photo credit: milkovasa
You’ve always had a passion for music.
When you’re not doing schoolwork or working your 9-5, you’re in your room strumming your guitar and writing new songs. You’ve been thinking about quitting your day job and going on the road for a while.
We’re here to tell you to rethink that. It takes a long while to break into the music industry. There’s a lot you need to know and do before you’ll be bringing in the big bucks.
Let us be your navigator through the musician career. Check out this guide to learn how you can start selling out stadiums.
1. Know Your Audience
The first thing you have to do to have a successful music career is to know your audience. Without an audience, who are you playing for after all.
Now you may be thinking, “I can sign on with a record company and they’ll do that for me”! No. They won’t.
Producers don’t really market their talent anymore. You have to do that yourself by familiarizing your audience with your brand. To get started, ask yourself a few questions.
You don’t want to play rock music in a town where the demographic listens to hip hop. You won’t sell a single ticket. Do a little research to find out where your audience lives.
How old is your audience? If you’re trying to target teenagers, you may not want to have a lot of explicit lyrics that their parents won’t allow them to listen to.
Finding out what your target market loves and hates will help you decide what topics to write your songs about. Where does your audience buy their music? Do they head to a specialty store on the weekends or do they stream music online?
2. Be Relatable
We know you didn’t sign up to do a bunch of research when you decided to be a musician but doing this homework will allow you to be more relatable. Being relatable is the cornerstone of how to be a successful musician.
You see, no matter what genre you play or how you try to stick out, you’re not much different from any other musical artist out there in the world. So, you’ve got to learn how to get your audience to like you.
For this, you’ll need to stay in the loop when it comes to the music industry. Learn what trends are phasing out and which ones are still in.
You want your audience to think of you as fresh and interesting. If they feel that you’re copying another popular artist out there, you’ll get nowhere.
3. Promoting Your Music
It will be hard for you to gather a following if nobody knows who you are. There are two ways for you to promote your music: online and offline. Both are equally as important.
Online
If you take away any of the music career tips we’ve shared with you in this article, it should be to stay on top of your online marketing. You’re going to need both a killer website and social media page. Include a link to your social media page on your website and vice versa.
Now, working on your Google rankings isn’t the only or even the best way to get people’s attention online as a musician. You want to get on Spotify.
The reason is that all it takes is for you to slip your way into one person’s playlist. Once you’ve done that, all the dominos will start falling into place.
Offline
Even though you’re going to be doing a majority of your marketing online, your offline presence matters too. Reach out to local DJs and ask if they can play some of your songs on the air.
If a single person tuning in likes your sound, they’ll tell their friends to check you out and then those friends will tell their other friends. You get the picture.
You should also try to get interviews from local stations. It will help your audience see you as a person rather than just a musician. Lastly, reach out to local clubs and ask if you can perform a show or at least be an opener for a huge band.
4. It Won’t Be Smooth Sailing
Anyone you get musician career advice from will tell you it’s not going to be smooth sailing. You’re not going to suddenly start selling out stadiums after your first gig.
Any creative job field takes a while to start paying off. You’ve got to be patient. We know you hate your 9-5 but you might want to stick with it so you can afford equipment and other necessities.
It’s easy to give up on yourself before you start but we’re here to tell you to keep going. If you’re passionate enough about this and go hard enough, you can turn your dreams into reality. It takes patience.
5. Stay Diverse
If you truly hate your 9-5 too much to stick with it, quit and try to get a small part-time musician career. You could mold new minds by dabbling in music tutoring.
Go to work in a record store. Retail isn’t glamorous but it’s a start. You’ll be surrounded by music and be able to get some knowledge of the industry at least.
Succeeding in Your New Musician Career
The art of succeeding in your musician career starts with patience. It will take a while for you to get into the field. There will be bumps in the road and you won’t get your first gig right away.
Stick with it though and we promise that there will be a payoff. Once you get to know your audience and see how they react to your sound, you’ll look back to the point where you first started with a smile.
Part of being a successful musician is keeping up with industry trends. Check out our blog daily to see all the latest music news.
