Pro Musician

Published on December 2016 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 45 | Comments: 0 | Views: 295
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Pro Musician

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There many things you need to know and do in order to become successful in the m usic industry. But even if you learn and do all of those things, you still might prevent yourself from achieving success in the music business by making key mis takes along the way. There are many pitfalls on the path to success, and that is particularly true in the music industry. After mentoring many musicians who are developing their own music careers, I see the same false assumptions, problems and mistakes appear again and again. Here is the list of the top 10 mistakes tha t can hold you back. Mistake #10 - Not having a compelling image that is congruent with your music. M ost musicians (and bands) severely underestimate the importance of their image. Yes, music is about 'music', but music business success is about a total package that includes music, image and visual stage show among other things that need t o be fully developed and integrated in a congruent way. Mistake #9 - Trying to 'get your name out there'. Although this seems to be a ma in goal of most musicians and bands, it is the wrong approach to start with. Bef ore trying to be seen and heard as much as possible, it is often more important to focus on 'converting' the people who hear and see you into becoming actual fa ns. This 'conversion' is the first key to your promotional success, NOT getting seen or heard as much as possible. Mistake #8 - Believing that social media websites are the keys to online music p romotion for musicians and bands. Social media websites are a tool. They are ONE piece of the online music marketing puzzle. Music industry companies (record la bels, artist managers, booking agents, etc.) are far more interested in the popu larity of YOUR website, not how many friends you have at MySpace, YouTube, Faceb ook or any other website that you do not own and control. Want to impress the in dustry with your band's promotion? Build your website traffic. Mistake #7 - Not investing enough time into building your music career. Most mus icians spend most of their time on music, but put very little effort into the ma ny other critical elements needed to make it in the music business. If you are a lready a talented musician, you should invest at least 50% of your time into sta rting or advancing your music career. If you are still developing your musical s kills, you should still invest around 25% of your 'music' time into building a f uture music career. Mistake #6 - Surrounding yourself with people who are negative, lazy and lack am bition. If you are very serious about becoming a professional musician and build ing a great career in music, then you absolutely must surround yourself with lik e-minded musicians. Mistake #5 - Having merely mediocre live performing skills. Many musicians, who are not yet in a good band, put off developing their live performing and stage p resence skills. This is a big reason why talented musicians don't get into reall y good bands that they audition for. Your music may be good, but a live 'show' r equires more than great music. If people only wanted to hear the music, they wou ld listen to you at home. Both fans and record labels want (and expect) to see a REAL show. Neglecting this area results in talented musicians and bands becomin g quickly forgotten. Mistake #4 - Focusing on increasing the 'quantity' of fans instead of the 'inten sity' of your fans. The 'number' of fans you have should always be your secondar y focus (not your primary one) if you want to become successful in the music ind ustry. The fact is, it is not the number of 'fans' that matters most, it's the n umber of FANATICS which will contribute more directly to your success (or lack o f it). This is particularly true in the beginning of a band's music career. Focu s more effort on converting your existing fans into raving fanatics. Learn to do this and the number of your overall fans will increase through powerful word of

mouth. Mistake #3 - Not enough cash flow to support your music career. Like it or not, it takes money to build a music career. Even if other people/companies are payin g for your record, tour support, merchandise, etc. you still need to have the fr eedom to pursue opportunities as they come. Sadly, many musicians miss opportuni ties because they can't afford to take advantage of them. In addition to a decen t income, you also need the flexibility of being able to take time away from tha t income source to go into the studio, go on tour, etc. That is why learning how to teach guitar is such a great way to achieve both if you learn how to become a highly successful guitar teacher. Mistake #2 - Not enough depth in your music relationships. There's an old expres sion, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." In music this is often modifi ed to, "It's not who you know, it's who knows you." The truth is, it's not about either. The most important aspect of connections within the music industry is h ow deep are the current relationships you have now and will develop in the futur e. You don't want to simply know people or be known, you want people who know yo u to have a real deep connection with you so that you are always on the top of t heir mind when opportunities present themselves. Ask yourself, "What can I do ri ght now to deepen my existing relationships further on an ongoing basis?" Mistake #1 - Having a fundamental misunderstanding about what record companies l ook for - and expect from new bands. This is a huge topic, but in a nutshell it' s very useful to think of record companies like a bank that lends money to peopl e or small businesses. Record companies make most of their decisions about whom they will work with and what the terms will be in much the same way that a bank will determine who they will loan money to and what the terms of the loan will b e. Both record companies and banks basically want to see 3 things: 1. How much value do you bring to the deal right now. 2. How much risk do you bring with you right now. 3. How much potential value and risk might you bring to them in the future after they invest in you. If you want to buy a house, the bank wants to know a lot about the specific hous e you want to buy and EVEN MORE about YOU. Record companies are the exact same, they want to know about your music, your talent and your band, but they also car e as much (or more) about YOU (and your band mates) as people. What about YOU ma kes a record deal a good or bad investment for them. To learn more about avoiding these big mistakes and building a successful music career, get my free music career tips.

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