10 Things You MUST Do to be Successful as a Musician
The heart of the matter is that success in the music industry (or any field, apparently) doesn’t happen overnight. You will have to invest your time and efforts to be successful as a musician, alongside having patience, tenacity, acceptance of criticism, and even some failure to clarify your goals and make your aspirations come true. Below are 10 things you must do to grow as an artist in the music industry:
#1 Always stay in the loop
Everything is evolving and changing rapidly. The music industry is never stable and you must keep up with all the trends and stay informed about each detail concerning you as a musician on platforms such as SoundCloud, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook’s Sound Collection. Therefore, staying in the loop will help you promote your music and reach a wide audience, as well as constantly learn and invest in yourself.
#2 Don’t give up
It’s crucial to remember that success can’t appear within a blink of an eye — most probably you will have to fall down and face some challenges to finally identify your weaknesses and focus on strengths instead. Don’t let the winding path to your success as a musician get you down.
#3 Meet other people in the music industry
Networking and creative alliances matter in people-based industries, so building a career as a musician requires honing your ability to create and maintain beneficial relationships. Industry conferences, trade shows, and festivals provide perfect settings for interactions, as well as social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Be sure to keep track of who you meet and why you both might benefit from one another.
#4 Know your competitive advantage
What makes you different from anybody else? What are your skills? What advantages do you have? You’ll need a pitch that tells the universe who you are and highlights your distinctive combination of skill set, experience, and presence in the music industry. Thus you must analyze yourself and find out your own advantage to be successful as a musician.
#5 Master distribution
No wonder, music streaming platforms are an integral part in the industry, so be sure you are well represented at Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora for streaming services so that people can easily connect to you and listen to your music. Besides, don’t forget to raise your visibility on such apps as Shazam, as it’s an extremely effective way for fans to locate your music whenever they hear it. Thus distributing your music effectively will definitely help you be successful as a musician.
#6 Utilize social media
No way you can win people’s hearts and grow as a professional without a proper use of social media channels. Social media is hard work and you might be spending hours choosing the most appropriate content and finding the best ways to connect with the community. Make sure your social media platforms are engaging and representing your overall brand and unique voice.
#7 Stay motivated
Without motivation, inspiration, and a lot of work you won’t move forward. A path to becoming successful as a musician is long and exhausting, but you should always have a positive mindset about your ambitions and dreams. Make sure you enjoy your journey as an artist while achieving your short and long-term goals.
#8 Create an amazing team
Without teammates you are likely to overlook important factors. You can’t do everything by yourself, so you need a group of like-minded individuals to help you manage everything. If you look at truly successful people, you won’t find them all alone coping with fame and success — it’s always labels, managers, booking agents, publicists, and social media that create a well-oiled machine and vital for your career team.
#9 Work with bloggers and other musicians
You can become successful as a musician if you are in touch with other professionals and popular personas. While it’s essential to have good relationships with other musicians who can bring relevant experience and knowledge to you in the music industry, bloggers are great at helping you connect with an ideal audience within the same field. This factor will prove to people how serious and dedicated you are!
#10 Stay humble
Fame can vastly spoil anybody, so it’s crucial to remain down-to-earth. Even if you are successful as a musician but you are arrogant and bossy, people won’t like you. However, if you combine professionalism and humility, you will find yourself appreciated by so many!
To conclude, you can carry the day if you do all the aforementioned tips. For sure, there’s a lot of other recommendations on how to grow as a musician but these top 10 rules are genuinely effective and crucial. Give it a try!