough to want to continue it. This is the goal that most artists forget. It is all about the legacy.