Musicians! DO NOT MAKE THESE MISTAKES!

To find success as an artist, you need to think of music as a spectrum; there's the art side of it which we all love, and then there's the business side. To make music a sustainable career choice for yourself, you need to be effective in both. While most musicians understand the art side of it pretty well, the business side still remains sort of a mystery.

While there’s a lot you can do to turn your world around and make things start working for you, be sure to check the following pattern of mistakes musician make all the time in their desperate bid to make it big in the music business.

1. Only Focussing on the Music

We all know at least one artist who has average musical talent, and yet gets more than double the recognition than you, on all platforms. You’re not exactly jealous, since music is after all subjective, but you also crave to understand what exactly does this artist have that you don’t.

While talent plays an extremely important role in making it big in music, it is not the only factor at play, as you probably now understand with the above example. You also need to consistently exercise your business muscle in order to push engagement. Most artists today suffer since they choose to not research about effective release strategies that need to be put in place before putting their songs out.

If you want to change the world of music, that's not going to be done just by being the best – people also need to recognize your creativity and individuality. Step one –– leave the comfort zone of just playing your instrument, and start thinking business.

2. Not Having Side Hustles

“Making music” doesn’t usually cut it to the top ten ways of making money. Recognising that is the first step of taking charge of your financial life and understanding that you do not have to wait for your big break in the music industry to start earning a decent amount of cash.

Recognize the skills that you already have that can help you make money on the side. If you don’t have any skills already, invest time to acquire them. Covid-19 has taught us that no stream of income is completely dependable, so it is always a better idea to have multiple.

3. Ignoring Data

We as musicians are often not too concerned about numbers and try to focus solely on music. That is, sadly, a very lazy approach that is costing you your own dream. In today’s highly competitive music industry, understanding and mastering the game of data has become essential to boosting your visibility as a musician or a music professional.

Make it a habit to routinely go into your “Spotify For Artists” and observe various information like the age, gender and countries of your listeners and analyse how you can use that to your advantage.

4. Comparing Yourself with Others

Musical success (however you define it) is not a finite resource. Some other band achieving success doesn't mean there's less success for you to achieve. Think of it this way–– when you start liking a new band, do you stop liking the other bands you listen to? Not if you're sane. And neither does anyone else. If your music is good, you will find people who want to listen to it.

Instead, turn it around. The next time a fellow musician does a phenomenal job, promote their work on your social media handles. Next time, they’ll return the favour!

The over-abundance of songs is now a well-established reality in the music industry and being talented and creative is no longer enough. However, adapting to this reality can be seen as an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Robert Kiyosaki said it best, “The world is full of talented poor people, and you are perhaps just one skill away from your wealth.”

Keep hustling!

We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now! 

 

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