Did you miss registering for The 180 Day Music Licensing Challenge?  To be honest, I think I screwed up by starting the program right in the middle of the holiday season.  I had so many people write me saying they'd love to take the course, but would rather wait until after the New Year, that I've decided to open the program for registration one more time.

I'm opening the registration period for The 180 Day Challenge for 72 hours, between now and January 8th for anyone who missed the initial registration period.  

If you missed registering for the program because you were caught up in the rush of the holidays, you can sign up here between now and Thursday:
http://www.180daymusiclicensingchallenge.com/

Once you sign up, I'll send you everything you need to get up to speed and we'll schedule our first call next week.  

Here's today's post....

Balancing Art And Commerce

When you start pursuing music as a profession, sooner or later you are confronted with reconciling the need to maintain a sense of artistic integrity with the need to pay your bills and make money.  This can be tricky, because on one hand I think most musicians are drawn to writing songs and playing music because of the sense of inspiration and purity that comes with writing music.  There's something very pure and genuine about tapping into that part of yourself where music comes from.  It feels great and I think most people who write songs want to share that feeling with as many people as possible.

But on the other hand, anyone who has been a part of the music business for more than like 60 seconds knows that the music business is about much more than... well... music.  For better or worse everyone involved in the music business side of the music industry needs to make money in order to make the whole thing sustainable.  This reality doesn't really make me cynical anymore (it used to) because I understand it for what it is.  When you book a show at a club, the club owner needs to make money to stay in business.  No matter how great your band or act is, if no one shows up, it's hard to stay in business.  The same principle is true for every aspect of the music business.

The music licensing industry is certainly no exception to this rule.  Your music needs to be "marketable" in order to be licensed.  If you already write music that fits into the sometimes elusive category of "marketable" music, great.  But sometimes the rest of us have to be flexible and make short term compromises in order to achieve our long term goals.  On my path I've made some compromises here and there with my music and my vision.  I've written songs that sound like bands I didn't really like that were used on TV shows (soap operas!) I didn't really like.

BUT... I don't have an ounce of regret and I'm EXTREMELY grateful for the placements I've had - all of them!  Why?  Well besides the obvious fact that it's helped me financially, I also think any endeavor in life is a process.  By writing music for money and having my songs aired on TV shows, it's both kept me connected to the music industry and has kept me connected to my love for songwriting.  And believe it or not by exploring styles that I'm not normally drawn to, it's also really improved my overall songwriting chops and has really helped me solidify and appreciate my own sound. 

The other upside of successfully licensing your music is that it creates a very positive feedback loop.  It feels great to know that your music is appreciated and it inspires you to keep going!  It sure has for me at least.  I love writing music so much I would probably keep doing it no matter what, but when you start generating income from your music it really inspires you to keep going and keep honing your craft.  It's a great impetuous for moving forward and continually improving. And of course the more money you're making from your music the more time you'll have to write music and stay true to your overall vision! 

Defining Your Expectations

I think it's really important that you define exactly what your expectations for making and performing music are.  Be honest with yourself.  Don't pretend you want to be some obscure indie act if your goal is to have your music heard by millions of people.  On the other hand, don't pretend you want to be a pop star if you what you truly value is making music that is innovative and goes against the grain.  There are no right or wrong goals, but be true to yourself and your goals.  There's nothing wrong with wanting to make money from your music and gain popularity, but it's going to be hard to do if you're conflicted about what your true intentions are.  

So... there's my two cents on this issue.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.  I think it's important that we as musicians and songwriters not lose sight of what really inspired us to write music in the first place.  We also have to eat though:)