Every time you close your eyes, you probably see yourself on stage singing your heart out or playing your favorite instrument because this is every musician’s dream. However, people in your life probably tell you to be realistic or to have a more attainable dream, but all dreams are attainable if you work hard for them. Imagine if Paul McCartney or John Lennon were discouraged by people who made fun of their dream. The world would have never been introduced to The Beatles, the greatest band of all time. If you are passionate about music, you should definitely follow your dream and work hard towards it. You should also be persistent because the music industry is competitive and cutthroat, and the money isn’t always easy to come by. You can make a little money by playing music, but if you want to turn this passion into a career, you have to learn a few things. Keep reading to learn about the essential factors that will help you succeed as a musician.
Learn about The Music Business
It is true that music is about being artistic and expressing yourself but the music industry is also a business. This is why you need to learn everything about the music industry from a business point of view. Many musicians refuse to believe that music is a business but at the end of the day, music is all about sales; supply and demand. The music that you make and the concerts that you play are products that are bought and sold. Naturally, you want to free all your time to create music but the business side should go hand in hand with creativity, if you want to make a mark in the music industry. So if you want a career in music, you have to accept both sides of the industry. It is better not to only study the music business, but study business in general.
Learn How to Read and Write Music
Don’t believe people who tell you that learning how to read and write music can hurt your playing. They can’t be more wrong because knowing how to read and write music will open many opportunities for you, and it will turn out to be very important for your career. According to the musical professionals at hellomusictheory.com, every person learns music in their own way; through reading, watching videos, or in person. Find the method that works best for you, and start learning. Remember that music is an aural art and the learning process involves listening and imitating. Of course, there are many many successful musicians who can’t read and write music but music is a language, and you need to be able to understand it visually as this will give your music a deeper meaning and make it more enjoyable.
Find a Good Mentor
If you want to have a successful music career then you need to learn from someone who has already made it in the business. Many successful musicians choose to be mentors as their way of giving back to music. A mentor is someone who has been in the industry much before you, so they will be able to support you, encourage you, give you advice, and also can recommend your work to other musicians. Make sure that the mentor that you choose has industry experience, challenges you, respects you, listens to you, and is available whenever you need them.
Surrounded Yourself by Better Musicians
No matter how good you are, there is always someone who is better than you. Music is all about collaborations, and the more you grow as a musician the more you will find yourself playing with different artists. You will probably find musicians who play at a higher level than you, playing with musicians like these can help you improve, and you can learn a lot from them. When you play with a group who are better than you, they will naturally help you to be better as this reflects on all of them. This is why you should always play with better musicians in order to elevate and enhance your performance.
Making it in the music industry takes more than just talent. You need to learn about the ins and outs of the music business, become musically literate, get a mentor to learn from, and be around better musicians so that you can get better yourself. Music isn’t only about what you know but it is also about who you know so you should learn how to network, online as well as offline. Last but not the least, don’t give up, work hard, accept that failures are part of the journey, and have realistic expectations to avoid disappointments.
