There's an expression that I've always loved that says luck is what happens when preparation and opportunity meet. This has always rung true to me and this adage is particularly relevant to the music business. There's often times an element of luck
and timing involved in the music business. For example, sometimes nothing is propelling your career forward for months or years and then suddenly someone who heard your music and liked it gets into the hands of a major supervisor and you have exactly what they're looking for at that time. Or maybe a music supervisor is perusing the internet looking for music his latest film project, comes across your website, and signs your music to his feature film. I've known
songwriters who have experienced both of these situations.
In the above examples, these were really lucky breaks. At least in the sense that the writers involved didn't directly initiate contact with the interested parties. Of course they had produced great music, promoted and marketed it and made great efforts to
let people know about. But ultimately success came to them through indirect channels.
So if luck is such a big element of succeeding in the music business, what are musicians to do? I think this is one of the biggest challenges of being a professional musician, just dealing with the uncertainty of it all. Fortunately though, I think there are a lot of
things you can do to become "lucky" more often.
If luck really is what happens when preparation and opportunity meet then this implies two very specific areas that you can focus on:
1) Preparation - The preparation category includes everything pertaining to your music. The songs you write. Your production. Your performances and vocals. Your CD artwork. Your packaging.
Your sense of proffesionalism. How you come across and communicate to others. How educated and knowledgeable about the industry you're working in. Do you know how sync contracts work for example? Do you know how publishing works? Are you easy to do business with?
All of these elements are important and combined they paint a picture of just how prepared you are to successfuly meet opportunities that either you find or present themselves to you. The more of these elements you have mastered, the more "lucky" you're going
to be.
2) Opportunity - The other half of the luck equation is opportunity. Sometimes opportunities present themselves in big ways, such as in the case of musicians who have a "lucky break" that moves them
forward dramatically. But opportunities can be sought out, you don't have to wait for them to come to you. And more than likely they will be a series of small opportunities that gradually leads to bigger and bigger opportunities. Sure, there are stories about musicians who get really luck really fast, but more often quote on quote "big breaks" are preceded by years and years of very gradual success and hard work.
In the context of the music licensing business, you can seek opportunities out. Research different companies and find out what their needs are. Call supervisors and ask them what projects they are working on. You don't have to wait for opportunities to
come to you, you can go find them!
