What I Did to Succeed as a Musician

I have been in the music industry for several decades. One thing I can say is that it hasn’t been entirely a picnic. I have encountered countless challenges in my journey. For instance, when I started singing, only two people had faith in me: my mom and dad. My siblings thought I was a joke, and most of my friends suggested that I “get a life”. It was frustrating. Besides, it took me a while to make any real money, and I couldn’t find music producers who truly believed in me. Also, I worked at a local restaurant back then, and finding enough time to work on my music was tricky.

 

Since giving up wasn’t on the table, I faced all my problems head-on, from getting a hold of instruments with help from a dj equipment finance firm to doing all the legwork myself. After years of diligence and consistency, I started seeing results. Today, my music is popular in the right niches, and I have a wide pool of loyal fans.

 

Here are four things I did to thrive as a musician.

 

I Started Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

I think music is one of the most fascinating arts today, but I realized if I didn’t start treating my career as a business, I wouldn’t make it. My tracks were the product, and I had to look for effective marketing strategies to increase sales. Therefore, I hired an affordable marketing expert to help come up with an efficient marketing plan. Other things I did included the following:

 

• Created a business plan
• I started budgeting to ensure that I spent my finances responsibly
• I identified my target audience, i.e., people who like rock music
• I got an ambitious team of rock music enthusiasts who believed in me and were dying to see me prosper
• I hired a competent attorney to consult when I was signing contracts
• Worked relentlessly to improve my product (rock music)

Seeing my music career as an enterprise enabled me to make sound decisions that eventually got me where I wanted to be, which was at the top!

 

I Built My Online Presence

During the early stages of my career, I found out that my music profession’s success largely depended on my visibility online. I needed to create a quality brand that would be associated with nothing but greatness. My online presence would enable me to ‘sell’ that brand to my fans and convince them that I was worthy of their support.

 

When building my online presence, I used photos, graphics, and platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I also created a website where I told my fans who I was, what inspired my music and the dreams I had. Presenting the best version of myself through online platforms enabled me to grow as an artist and constantly work towards becoming the best.

 

I Never Wasted Opportunities

It took me years to become the envied musician I am today. To succeed, I grabbed every opportunity I got and made the most out of it. Sometimes, I did not wait for the chances to present themselves; I created them. So, when I found places where I could perform, I did. Some of them were local clubs, schools, churches, and community events. I collaborated with ambitious and talented musicians like myself to create legendary music. This helped me network, attract new fans, improve my music, and give back to society.

 

I Looked for Ways to Earn Royalties from My Tracks

Maximizing my income while making great music has always been one of my top objectives. As an artist, I needed to make as much money as I could through my music. Hence, I began searching for ways to earn royalties from my work, especially those songs whose copyright I owned. This meant that I got some cash whenever my tracks were used in a way or played. Some of the platforms I used included YouTube, Spotify, and Pandora.

 

I can attest that making it as a rock musician is not easy. That path is riddled with challenges and countless temptations to have fun or do things that are detrimental to one’s career. That’s precisely why I started viewing my profession as an organization, improved my online presence, took advantage of opportunities, and looked for ways to maximize my earnings. In the end, it helped me succeed and inspire thousands of musicians worldwide.