I'm convinced that one
of the reasons more musicians don't make it in the music business is because
there isn't a good map on how to make it, or what making it in the music
business even means. Of course we all
think of things like becoming a rock star or playing in a well known band as
qualifying as "making it". But, there's
usually such a huge element of luck and being in the right place at the right
time in stories of musicians who reach this level, that there's really no
consistent way of getting there. It's very hard to reach a destination without
a map showing you which way to go.
Imagine if to become a
doctor or lawyer that potential doctors or lawyers were told that all they
needed to do was take out a massive student loan, spend eight years of their
lives studying and sacrificing to get their degree and then after all that,
they need to travel around randomly with their degrees in hand hoping to bump
into the right person at the right time that could help them, maybe, get a job
in their respective careers and move up to the next level, but that even then
there wouldn't be any guarantees and even if they did get a job they could lose
it at any point and would have to start over and go do something else. Sounds pretty crazy right?
Well, this is pretty
much the map that most aspiring musicians have.
It was the map I had when I started out.
After studying music at Berklee College of Music and racking up huge
student loans, when I finished I really didn't have a clue what to do next,
despite having improved greatly as a musician.
So I did what most aspiring rock stars do, I formed a band. We were together for three years, reached a
modest level of regional success and then we broke up. So I formed another band that lasted about a
year and a half then broke up. Then I formed
another band that lasted about six months and then... broke up. I think you get the picture.
Now during all this
time, I had to do things to survive. So I did a variety of things, I waited
tables, I worked as a courier, I worked as an assistant to an internet
entrepreneur, I worked as a sales rep for a guitar manufacturer. I did a lot of different things, but I never
looked at any of them as my real job or career.
They were just ways to make money while I was pursuing my dream of making
it in the music business.
It wasn't until several
years into this journey that I started giving guitar lessons and making pretty
good money this way, that I realized I could actually make a good living doing
something at least related to my passion of playing music. I did this for a few years, while continuing
to play live as much as possible and writing as much music as possible.
A few years later, I
discovered music licensing and started licensing my music and making a little
money from that. This was pretty slow going at first, but after a few years I
developed a pretty nice part time revenue stream that I continued to nurture.
While I continued to
write and perform original music, I also started accepting more and more gigs
playing cover songs. These gigs paid
much better than most of the gigs I was getting playing original music and with
most of these groups, we were still able to perform a good amount of original
music too, as long as we emphasized cover songs that our audience knew. When I
was younger I would have considered this "selling out" or not being "true to
myself", but now I look at these gigs as a way
to continue to develop my performance skills, get paid and try out new
original material to receptive crowds. (Check out a video of me performing recently
in the Dominican Republic here)
A few years ago I
reached the point where I was able to live comfortably off of just music
related endeavors; performing, licensing, teaching, my website and so on. It
wasn't until fairly recently that I had the realization that during all the
time I had spent pursuing my dreams, I had stumbled into a career of sorts that
is much more reliable and stable than some vague notion of "making it" through
some stroke of possible future luck.
The problem with many aspiring
musicians is that they're often not really sure what they're aspiring to exactly
or how they're going to get there. Musicians often have vague ideas of how to
reach their goals that usually involve playing shows, promoting their music on
the internet and hoping that someday, somehow, the right person or people will
hear them and help them reach their dreams.
I want to encourage you
to look at the path to making it in the music business a little
differently. I want to put the power
back into your hands. There are a
variety of ways to make money from your music and your skills right now that
you can build and grow into a solid career.
There is no one formula that's right for everyone, but there are enough
consistently reliable ways to make money from music that you can start building
a career now, instead of waiting for some stroke of luck and big break that may
or may not ever come.
I made a video recently
called "How To Make $60,000 A Year Working 25 Hours A Week As A Musician" that
presents on example of how to make a good living as a musician. If you haven't already, be sure to check that
out as it will give you some concrete ideas on how to create a sustainable
career in the music business. There are
many variations and possibilities, and the formula I present might not work for
everyone, but it will hopefully inspire you to look at your career a little
differently and give you some concrete ideas on how to go forward. Also check
out my video on Balancing Art And Commerce for more of my thoughts on this
topic.
Now of course, looking
at your music career this way, won't prevent your big break from happening or
your dreams from coming true. If
anything, it will make it more likely.
The more you're out there as a musician, doing your thing, the more
likely someone who can help you will discover you and help you get to the next
level. The idea is to build a
sustainable career now, so that you can keep advancing and moving forward.
However, what you don't want to do is resign yourself to the idea that you can't
advance because you haven't had your "big break". Start building your career now and make your
big breaks happen.
My website is about giving you a reliable map of
how to make a living as a musician and from you're musical skills right out of
the gate so that you can build on that and create a career as a musician. This way you don't have to contemplate giving
up on your dream of making it big in the music business five or ten years down the
road, because the big break you were hoping would happen never did.
Going forward with this
website, I plan to continue providing tangible, pragmatic instruction and
advice on how to make a living as a musician in 2014 and beyond. Articles and advice that espouse ideas like "dream
big", "reach for the stars" and "never give up" are nice and make us feel good
when we read them. But the reality is
that as musicians we need practical advice on how to make a living as a
musician that we can act on and implement now. To that end, I have a variety of
niche courses to help you create your music career now. These courses are based on my own experience
and the experience of other musicians I've collaborated with, that are actually
doing what we teach. I don't have any
courses on "how to become a rock star" (yet) because I'm not a rock star yet,
but if you want to learn how to make a living as a musician now, check out the
following niche courses. Much more to
come!
The Art Of Sound Design
The Art Of Sound Design is a two and a half hour
audio and video course taught by professional sound designer Greg Savage and
facilitated by Aaron Davison. The course is instantly accessible online
and features a two hour audio, four video tutorials and supplemental PDFs.
The course features the most in depth information related specifically to
making money as a sound designer available.
More
Info: - http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/sound-design-course.php
How To Make Money With Stock Music Libraries -
This is
a brand new course led by Canadian based musician Aaron Saloman and facilitated
by Aaron Davison. Learn specific techniques for making money with stock
and production music libraries. 100 minute audio course and bonus
material.
More
Info: http://www.stockmusiclicensing.com/
The Complete Musician's Guide To Creating An
Online Empire
"The Complete Musician's Guide To Creating
An Online Empire" is an audio and pdf course taught by How To License
Your Music.com founder Aaron Davison. The course is instantly accessible
online and features a 70 minute long audio course, a supplemental PDF ebook,
and a free 45 minute long bonus interview With Aaron Davison about working
online. The course features the most in depth information related
specifically to launching an internet business for musicians available.
More Info: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/online-empire.php
The A To Z Of Creating A Music Library
"The A To Z Of Creating A Music Library"
is a 110 minute audio course taught by one of the founders of the music library
Fliktrax, Pat Finnegan, and facilitated by Aaron Davison. The course
covers, in step by step detail how to launch and market your own music library.
You'll learn all the steps involved, from the legal aspects involved in
starting your own business, the contracts involved, how to recruit artists, how
to market your catalog and much more. Learn how to create a music library
directly from someone who has created a successful music library from the ground
up.
More
Info: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/music-library-course.php
An Indie Musician's Guide To
Film Scoring
"An Indie Musician's Guide To Film Scoring" is a two hour long
course taught by the Houston based musician Dave Merson Hess and facilitated by
Aaron Davison. The course is instantly accessible online and features a
two hour hour plus audio, multiple samples of Dave's music, PDF files,
screenshots and more. The course covers everything you need to know to
get started in the business of film scoring, including how to find work, how to
score to film, how contracts work, how you get paid and more.
More
Info: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/film-scoring-course.php
How To Produce Music That
Will Get Licensed And Make You Money -
"How To Produce Music That Will Get Licensed
And Make You Money" is a 90 minute audio course with an accompanying
six part, 60 minute video series, taught by the California based music producer
Gary Gray and facilitated by Aaron Davison. The course is instantly
accessible online and and in addition to the audio and video portion of the
course includes multiple samples of tracks Gary has produced, multiple screen
shots of the recording techniques discussed, PDF files related to the concepts
discussed in the course and more. The course features the most in depth
information related specifically to music production and how to produce music
that will get licensed available.
More
Info: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/film-scoring-course.php
The A To Z Of Music Licensing
The original program on
music licensing that includes The 2014 TV and Film Music Business Directory, A
Songwriter's Guide To Music Licensing Ebook, How To
Audio Program,Three Audio Interviews with music licensing professionals,
sample contracts and much more! The entire program is accessible online upon
checkout.
More
Info: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/the-a-to-z-of-music-licensing.php
For A Complete list
of my products and services, visit http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/online-store.php
