In every sphere of our life – be it sport, business, art and so on – we often come across an interesting phenomenon. People who seem to us really worthy and competent in what they do, for some reason are not in a place good enough as to what they would deserve. And we wonder – but why, it seems that he/she has got all that’s needed to make it to the top. In the music industry, that’s a pretty common situation. A good neighbor hearing a boy from the next door playing the guitar will kindly ask his father “Your boy’s so talented! Why isn’t he already on the big stage?”. But talent, no matter how huge it may be, turns out to be an important yet insufficient condition for reaching the peak of success. And money - often considered to be the means for solving any problem - is not the solution either. There needs to be something beyond these obvious things, the ‘it’-factor, which will lead to worthwhile achievements. However, too often musicians make “traditional” mistakes that hamper their progress on the way to the top.
We’ve tried to more or less sort out what’s there in this regard and come up with a few of the most general mistakes that musicians/music bands make about their career. Let’s have a closer look at the top 5 of them.
Seeking approval. It’s important to remember that you are not to convince anyone that your music is good and worth listening to. Your major focus should lie on what you create and not on what someone should think about it. Be sincere in what you convey through your music and don’t try to please everyone – it’s impossible anyway. A strong idea and diligence is bound to find its addressee. It shouldn’t be you saying “Look, I write good music, really” but instead your listener saying “I like his/her music and what it expresses”. If you stop mixing the essential with the superficial, your target audience will be built from true connoisseurs.
Forgetting to establish firm relationship with fans. Once you have at least a small fan base (it may even consist of just your relatives and acquaintances for the moment), start learning to build a close relationship with them. Interested people know they are marketed to – and they don’t mind. All they want is a quality product they are ready to pay for. If you show them you care, they will keep loyal. Don’t skimp on small pleasant trivia: free music pieces, thank-you posts, little appreciation shows, fan message board at your website, comments section and so on. Reach out to people who are looking forward to it, attention matters.
Putting it all on the table. Keep in mind that people are not only interested in your music but in your persona too. It’s always interesting to learn what’s behind this or that music piece. So go ahead and share it. However, be selective about what you bring to light. In a certain sense people are willing to see an example to follow in you, someone to look up to and get motivated by. The more inspiring you sound, the better. Try not to be too whimpering about what’s currently going on with you and about how bad you feel. Since you got people following you, you’ve become a leader to some extent, so keep it up duly.
Neglecting marketing. Good music is good. But not good enough to just stand up and go into the world on its own. You have to help it get into the right ears. There is no need to reinvent anything, as there are quite a lot of established marketing mechanisms that will help you do the job. Do not forget that you yourself are your best promoter, even if you have someone (publisher, record labels, etc.) helping you in your endeavors. You are the most interested party and the result will greatly depend on your personality. Having your work performed at the local festival might be a good start but it will not take that far if you do nothing. Don’t be shy to ask for help of the knowing people, ask around, read, surf the network – “Carpe Diem”!
Saying yes to everything. Carpe Diem is a nice motto but do not overdo it. You do not need to jump at every single opportunity just because it pops up when you seem to need something for a kick-start. Try to sort out your tasks and purposes first – it will help you to be more specific when deciding in favor of a certain possibility. The thing is that sometimes the opportunities that are offered to you (shows, concerts, ads, commercials, contests, etc.) are simply not worth jumping at, after a short analysis you might realize that they are nothing more than a fruitless waste of time. Set your own plan and act accordingly.
These are just a few examples of the things that may either retard the desired success or lead you the wrong way depriving you of precious time. Once a decent music work is ready, the real work only begins! Pull yourself together and spare no effort in order to get what you want.
Good luck!