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Breaking into the music industry has always been difficult. No matter what sort of artist you are, there are thousands of similar musicians all vying for attention. On top of artistic challenges, like finding inspiration for songs and dealing with other band members’ personalities, this creates quite an overwhelming situation. Although it isn’t easy, it’s crucial that you remember the important things in life very rarely are. No one becomes successful by mistake, especially as a musician. With that in mind, here are seven things you will have to do to make it in the industry.
Stick With That Job
We tend to romanticize the idea of putting everything on the line to achieve our dreams. Where the music industry is concerned, many people think that they’ll have a better chance of success if they leave all that they know behind and move to the big city. The trouble is that this is often more fantasy than reality. You need to be able to make a living, even as you’re working towards something bigger and better. For this reason, you can’t afford to quit your day job just yet.
Treat It Like Business
Being a musician is a lot like starting a new business. You create a product, which is your music and then sell it to customers, who are your fans. Because of this, you have to treat your new career like the business that it is. This means that, at some point, you will have to pick a target audience, develop a marketing strategy, and create a business plan. Even if you hate the business side of the music industry, you need to be educated in it to avoid making mistakes.
Build Up A Team
To succeed in an industry as complicated and cutthroat as music, you need the right people by your side. Music artists can be incredibly reclusive people, but it is vital that you begin to build a team around you. Managers, booking agents, and marketing strategists are just some of the people that you’ll need as your career grows. While you can buy beats online, you will have to find a music producer too. Just make sure that those you hire are people that you can trust.
Engage On Social Media
As well as finding a team, you will also have to develop relationships in music scenes and your local area. There are many ways that you can go about this, but through social media is one of the easiest and most convenient. You can also use this platform to engage with your fans. This will go a long way towards building connections with and earning loyalty from them. To be taken seriously as an artist, you must ensure that your social media accounts look professional.
Find Opportunities To Perform
Unless you plan to be a musician who produces music for other artists and works behind the scenes, you have to find opportunities to perform live. Live performances are more important than ever these days, as streaming services have led to a huge decline in record sales. This means that you need those shows as a source of income, both in ticket and merchandise sales. A performance also provides an opportunity for you to receive honest feedback and improve.
Keep Improving Your Craft
Getting noticed can be incredibly difficult in today’s music climate. There is an oversaturation of content, which has created a very competitive environment. Being merely average isn’t going to get you anywhere when you’re competing against much better artists. Because of this, you have to work to keep improving your craft. Ensure that you make time for music every single day and practice what you do. Whether you sing, rap, or product, you must keep developing.
Prepare For The Struggle
Passion and determination are vital if you want to succeed as a musician. You will get turned down a lot throughout your career and ignored even more times than that. It isn’t easy by any definition of the word, and that is something that you have to prepare for. If you enter the industry thinking that you’ll make it big without any effort, then you’ll give up at the first sign of trouble. Having people that believe in you around can be of great help, as they will pick you up.
Making it in the music industry is not a simple process, especially if you have no idea where to start. Hopefully, the tips above make the experience a little easier for you.