Music Career Advice - How To Be In The Right Place At The Right Time
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Have you ever had someone give you this music career advice:
“To make it in the music business (or to start a music career), you need to be in the right place at the right time?”
Whenever I heard this music career advice on how to start a music career, it made me angry.
Because it sounds like what is being said is we don’t have any control over our ability to make it in the music business.
Therefore, getting a record deal or touring the world must be a matter of …
... luck.
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If that were true, then there would be no action step I could take (or music career advice I could follow) to even start a music career... let alone make it in the music business.
I would just have to wait and hope to become lucky by somehow finding a way to be in the right place at the right time.
I had two problems with this advice on how to make it in the music business.
First, I didn’t know where the right place was.
And second - I didn’t know when the right time was.
Here’s some music career advice I *wish* someone had given me on how to be in the right place at the right time and make it in the music industry:
How To Start A Music Career Step One: First, Become The Right Person.
If you want to make it in the music business, it’s not enough to be in the right place at the right time. That won’t help you if you’re not yet the right person. We need to be the right person in the right place at the right time to have a chance to make it in the music business
The good news about this music career advice is you (yes, you) can become the right person - anyone can learn this.
Becoming the right person begins by learning to add value and reduce risks for people in the music business you want to work with. For example, if you want to join a band that is already successful, has a record deal, and is touring the world, then ask yourself …
“How can I help this band make more money than they are now or reduce their risks?”
(That line above is one of the most profound pieces of music career advice you’ll ever hear on how to make it in music business.)
The fact is, there are many ways you could help them do this – even if you have no idea right now how you could.
To help you jump-start this thinking process, try this:
Think about how a band at the level you want to join is already making money. Yes, actually make a list of the income sources you suspect they likely have.
Then, ponder how you might make their income from those sources larger. For example: how can you help the band get more gigs? How can you help them get paid more from each gig? How could you help their album sales? Their merchandise sales?
How you can make the band’s income streams more secure? For example: how might you help the band build (or grow) their email list, so they can have an easier time promoting their gigs (or merchandise or other offers)?
Next, look for any new income streams you might help the band create for themselves.
Like, for example, a membership where the band’s fans pay a monthly fee to have greater access to the band? (These can be extremely lucrative when done right.)
If you feel stuck – do some research for how successful bands (who make it in the music business) make money.
Also, consider getting a music career mentor. Music career mentoring can really help you stand out (because a good mentor can give you music career advice you can use to add value to any band you want to join).
Next, think about the expenses the band is likely to have as they operate in the music business. How can you reduce those expenses for them... or at least make sure that YOU don’t add to them?
One easy way you can make sure you don't add to the band’s expenses is to show them you don't need their money. That is one of the simplest ways to stand out when you’re trying to start a music career.
And the way to achieve that is to reduce financial risk in your own music career.
To see real-life examples of how to do that in the music business, check out my (free) music career advice article on what you need to make it in the music business.
How To Start A Music Career Step Two: Be In The Right Place
Implementing this part of my music career advice (putting yourself in the right place) is actually pretty easy. Why? Because there are thousands and thousands of right places you could be at.
Are You Ready For A Music Career?Use these free resources to prepare for a highly successful music career.
Backup Plan For Your Music CareerLearn how to protect yourself from certain failure in your music career
How To Get More Fans To Your Gigs Learn how to grow your fanbase & make your gigs truly unforgettable.
For example, going to a concert would put you close to professionals in the music industry. Buying a VIP ticket will put you much closer. But there’s an even better place to get the sort of proximity you may be looking for when implementing this music career advice: the band’s merchandise booth.
These people work for the band and the band’s tour manager. They may be on the low end of the band’s organization, but they have a lot of direct access to the band, the entire crew, and management.
Going to the merch booth when few other fans are in line (such as when the band is playing) gives you greater access to the organization and more time to talk or pass along valuable information the band, the band’s manager may be interested in.
A common mistake amateur musicians make when using this music career advice is trying to introduce themselves or their music to the band they are talking to. They don’t know you and do not care about how good you are or how great your music is.
However, they are always interested in how you can directly help them make more money quickly, with little or no work or risk to them. If you can do that, you WILL have their attention. The best news is this is not hard to do – see my previous article on what you need to make it in the music business.
How To Start A Music Career Step Three: Be There At The Right Time
Wouldn’t it be great if we could eliminate the timing requirement? Doing so would make it much easier to start a music career (and implement the music career advice in this article), wouldn’t it?
There are many ways I’ve found that you can do this. Here are two of them:
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Once you know where some of the right places are, you can be there often. Your physical presence is not always required. But something of yours can be there often.
I once bought a large tabletop statue of Atlas and sent it as a gift to the president of a company. It’s been sitting on his desk in his office ever since. Every time he sees that statue, he’s reminded of who gave it to him.
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Instead of waiting for chance, take control and create the right time. How do you do that? Think about it this way, if I came to you with an opportunity for you to make a lot of money, with little or no work on your part, little or no money on your part, and virtually zero risk to you, would you make yourself available to talk with me? Most people would. You can do the same.
You may think, “but I don’t know how to do that.” You have one way to do this if you read my previous article linked above. There are 52 additional ways I mentor musicians in my music careers mentoring program to do the same.
The first step to starting your music career is downloading this free eGuide on How To (Easily) Stand Out From All The Other Musicians.
Learn how to build a thriving music career - get music career success coaching.
