The Fallacy Of Success

Published: Tue, 02/19/19

Today's post is a guest post from TV composer Eddie Grey. Eddie recently created a new course for How To License Your Music Premium that we'll be releasing later this week all about how to write songs for TV (and beyond) quickly.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out my latest podcast with Eddie.

One of the keys to success in licensing is being able to create music on demand for opportunities that arise. In many cases these opportunities will be last minute and there won't be a lot of time to just wait around until inspiration strikes. You need to be able to act when opportunities present themselves.

It's also helpful, generally speaking, to have a large catalog. The larger your catalog, the more opportunities your music will work for and the more money you'll make. It's really that simple. The quicker you can create new tracks, the quicker you'll be able to grow your catalog to a point where it's earning substantial revenue.

In Eddie's latest course he breaks down how to write songs that work for TV in an hour or less. I'm stoked for this new course because it presents a really important piece of the music licensing puzzle.

I'll send a separate email about that later this week when the course is released.

In the meantime, over to you Eddie...

The Fallacy Of Success

I wrote a song sometime ago about climbing up the ranks in the world.

“I climbed up the ladder of success and now I’m caught up and lost in the process”. - Eddie Grey

This was before I had any national placements, before I landed songs on trailers, before landing huge deals with T.V networks, before selling half of my music library for $20K, before I had any clients whatsoever, and before knowing anything about music production. I based those lyrics on every “Adult” I had ever met in my life. It seemed as if they had sacrificed a major part of themselves in order to be comfortable. I always felt that too much comfort was a dangerous things. Comfort can kill you, if not physically, then perhaps spiritually.

There is one thing I have always been sure of and that is my keen ear for Music. I knew what I wanted it to sound like. To be specific, I remember attending a seminar and there was a live band playing there.I was dissecting there musical choices as if my life depended on it. The only person that cared about the music was me in that room and I acknowledge that. That is what makes us Creatives, we think diﬀerently. We obsess about details that no one else pays any mind to.

I have been in the Music Licensing space for 5 years now and I have seen a lot. Prior to that, I had a position in sales. I was very “successful” but not very stoked about my day to day. Everything was a means to an end. I got through the day so I can get home and work on Music. I am actually very grateful that I had a job as it really provided me the income to buy my computer (over $3000), Interface (over $2000), Mic ($1000), an all my other awesome toys. In other words…

“YOU HAVE TO HAVE MONEY TO MAKE MONEY”.

I am glad I gambled on myself and invested my time, energy, and money in my business as now I have the opportunity to do it Full-Time. I knew I could do it, I just did not know how long it would take and how it would occur. Every day is diﬀerent for me. I find myself making income doing all manner of things:

Producing Music for Artists
Mixing for Artists
Music for T.V (Contractual)
Music for Publishers (Sync and Back-End)
Daily Briefs
Making Royalties through In-Store Royalties
Consultations for Business
Consultations for Logic Pro X
Online Courses/Tutorials
P.R.O Royalties
Apple Certified Teacher
Teach Mixing/Mastering in Music Production School
Live Performance

The one theme tying all of these pursuits is my one first true love “MUSIC” (my muse). If you would of told me, 10 years ago I would be living this life….I would deem you a heretic and a fool.

It is I who was the fool as I never saw the “POSSIBILITIES”. Ever since I could remember, I always saw my life through a small scope. I always had these false expectations of what success would be.

When I finally got my musical break, I remember the feeling distinctly…

“This is NOT going to solve all of my problems”. I had it in my mind that if I broke through this fake ceiling that all of my life would somehow “make sense”. It was a major letdown as I had to re-adapt and re-assess my entire game plan for my family and I. The future did not look bright through these lenses.

Once I got over the fact that “SUCCESS” was not real. I got back to the only thing that has ever worked for me and that is “WORK”. Head down, pedal to the metal, grinding it out, singular focus….day in and day out. When I shifted my attention to WHAT

I COULD CONTROL, things started moving rapidly. This is when the real shift happened as I now see that our success is determined completely by our eﬀorts. The law of cause in eﬀect is quite real. If you plant a seed, harvest it, water it, and nurture it in the proper environment, it will grow. It does not “self-analyze” and think “When will I grow?” “How much will I grow?”….it merely lets go and things naturally happen.

Earl Nightingale says that the definition of success is “the progressive realization of a worthy goal”. If you take this maxim, you and only you, can decide if you are truly a success. Do not let the world dictate your worth, this is your life, and it is up to you to choose happiness and to live the way YOU wish to live.

My last piece here is for those of you that are still making the transition. Please read these final words carefully…

“Fall in love with your life today and CHOOSE all of your life this very moment. When you truly embrace everything (including your current work) and you aspire to be the very best at everything you do…things will begin to evolve”.

How can you receive more if you have not perfected and made the most of the current moment?

I wish you the very best in ALL of your endeavors.

Happy Music Making.

Keep Your Frequency High,

Eddie Grey

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