Tips on how to succeed in the music industry?

chivalry

New member
i started taken music seriously since about 2 years ago and put up a couple of videos and songs on youtube and other sites. the thing is i havent had much success in terms of views or downloads at all and i just cant seem to get people to listen to me. i gigged in a couple of places but the people didnt reeally follow up to me....they were just there in that moment of time chanting woos.

so i decided to change my artist name, delete the vids and start all over again coz that shit just didnt work out even though i thought my songs would be the next big "hit". i mean thats the thing coz most of the songs i hear by unsigned artists sound very much like whats being played in the radio or could be the next big "hit" except they dont have the big 4 distributing em.

i dont know whether it could be the fact i dont like to follow commercial pop and rap styles or just that im not looking in the right places.

i know the industry is really hard to break into and sitting and just typing shit like this aint going to make me discovered overnight, but how do the others break in? And im talking about mainly those shitty artists who cant sing or write songs and have got a free ticket to fame and fortune. They either do one ok cover song and viola - youre signed to RCA or Universal even though there are 1000s of other artists whose musics WAY better.

im mainly a rapper but in an industry like this, my style doesnt fit (coz i dont rap how im going to club, get a girl, sex etc), and if the general public dont hear me on the radio or other places then im just another small mouse trying to navigate through this maze where no one knows of me even though i could have the best music ever in the world (lol jk).

so what should i do? Give up this hopeless dream now or up my game and punch it in the crotch:spank:?
 
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dont be a hypocrite.This entire sites full of wannabe musicians otherwise this site wouldnt have been made!

Most people here don't have expectations of getting rich and famous from their music. They just want to record their tunes and share with whomever will listen. Some people here have turned a buck, but I don't know of anyone who has made enough to cover their investments.

To reply to your original post, you've got to get above the din of all the other artists out there. And there are tons... millions of people out there with the same apirations as you. How are you going to set yourself apart from the rest of them? With your music?? Probably not.

Those who made it in the music industry did so because they got lucky or were extremely talented/skilled. But mostly lucky!! :laughings:

So, good luck.
 
Get your act together so that your band sounds the best it possibly can.

Then get the right people to hear it.

Alternatively, if your goal is to make a living at music and not to be the "next big thing". Play a ton of gigs all over the place. Get to know local people in charge of booking gigs. Create some merchandise to sell at your shows. Work your a$$ off for every fan and every dollar.
 
... I don't know of anyone who has made enough to cover their investments...

I've made way, way more than I've spent from the music industry. Not in this last 3 years for sure, but in the last 30. I have friends who are multi-millionaires from just music. A guy I worked with had the #1 song on Billboard this year and was on Leno, Fallon and all the rest in the last few months, he's a multimillionaire. Another one of my buddies still makes $80K a year from a song he wrote in the late 70's. Yes it is very, very possible.

One common thread amongst all the successful people I know in music is that they all put passion above money and are all doing it primarily for themselves.

There's no secret, you just have to be very, very lucky. And here's the formula: luck = opportunity + preparation

I heard a golfer say "the more I practice the luckier I get".
 
I think that's the thing. If you've been around for 30 years, yeah, back when the industry was different, even low-level gigging musicians could make a living. Now its next to impossible to make above the poverty line.
 
I think that's the thing. If you've been around for 30 years, yeah, back when the industry was different, even low-level gigging musicians could make a living. Now its next to impossible to make above the poverty line.

For me I was earning a heathy income up until 3 years ago.

I heard a repair shop owner recently say "it's like somebody turned off a tap". And that's what it's been like here. You don't hear people talk about it much here because probably most are hobbyists, and the pro's don't want to talk about it's cause it's embarrassing! :(

This is, no doubt, the worst economic time since the Great Depression of the 1930's. But I have a lot of hope that things will come back, better than before. In some ways it is better now than ever. When I came to this town everybody wanted to hear "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and I felt like a straight guy at a gay sex party. Nowadays I can play pretty much what I like and people like it.

The most frustrating thing, the #1 question every waking hour is:

All this new opportunity - free Craigslist ads, any song you want you can get in seconds for free, pretty much free worldwide telephone service, put out an album in your bedroom for next to free, free or ultra cheap music gear that we would have died for years ago.... all this fantastic opportunity, and how the fuck do you make a single fuckin' penny off of it?

I found it somewhat comforting when I read that Prince has given up on the internet and is giving away his latest CD for free. It made me think "don't feel so bad, even he can't figure it out".

The good part is that in the 70's bands used to tour and loose money just to sell records. Now it's reversed. I like that because, to me, playing live should always be more valuable than anything else. It should always be #1.
 
I've made way, way more than I've spent from the music industry. Not in this last 3 years for sure, but in the last 30.
Yeah, but that's mostly from gigs, not from CD sales, right?. You make a living from gigging, so I hope you've made way more than you invested. :p

And here's the formula: luck = opportunity + preparation

That sounds like something Oprah would say. :laughings: But it's true!!

peace,
 
I've made way more than I've invested. It's not a hobby for me, if I didn't I'd be forced out. I haven't lost money on any CD's I've released, nor made a lot either, but no loss.

The thing about the luck formula is that the dumbest thing you can do is sit around and wait. That will likely net nothing. You can "make" luck happen by being really prepared and looking under every stone. The guy I mentioned who I used to write music for that "made it" this year, Bruno Mars, it took him 20+ years of doing it every day. You have to be obsessed like a heroin addict.
 
The guy I mentioned who I used to write music for that "made it" this year, Bruno Mars, it took him 20+ years of doing it every day. You have to be obsessed like a heroin addict.

I know a guy who had a #1 hit with George Strait and he basically says the same thing. Stick with it and when the moment comes, be ready!!

I'm about ready to put up two cd's on cdbaby. I'm not sure how I'm going to promote them yet and I don't plan to start gigging, so I'm not expecting any sales from them. But I do consider it as a learning process and to prepare myself for writing and recording songs for TV/Movie placement. I see a viable option there. Though probably not music that comes from the heart, if I can get one or two placements, it'll justify my investment in time and energy (and money).

ccol man.
 
The good part is that in the 70's bands used to tour and loose money just to sell records. Now it's reversed. I like that because, to me, playing live should always be more valuable than anything else. It should always be #1.

I think the same way. I know a couple of people that just hope to put out a couple of good songs and be done with it. I would rather live at the poverty line and tour than make one good song and act like I was some big hit...
 
All these articles I always read about the music business says that the only way to make money with music is to license it for film, tv, and commercials.

These are articles written by indie people and hipsters.

Telling us that the best way to make money is to make canned music for big network and studio productions.

I know hipsters love being ironic, but I think this takes it to a new level (is it even irony?)
 
the music industry has gotten emensely wide now. Its true that gear is cheap, and with the media growing it is easier than ever the put a song out. but along with that you have to realise that even though gear is cheap expectations are higher, even though its easier to get your self out there it is more difficult to be different amongst the millions. And you have to look for expectaions. take music from the 40's, 50's 60's, 70's and 80's how many mistakes can you pick up in those records, how many inperfections? but look now where sylabals are pieced together to make the perfect take and we are in the age of autotune. If you dont sound perfect you seem to be dimised. very much like how audiences have been dumbed down in the world of the media, the same is true of music. Since starting Music Production at uni, I Feel I have been pushed towards the film and tv route and doing work in this field I have never failed. My passion Is music, I love it like a family that is whay I do it. In this world where music is nothng but the bi product of being rich and famous, and how these things are whay a hell of a lot of people play music. I belive my difference is in the fact that the music matters to me. I would do everthing my idols do, for free.
But ones gotta eat.
 
There is one more aspect that I think might be overlooked. It kind of goes by itself (well, I hope it does to you!) but you must be nice to people. Connections are going to lead you far. Never underestimate the importance of being a gentlemen to everyone, your fans as well as everyone you are going to meet in the industry. If they like you personnaly, they are going to help you later on and this might be what's gonna take you out of your city. What I really mean here is if you can do an extra something (no sexual tought here! :p) for someone, don't be lazy and don't be afraid to do it. It might pay off big time at the end of the day.
 
On a related, but somewhat contradictory note to Altyman, have a memorable character. There's a lot of musicians out there vying for attention. You need to make yourself stand out and be memorable.

A good example of this is Jack White. I saw that "It Might Get Loud" documentary he was in, and he never turned his character off the entire time he was on camera. He was always playing the part of the obsessive, withdrawn artiste.

Though you want to make sure that your character doesn't annoy venue owners too much! :D
 
music is the only thing i know so i cant just quit and forget about it even though im not popular....thats the thing you have to be somewhat popular in the industry if you want to sell anything....which i cant just seem to do
 
The biggest tip possible I could give: Don't be an island. Work with other people, not against them. Help people out any chance you get, be nice and personable. Make friends with everyone.
 
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