I'm often asked,
"Can a person REALLY make a living in the music business...
[specifically PLAYING music]"
My answer is yes and there are certainly many musicians out here making it work for themselves. Lets look at some of the strategies and requirements required to make music pay your way through life..
.
1. Do NOT expect to learn everything in school.
Making it is all about versatility, learning to market yourself really well (can't stress that enough), all the while hanging onto enough dough to keep it all going until the phone starts to ring. Marketing yourself might involve attending open mic nights or jam sessions in your city. Find out where they are.
Meet people, remember names and faces, network.
2. Be willing to hang on.
Making a living is tough. Unless you have rich parents, a wealthy patron, or some other source of income, keeping a balance between your day job, your regular gigs, and your creative pursuits will be a tough one.
3.
When I graduated school I almost got fired from my first real gig. The reason was that I didn't double well and I didn't know how to blend. The people willing to pay me after I left school didn't care how much BeBop I knew.
They wanted to know how many Bossa Nova, Ballads, Fox Trots, and Waltzes I could play and in which keys.
4. You must be versatile.
You must double on another instrument/s. You need the skills to write and compose, and to produce music. You need to be able to arrange music, teach music and book your own bands like an expert.
You may wish to enter a second career booking bands for other people.
5. You CAN NOT be shy.
You MUST sell yourself every step of the way. You must also be the type of person people are comfortable in having around. It isn't always the absolute best players that work, its the ones that are the most capable, most reliable, and the easiest ones to work with.
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