Monday, December 29, 2014

6 Habits of a Successful-Enough Musician


There are six qualities a musician should have to optimize their potential for success in any genre. First, you need to be so hungry (metaphorically) that you scrap and scrape for every morsel of accomplishment within your line of site.  This means diving head first into your career and throwing out “Plan B” from the get-go. Second, you need to be willing to learn. If you are one of those musicians who take on the industry thinking that you already know everything you need to know, you will not only crash and burn in a flash, but you obviously know nothing. Third, be willing to be hungry (literally). Accept the fact that you are likely to spend most, or all, of your career teetering on the fence of ends-meet. Even if you can’t shake the dream of playing Saturday Night Live and riding in limos, you have to be willing to give it up before you even have it. Fourth, find a healthy and productive balance between patience and persistence. Do not expect overnight, over-month, over-year, or even over-decade success. This is the best way to avoid discouragement and if you keep at it, the better the chance that your big opportunity will come and when it does, you’ll know it and be ready. Fifth, treat your music like it’s your job. Whatever your talent, whatever your role in the band, dedicate everyday to doing it better than you did the day before. Sixth, look off the beaten path for those extra scraps of income. Most musicians out there have their eyes set on The Big Score. This could mean that they only want to work paying gigs or they want to hold off on a music video until (a version of) MTV (that’s been extinct for a decade) asks them to.

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