WRITE SONGS

That's where all the money and action is. If you just want to be a player...you're at the mercy of the band leader and studio work has dropped off dramatically. Today many songs are simple with one chord throughout. Don't be beholden to what is popular now, classic song structure always triumphs. "Yesterday" was not that different from what was popular decades before the Beatles had success. Hacks imitate, original writers triumph. This is something that has hobbled Nashville, when you write by committee you kill the bolt of inspiration of great work that pushes the envelope. And, when you write your own material, people resonate with your work that much more, they know you are speaking directly from your heart.

CREATE CONSTANTLY

You get better the more you do it. Ask anyone who has had success, in hindsight they laugh at their earlier work.

PRACTICE

Know the basics... Whether it be how to play your guitar or drums or... Or if you're a singer/lyricist, you should be reading all the time. Inspiration comes when you've got the tools down, when it's reflexive as opposed to intellectualized.

POST

Everything you do should be posted online on all platforms. Probably it will be ignored, but you never know what will resonate with the public. Don't self-censor. And failure is no longer the stain it once was. Stiffs are ignored and hits are recognized. In other words, no matter how big an act you are, if you misfire it's no longer held against you, the work is just forgotten... You can come back with better work later. This means you can experiment.

MARKETING & PROMOTION

Do none until you have a buzz, a reaction. Not only professionals, but average people are overloaded and will give you one chance, usually not more. But when something is happening, when you've got multiple streams/views, that means that someone likes what you are doing and that's what professionals are looking for, someone who is building their audience all by their lonesome.

CREATION VS. MARKETING & PROMOTION

Yes, you should be on TikTok, your music should not only be on all platforms you must create interesting videos to promote it. However, do not fall into the modern trap of spending most of your time marketing as opposed to creating and playing. There are millions of great marketers, there are not millions of great musicians. You have to lead with the music.

DON'T COMPLAIN

There's no upside. If you're not making any money that means that your music is not causing a reaction. Focus on the reaction...if that happens, you'll end up making money. History is littered with people who didn't give up their day jobs until after their album went gold...let this be a lesson to you.

DON'T WAIT TO BE RESCUED

If you're banking on finding a deep pocket, a label or an investor, you're doing it wrong. That's positively last century. You have all the tools in your pocket. Furthermore, oftentimes the label can't do anything but pay you, they have proven again and again in the past few years that they don't know how to break an act, and as a result of this they are focusing more and more on fewer genres, trying for moonshots. Labels are very much like movie studios in this way. As for an indie label... The truth is you are your own label, you've got to do it yourself. And if you have success you'll get so much more money from streaming. Beware of hucksters telling you they can help you out, they talk a good game but rarely deliver. And know that anyone who wants to get involved with you only will do so because they want to make money. If you're not generating cash, they're not interested. And the moment you stop generating cash, or never break through, their interests go elsewhere. This is capitalism, this is human nature... There is no music league akin to sports. Everybody starts their journey wet behind the ears and learns through the process, especially when they get screwed. Never give up your copyrights, however if you can't give a little to get a little, don't expect anybody to want to be in business with you.

PLAY IN YOUR GENRE

Don't study the hit parade and try to imitate it, play what's in your soul. You might have to create a market for it, but if it's great, people will find it. However the conundrum of the modern internet era is everything is available, there for the listening/taking, but it almost always takes longer than it did in the past to gain traction/critical mass. If you're even thinking of going to graduate school, don't even start as a professional musician. Now, more than ever, it takes eons to break through and it's not like in the past, where when you do riches pour down. You might just end up with a business that keeps you afloat at best, with enough fans to tour and support you. If you're getting into music to get rich, there are many other avenues with better odds, go down those paths.

INFLUENCES

Yes, you should know records, but you need to read and socialize and...you are your influences. Which is why the barely pubescent acts almost always flame out, they haven't had enough life experience, they might have a hit but they can't follow it up because they've got nothing to say.

PEFORMANCE IS A SKILL

You develop it over time. No one is great right out of the box. If your act depends on live appearances, play everywhere you can, even for free...you need the experience to get good. And you can close people with a live performance, although finding a place to play for an act without traction is not easy.

READ DON PASSMAN'S BOOK

It's much better than sitting around with wannabes providing false information on how the business works.

START WITH PEOPLE AT YOUR OWN LEVEL

Sure, some bigwig might come along and be interested in what you're doing and want to be in business with you, but you're best off being involved with young hustlers your own age, who are at the same point in the music business or just slightly ahead. Most established people don't have the time or inclination to build something from zero, they want something that will pay in prodigious amounts quickly. They've been there and done that, developed acts that succeeded but mostly failed. You need the passion of someone who is just starting out. In addition, that big theoretical button that can be pushed for success no longer exists.

BE A STUDENT OF THE GAME BUT DON'T BE CRIPPLED BY THE GAME

Every big story, every big break is unique. Just because someone made it one way doesn't mean you should try to replicate the formula.

YOUR BIG BREAK WILL BE A SERIES OF LITTLE BREAKS

If you ever have a big break...it's almost never what you think it will be. So if you're planning on a TV appearance or newspaper article to break you through...I'm not saying not to do it, but don't expect this to be the one thing that will put you over the top, especially today when you're competing with so many messages.

PERSEVERANCE

If you're not willing to starve, music is not the business for you. If you want to get married, have a house and children, you don't have the time nor the ability to barely survive, which are almost always key elements of the road to success. Don't think of music as a conventional job, it's more akin to a lottery. No one cares how much you practiced, they just care if your music resonates with them. Period. Stop telling people you've put in 10,000 hours. Never mind that it's 10,000 hours of hard work, which few are willing to do. As a guitarist are you willing to try and read music, constantly batting your head against the wall with difficult stuff to play? I'm not saying you need to read in order to succeed, but I am saying if the process isn't frustrating, if you don't feel like sometimes you're banging your head against the wall, if you don't contemplate giving up...then you're just not doing it right, you're not working hard enough. Sure, you might play in a bar band six nights a week, and you'll gain some skills, but not all the ones you need to be a star or even a journeyman playing your own material. If the process of making it is not frustrating to you...the joke is on you. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations. And you're flying without a net. The success of every musical act is different, as is the path they take to get there. You're building it from scratch, it's solely about you, someone might be able to give you some help but you are in the driver's seat.

DON'T BE SOUR GRAPES

The truth is the public is dying for great new music, and if they find it they tell everybody they know about it. Don't blame the public if they don't get what you're doing. Maybe it's too far out there or too ahead of the game, maybe if you stay at it the audience will catch up with you... But the dirty little secret is most people and their music is just not great. People don't spread the word on good music, they spread the word on great music!

YOU'RE ONLY IN COMPETITION WITH YOURSELF

No one is taking your slot, your lane is unique to you and unlimited. Think about what you're doing, about your audience, not what another act is doing. This is a business of uniqueness, that's what rises above the morass. Which is why Berklee students don't dominate the charts. Sure, learn how to play. But do you have a vision, can you create something unique?

INSPIRATION IS EVERYTHING

The idea trumps the ability to execute it. You don't have to be the best player in order to break through, but you do have to have the best idea. Look at the Ramones...they started a whole movement based on precepts that weren't even considered by those in power in the business.

MORE INSPIRATION

Sure, there are artists who build songs over time, but most of the great tunes were concocted very quickly, on instinct. If you live your life, exercise, take a shower, you'll be surprised when an idea comes to you...and then rush to your instrument and notepad, don't squander the inspiration, it comes rarely, stay in the zone and lay it down, it will feel like you're channeling something, like the song is writing itself. If you've never had this feeling, then either you're doing it wrong or haven't done it enough. This is the story of the majority of legendary hits. Period. Sure, there are hits that were made by committee, but the bolt of lightning, from the heavens into your brain and fingers...those are the ones that are special, that evidence humanity, that connect with people. Keep going until you have this experience...and you only have this experience when your chops are in order...so when the idea comes you can lay it down just that fast, maybe in an hour, maybe in only fifteen minutes.


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