The 5 Most Important Things You Should Ask If You Want To Have A Successful Music Career

FACT: Musicians generally look for the answers to all the wrong questions. What questions am I talking about? The ones that all amateurs or people who have never been in music ask. These questions are based on ignorance, guesswork, fears and self-destructive thoughts centered around how some people think the music industry works. By seeking the answers to these questions, you can only reduce the likeliness that you will ever have a chance at growing a successful music career.

To grow a successful music career, you must understand how the music industry works and ask the correct questions based on that knowledge. Once you ask questions like this and get them answered by a professional who has achieved success in music, your potential to build a successful career will quickly grow.

Here are five questions about the music industry that musicians should be asking:

Question #1: Why Do Record Companies/Bands Work With Some Musicians And Not With Others?

A lot of musicians believe that people in the music industry only work with those who are musically gifted and just so happen to be in the right place at the right time. Wrong!

Bands, record companies and others in the industry are looking for specific traits in people they work with. They want a person who has a positive mindset, great skills, and the right attitude. As soon as you develop all these things (and take action to use these traits), you’ll be much more likely to succeed as a pro musician.

Watch this video to learn more details about what music companies and bands look for in you:

(Find out if you have already developed these elements for yourself using this free music career success assessment.)

Question #2: How Can I Transform Everyday Fans Into Fanatics?

Don’t ask “how can I get more fans?” Why? The number of fans you have is very unimportant if they are all casual fans. What is a casual fan? These are people who like your music, but don’t actually buy it or support you in any way. That said, fanatical fans buy your whole catalogue, wear your band’s shirts, come to your live shows and even go as far as to get tattoos of your band’s logo. So, which group do you think helps your music career grow faster?

Once you have built a massive following of fanatical fans, they will do a lot of the promotional work for you by telling people about your music/shows and buying everything you make.

Take this free music promotion assessment to learn how to become more effective at music promotion and find out how you can transform casual fans into fanatics.

Question #3: How Can I Seamlessly Transition From My Day Job To A Career In Music?

Chances are, your family has told you to get a backup plan just in case your music career doesn’t work out.

Fact: this is one of the most common ways that musicians end up stuck at jobs they hate rather than fulfilling their dreams in the music industry. Just imagine as months, years and decades go by, watching your musical dreams go unrealized...

Good news: It is totally possible for any person to go from a day job to a massively successful music career (I know, because I’ve helped countless musicians with this). First, you just need to ask the right questions that focus your mind on the result you truly want.

Next you need to learn how to raise your income as a musician and create an exit strategy for permanently leaving your non-music job (in other words: completely replacing your job’s salary with income from your music career). Working with a music career trainer will help you achieve this goal much faster.

Question #4: What Do I Need To Do To Opportunities From Those In The Music Industry?

A lot of people get into the music business expecting companies to fall all over them will opportunities, contracts or deals because they simply exist... Of course, this is not the case, and only a tiny group of musicians ever bother asking what THEY should do in order to deserve such opportunities.

To get the best opportunities in the music business, you need to make yourself more valuable and less risky to other people and companies than anybody else.

For example: think about the challenge of getting new gigs. Frequently, musicians only think about what is in it for them (gaining a new venue to perform in) and never even contemplate what bookers and venue owners want (which is to get more people into the venue). As a result, these musicians don’t get many gigs and never figure out why.

To learn a great deal more about this subject, check out this article about getting a lot more music gigs.

Question #5: How Can I Gain Total Financial Security With My Music Career?

A lot of musicians are so afraid of going broke in the music industry that they never even try to succeed (letting go of their musical dreams in the process). Truth is, the music industry is actually a highly stable and lucrative industry to be in. Unfortunately, the majority of musicians never earn a great living for three reasons:

1. They think musicians inherently must struggle to get by. This mindset annihilates all ambition for you to earn a great living.

2. They want to find a job in the music industry as opposed to thinking of themselves as an entrepreneur.

3. They don’t develop multiple sources of music-related income, including:

-Independent: if something causes you to lose one of your income streams, other sources will still support you on their own.

-Congruent: all the income you make goes towards supporting your ultimate musical goals.

-Residual: you get paid by your income streams perpetually

-Passive: at least some of your income streams need to generate money continuously AFTER the work is done so that you don’t need to work on them every day.

By running your music career like a business and creating these streams of income, it becomes infinitely easier to make 6-figures or more annually as a musician. Most of all, being a pro musician is way more secure than working a regular day job.

Now you are aware of some of the most critical questions you should ask yourself when it comes to becoming a successful pro musician, but this is just the beginning! To find out more about the other elements needed for growing a successful music career, take this assessment about becoming a very successful pro musician.