How to have a career in the music business? [Archive]

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shikawkee

June 30th, 2007, 10:07 PM

NEW TOPIC:

How to have a career in the music business?

You can train any monkey to get a record deal, even today. I'm not kidding. I've never failed to get an artist I'm working with a deal. Getting a deal ain't the hard part. Making money and building something is. So, how do you do that? Especially today with sales of CD's at less than 50% of just five years ago?

Diversify. Do you write your own music? Write with other people. You don't know how to write with other people or don't like it? Tough. Figure it out. Force yourself outside your safe, protected little shell and learn something. Share something with another musical person. (Most of the best music I've ever heard has been a collboration BTW). Are you interested in the studio? Ask questions and pay attention. Are you fairly competent on your particular instrument? Pick up one or two others and start messing around. You may need to call on it someday and at the least you may get a song ior cool riff out of it. Are you okay with numbers? Learn what they all mean. Be on top of who's getting paid and who's getting what cut of what. Learn about publishing and what the pieces mean. Develop a relationship with your PRO people (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) and ask them about opportunities they may know of. If you're around this business long enough you start to see the same people over and over just in new jobs. It pays to keep track of people and be nice, but firm, with everyone.

Any other tips? Anybody out there this weekend?

Tim Armstrong

July 1st, 2007, 04:09 PM

A guy carrying a violin case jumps into a cab in NYC and asks the cab driver "Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall???".

The cab driver says "Yeah! Practice!!!!"

Assuming one HAS practiced and developed pro-caliber chops, the next step would be to go where there's work! In my case, after moving to a beach resort town, I was able to go from 6-7 gigs a year to 10x that many. I actually made 40% of my admittedly modest living last year gigging.

Which is not to say it was a stunning artistic success, I was playing covers in a bar band (oh, the horror :icon_eek:). :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm looking at expanding my possibilities, too. My converted garage practice room/studio would make a good teaching room, so I'm looking at teaching beginning guitar and bass (I made $100/week teaching a few days a week last time I did this). As a bassist, I'm also going to offer my services to a few of the local singer/songwriters for any showcase gigs they have coming up (but we gig a lot, so I don't know how much I can develop this angle...).

I keep tinkering with a business plan involving recording radio spots, print ads and website design, but that isn't quite a career in music, is it?

I'm interested to see what others come up with!

Cheers, Tim

bunnerabb

July 1st, 2007, 04:51 PM

Do you write your own music? Write with other people. You don't know how to write with other people or don't like it? Tough. Figure it out.

I can't quite see writing and arranging your own songs without the aid of collaboration as the kiss of death, but sometimes I overlook things.

Cosmic Pig

July 1st, 2007, 10:26 PM

Yup I agree wholeheartedly with the colab thing. Almost every song I see pass through my little shitbox studio could benefit from an added writer, or a good producer. Too many writers are over posessive of their tunes to the detriment of the song.

I'm not sure about moving to where the action is Tim. In some situations anyway. I think you can create a buzz anywhere with most styles, and sometimes less competition will help create a bigger buzz. If you look at the most obvious one, moving to Nashville to play original new country, you disappear into the heavy competition. Pretty hard to create a buzz where thousands are are also trying. If it's truly original new country and you do it in Idaho then it becomes the new Idaho Country. That sorta happened in Alberta up here.

Same goes for all styles like the Seattle grunge thing.

But yeah, for playing covers the more bars the better.

Getting back to the original topic, a career in music, I assume to have a career one would have to strive for success.

It's easy. Look at what you have to offer, and what you want to achieve, then go for it. One part is getting busy and going for it. Another equally important part is to look carefully at your skills and at your weak areas, then turn the weak areas into support for the strengths. Make a list of what's needed and chase them down so they're all strong, or at least the weaknesses are invisible. I see too many hot players who assume their chops will get them past a boring image, and vice versa.

Most players I get down here in The Room Of Pain know what their weak areas are but refuse to look at them or address them. Usually because they've carefully cultivated an ego that's blind.

I mean, for fucks sake if you can't sing you know fucking well you can't sing so either fix it and learn to sing or hire a singer for your originals. Don't waste years and money badly singing your own originals, or badly playing guitar or drums on them.

However, that's what I see down here. The basics of it are pretty straight up. Be good at what you do, whatever that might be. The most common block I see is people doing one or more aspects of their music badly. The only guy I know who actually made it out of the bars has a simple formula, chops and stage presence, and his weak areas are invisible. He's not lead singer material but his backups are great. He knew for years the way to success was going to be tagging on to a band that had the things he didn't on his own, so he was always up front about his loyalty to whatever band he was in. If a better one offered him a gig he'd be gone. So the bands got better and the gigs got better as he worked his way up from band to band. Now he's in the first Canadian band in history to have a #1 single on the billboard country charts.

The funny part is, now he's working his ass off on the road living on the bus. He misses our jams and the traditional throwing of socks into the ceiling fan after the gig while drunkenly laughing our asses off.

So first up define success and be careful what you wish for.

Cos.

Cosmic Pig

July 2nd, 2007, 09:37 AM

Shit I was barely awake this morning when I babbled all that.

Basically all I wanted to say was get your ducks lined up, and its amazing how many players and writers don't do that because they assume its about talent. Which it isn't for 99% of us. Most players and writers are successful through hard work and focus.

Most big shots are just little shots who keep shooting.

Cos.

Bob Olhsson

July 2nd, 2007, 04:48 PM

When you get right down to it, it is all about developing a talent for collaborating with your fans.

You don't learn how to do this alone.

shikawkee

July 4th, 2007, 01:12 PM

Good suggestions so far....Bob and I are working on a "Top 15 List" of things to do and avoid in the biz. Stay tuned....

pauldogx

July 17th, 2007, 07:14 PM

The title of this thread instantly brought to mind one of my favorite quotes of all time (which I'm sure most of you have heard before!!)-----

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.
Hunter S. Thompson

Sorry--I couldn't help myself!:Twisted:

shikawkee

July 19th, 2007, 05:48 PM