Take These 10 Steps To Start A Music Career And Become A Professional Musician
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Want to build a music career but don't know where to start?
Well, my friend...
You've clicked on the right article.
Because I'm about to show you...
The first 10 crucial steps I believe every professional musician ought to take at the start of their journey in the music industry.
(When I coach musicians to build successful careers, these are the same steps I walk them through to lay the foundation for a successful career.)
And if you follow those steps...
You'll put yourself on the right track towards growing your career in the music business much faster and easier…
… and you'll get to live your dream at a level most musicians can only envy.
What's more...
Taking these steps also saves you from the crippling mistakes that wreck most musicians' chances of getting anywhere in the music industry.
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.
Here are the steps to take at the start of your music career:
Let's dive into each one in more detail:
Tip #1 For How To Start A Music Career: Continuously Improve Your Musical Skills
This is an ongoing step that never ends. And you should do it at the same time as you build the rest of your career.
Yes, as much as I often warn against spending too much time on your musical skills…
… you absolutely need good musical skills to become a professional musician and start a music career.
So, make a list of the musical skills you need to become successful in your musical style and work on those skills daily. For best results, get a music teacher.
Just make sure to also do the other 9 music industry steps listed below.
Tip #2 For How To Start A Music Career: Get A Mentor
A mentor - someone who has been where you are, who is currently where you want to be, and who has taken many others where you want to go – can help you reach your goals a lot faster.
And beyond the specific guidance you get from a music business mentor…
Investing in your music career (to get music industry mentoring) makes you look serious and pro to record companies, bands and other musicians.
The music career credential (of getting mentoring) shows you're truly committed to becoming a professional musician and are not afraid to invest in yourself.
This makes it much more likely that other companies and bands will invest in you.
Plus, speaking of other musicians: when you are inside a music career mentoring program, you are very likely to meet like-minded (serious) musicians with whom you can collaborate to grow your music careers much faster.
Yes, I know that this sounds very self-serving, because I have a Music Careers Mentoring Program where I help musicians grow their careers. But I challenge anyone to refute the larger point(s) I’m making.
Tip #3 For How To Start A Music Career: Record Your Music (Even With A Cheap/Basic Home Studio)
This gives you recording experience (which will help you later in your career) and credibility as a musician. The music business credibility comes from having recordings you can show others.
Pro tip (which I know from hanging out with a lot of guitar players): many guitar players struggle to record rhythm guitar parts in the studio cleanly and tight.
So, when you have that skill (whether it's on guitar or on another instrument), you can easily get hired for gigs as a studio musician and earn serious money doing it.
This happened to me years ago. I was brought in and paid a very nice hourly rate to track rhythm guitar parts in place of a band's original guitar player.
It was much cheaper for the record company to pay me than to pay the engineer to spend way more time editing the originally recorded tracks.
This happens more often than you think in the music industry (because this knowledge is rarely made public).
Tip #4 For How To Start A Music Career: Learn How The Music Business Works “Today” (Vs. How It Worked 20 Years Ago).
What is the difference between how the music business works today vs. how the music industry worked 20 years ago?
In the past, many musicians thought that having good music was all it took to become a professional musician, get signed and become successful in the music industry.
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Today, professional musicians have to do much more than just play music when they start a music career.
Let me explain like this:
- (Largely because of the internet) there are A WHOLE LOT of musicians and bands out there.
- There are (comparatively) very few record labels.
- Record labels make money by investing some of it into artists... hoping the artist becomes profitable and makes money for the label.
Well, here is the twist...
Record labels don’t have unlimited budgets.
They cannot physically work with every artist or band that approaches them.
And on top of that...
Millions of new musicians enter the music industry every year.
This spike in demand for record label investment makes it necessary for labels to become more selective about who they invest in.
This makes it possible for the labels to insist that an artist show some proof of being serious about making it in this business... in the form of results they’ve achieved through their own efforts.
And THAT is why the standards for getting signed continue to go up.
That is one more reason to have a mentor (who can save you from wasting time on outdated music career paths that worked in the past but don't work anymore).
Tip #5 For How To Start A Music Career: Develop A Success-Focused Mindset
Most musicians think that "mindset" is just a fancy term for "positive thinking".
It's not.
"Mindset" refers to how you think, how you solve problems and how you respond to the (many) challenges you face when you start a music career and attempt to become a professional musician.
Here are some examples of how professional musicians (the ones with an empowering success mindset) think:
1. Money isn’t evil—and it’s not wrong for musicians or music industry companies to want as much of it as possible.
If you see profit as immoral, no serious label or company will invest big money in you or your band. The music industry exists to make money, not to run charity work. Partners need to know you’ll help them earn back their investment (plus more). And yes, they can sense your true attitude toward money, even if you try to hide it. That’s why your beliefs, mindset, and actions must align.
2. Opportunity is abundant.
There’s no cap on how much success you and those around you can achieve through win-win thinking and mutually beneficial partnerships.
These mindsets form the base from which pros decide their moves in the industry.
By contrast, struggling musicians believe the opposite. They see wealth and opportunity as limited, thinking one person’s gain means another’s loss. This scarcity mindset is false, and it breeds actions that lead to lose-lose results in any project. No top-level company or band will work with someone like that.
Tip #6 For How To Start A Music Career: Treat Your Music Career Like A Business
Create a plan of action (which will get you where you want to be in the music industry) and execute that plan… whether you feel like working or not. (This is yet another time when a music career mentor can be very helpful.)
Case in point:
I recently watched a ‘day in the life’ documentary with the famous bodybuilding champion Kai Greene who spilled some serious gold in this quote:
“Your mother doesn’t care if your arms are 24 inches... she is still gonna love you. Your dream is important only to YOU. So, ya gotta protect it by stringing together days of efficient action on a very basic level... like having your food tupperware with you at all times and never going over 3 hours without eating. No coach or supplement will get you there if you’re not doing the basic work that’s required of you when it’s time to do it.”
Replace “bodybuilding” with “music career”,
“Eating every 3 hours” with “studying the music business”...
And swap “arms 24 inches” for “getting gigs”, “joining a band”, “getting a record deal”, “going on tour” or whatever your goal is, and you get nearly fail-safe advice for crushing your music career goals as you seek to start a music career.
The more you embrace this way of looking at your music career, the easier it becomes to reach your goals as a professional musician.
Tip #7 For How To Start A Music Career: Develop Your Work Ethic
When you can outwork others in the music industry, you have a much easier time securing opportunities other people only dream about.
But heads up:
Just saying to others that you're hard-working (without specific accomplishments you can point to) is not enough.
I can't tell you how many times I've had musicians apply for the Music Careers Mentoring Program swearing up and down that they are committed, hard-working and that "music is the only thing they want to do in their life"…
… only to cancel 3 months later, claiming that they're suddenly "too busy for the program".
This is why I am very skeptical (and you should be too) of anyone trying too hard to convince you of their motivation, commitment, honesty, loyalty, work ethic or any other favorable attribute.
As the saying goes: "If you have to say it – you ain't it".
Instead, successful professional musicians simply add value (often without being asked) and let their actions speak for themselves.
Tip #8 For How To Start A Music Career: Improve Your Personal Finances
The better your financial situation, the easier it becomes to say 'yes' to opportunities that may not pay right away, but have the potential to grow your career exponentially.
The best way to improve your financial situation when you want to start a music career?
Answer: build multiple streams of income.
Let’s do some very conservative back-of-an-envelope math, shall we?
Say you make just:
20k per year playing gigs.
10k per year doing studio/session work.
10k per year selling merch and products at your gigs.
3-5k per year in affiliate marketing (including things like: endorsements, YouTube ad revenue, etc.)
15k per year via fan club memberships (where your fans pay a small fee in exchange for continuous access to and interaction with you).
30k teaching (FYI: you could easily make - literally - 10x more than that through teaching alone if you do it the right way. I’m simply keeping it very conservative in case you don’t really want to teach.
None of these numbers are earth-shattering on their own.
But, put together, they add up to a very respectable: 90k per year income.
And here is where it gets truly awesome:
- Your income is way more secure and stable because it’s so diversified. (If you lose some music students, you still have your merch sales, your gig income, your session work, etc. PLUS the rest of your music students who haven’t quit. ).
- Some of your income is mostly passive (e.g. fan club memberships and affiliate deals). So, you continue to earn it even when you are sick or on vacation.
And best of all…
This kind of income is VERY easy to grow!
For example:
Get a few more music students? You can now invite them to come to your gigs… where they can buy your band’s merch, opt in to your band’s email list and join your fan club membership.
Pick up a few more gigs? You’ll grow your fanbase who will buy your merch, join your fan club and (possibly) become your music students.
Build your general reputation? Now you can raise your rates on EVERYTHING and breeze past 6-figures so fast, you may not even notice it.
Tip #9 For How To Start A Music Career: Build An Email List
An email list of fans (whom you build a relationship with) helps you make a lot more money as an independent artist and gives you more negotiating power when partnering with others in the music industry.
And no, your social media following is not the same as an email list. Why? Because you have no control over your social media followers in the way you do with your email list.
For one thing: your social media account can be shut down at any moment for no fault of your own… and then you will have lost a massive music business asset you've spent years building.
(This has happened to some professional musicians I know.)
Secondly: the algorithm of a social media platform does not work like an email list. When you make a social media post, the platform decides who to show it to. (This is why, for example, you may see YouTube channels with millions of subscribers get only a few thousand views per video.)
When you send an email, it goes to every person on your list. This makes it easier to promote your music business projects to your fans and grow your music career faster.
Tip #10 For How To Start A Music Career: Build Relationships With Other Bands, Musicians And Companies
Strong relationships with other champions in the music industry can help you build your career way faster than you ever could on your own.
How do you build relationships in the music industry?
Answer: add value first (without being asked). This goes a long way to demonstrate your work ethic, loyalty and skills without needing to brag about those things.
Watch this video to see a simple (but powerful) example of what this looks like:
Now that you know the first 10 steps to take in your music career, I want to show how to stand out from all the other musicians (even if you’re just starting out in the music business). I show you how in this free music business eGuide. Download it today and discover the music career success secrets most musicians will never know.
Discover how to start a music career.
