Do You Need A Music Career Mentor?
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I’m often asked, “Should I get a music career mentor?” or “Should you get a music career mentor if you want to have a career in music?”
The answer may surprise you.
As a music career mentor to musicians who want to start a music career, you’d probably expect that I’d always reply, "Yes, everyone needs a mentor to start a music career and grow a career in music".
The truth is only some people need a mentor.
If you want to increase your chances of success dramatically, then yes, you need a mentor to start a music career.
If you want to decrease your chances of succeeding substantially (in your pursuit of a career in music), then no, you don’t need a mentor for that. But remember, wishing, dreaming, hoping, and luck are not a plan.
- Asking if you need a music career coach is no different than a football player asking whether he needs a coach to play in the NFL.
- Asking if you need a music career coach is no different than a gymnast asking whether she needs a trainer to make it to the Olympics.
- Asking if you need a music career coach is no different than an entrepreneur asking whether he needs a mentor to guide him through starting (and succeeding) his first business.
EMAIL TO GET ACCESS
By submitting your info, you agree to send it to Tom Hess Music Corporation who will process and use it according to their privacy policy.
The chance of success (especially over the long term) is much higher with a music career coach, trainer or mentor.
Why is this true?
How does a music career mentor help you become successful?
- First, an experienced mentor will help you develop a success mindset – a crucial aspect of what you need to make it in the music business.
- Second, your mentor should guide you to become who you must become to have the greatest chance to create or seize opportunities in the music industry.
- Third, he ought to teach you how to think like a successful person to navigate all the challenges and take the right actions in the proper order and at the right time.
- Fourth, your music career coach will guide you to avoid all the common mistakes musicians often make at every stage of starting or growing their music careers. There are so many pitfalls that stop most from becoming successful. A good mentor knows what these are, where they are, and how to avoid or overcome them if you fall into one.
Here is an example of what I mean by "mistakes":
I once heard of a (Christian rock) band that just finished playing their biggest show to date (singing about their good Christian values) and were in the middle of an autograph-signing session...
... when the lead singer looked up to see the band’s guitar player surrounded by a group of 15-year-old girls - with a marker in hand - signing the naked breast of one of them.
(Which already kiiinda contradicts the whole “good Christian” vibe the band was trying to get across in their songs... don’t you think so?)
And to make things worse...
This happened in full view of local reporters (from a local Christian newspaper) who showed up to interview the band.
The singer immediately fired the guitar player, issued a public apology to the fans and even changed the band’s name...
... but this is the kind of career-destroying mistake that’s almost impossible to recover from (even if you’re not the idiot who made it).
Because even though it was ‘just the guitarist’ who stupidly betrayed everything the band claimed to stand for...
... everyone else in the band looked guilty by association.
And even after the guitarist was no longer in the picture, the fallout from this one incident haunted the band for years as they worked to rebuild their reputation.
So, even if you’re not in a Christian rock band (or not a band at all), let this be a reminder:
Be careful as heck about who you associate with in the music industry.
Because other people’s actions can (and often do) stain your reputation... especially when you try to join a band or get signed with a record deal.
And this is yet another example of why it takes way more than ‘good musical skills’ to join a band.
Because smart bands want to make sure that you:
- Fully understand the values they stand for.
- Don’t have a track record of questionable behavior (in or out of your career) that raises red flags
- Are (likely to be) loyal
- Have your stuff together in your personal life (e.g. finances)
And one of the best ways to show bands, musicians and record companies that you’re someone they ought to take seriously is by... <drum roll>...
... getting music career training.
As in: by actively investing in your career to learn the skills that go into becoming a pro musician instead of navigating the music industry by trial and error.
Because anyone smart, ambitious and forward-thinking enough to want to invest in themselves is far more likely to be worth working with than people who don’t do that.
This is one reason why musicians I train in the Music Careers Mentoring Program tend to reach their goals quite fast, so long as they do what I train them to do. - Fully understand the values they stand for.
- Fifth, a great music career mentor trains you to take the next step, then the next, then the next at every stage of your journey so that you aren’t struggling to figure everything out on your own and get things wrong along the way.
- Sixth, a great music career coach can often see far beyond the horizon, around corners, and over obstacles. He can usually see the path through the music career labyrinth that an inexperienced musician cannot yet see and won’t find in a book or a college class.
- Seventh, he usually has relationships and access to people and companies that you do not. Those relationships can be worth their weight in gold to you if and when you are ready for them.
“Tom Hess, can’t I learn all this at a university if I pursue a music business degree?”
Answer: No, music school is no substitute for a music career mentor. Look at the track records of most universities and guitar schools. Sure, they do a pretty good job helping people (such as myself when I was in university) develop their musical skills. Still, the vast majority of musicians (especially guitarists) who earn music degrees (even music business degrees) never make it in the music business, and even fewer are successful long-term. Most end up doing something outside of music for their career.
Music schools DO have value; there are some good things about them. I have two music degrees, but what I learned about success, the music business, wealth building, and many other incredibly useful topics didn’t come from the university.
I answer the above question above in more detail in this article: Do You Need A Music Degree To Become A Professional Musician.
Learn how to build a thriving music career with music career training.
