October 25, 2021 I’m an introvert. I have to be excited about doing something in order to leave my house. So work-at-home music jobs are a godsend.
I sit on my butt, make music, and earn a consistent income doing it.
This post will introduce you to six ways to make money from music without leaving home, all of which I’ve done before.
May 6, 2021 As of 2019, over 1,500 full-time musicians were working in the U.S. The key word there is “working.” Being a professional musician is, indeed, a job. Some people take different routes to get there. But, we can probably all agree that there’s a big difference between touring the country to play nightly gigs and having jam sessions in your best friend’s garage.
However, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with that! Many musicians start as hobbyists. Some have no desire to “make it big” or turn themselves into a money-making music machine.
If you do, though, there are things you need to be aware of as you transition from hobby to business as a musician. You’ve undoubtedly heard stories about how hard it is to make it in the music industry. While those can be intimidating, they shouldn’t stop you from working toward your dreams.
Advice, Career tagged Advice, hobby, music career, professional musician June 18, 2020 When trying to decide what way your life path should take, you need to consider many factors. The first should be considering what it is that you are passionate about. While some people enjoy the sciences, others may find themselves drawn to a career in the arts. Music is often known as the universal language. It crosses language and cultural barriers to touch people in various ways. If you grew up practicing music, you might decide that a career in music fits your personal and professional aspirations.
What does it take to fulfill this desire? Take some time to explore these five fundamental ideologies to help decide if you are cut out to pursue this type of professional endeavor in one way or another.
Advice, Career tagged music career, music career advice April 17, 2020 They say go all-in.
They say quit your job and don’t give yourself a safety net, or else you won’t succeed in music.
But is that actually true? Should musicians have a backup plan?
Let’s talk about this idea of backup plans, diversifying your music career, and creating long-term goals.
April 10, 2020 Let’s face it, the music industry is going through an uncertain period right now. Venues have had to close their doors indefinitely, and artists have been forced into busking online for money. The music industry is resilient though. This isn’t the first time it has been forced to adapt to tremendous change and adversity. No one is immune to the threats of disruption, volatility, and hyper competition that exist in this industry.
March 28, 2020 If you’ve been taking your music career seriously for a long time, it’s possible that you may start feeling a bit of “burnout” at some point. No matter how much you love music, it’s sometimes important to take a step back and let yourself relax for a few weeks, months, or even longer.
Luckily, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Here are a few reasons why taking a break from music can sometimes be a pretty good idea.
Advice tagged Motivation, mental health, music career, music career success, stress February 13, 2020 I’m failing as a musician. Life is unfair.
I didn’t get that gig I wanted. The music industry hates me.
My music isn’t getting on any Spotify playlists. I can’t win!
That manager never called me back. Why doesn’t anything go my way?!
If you’ve said any of these things, join the club. This post is for you.
Advice, Career, Creativity tagged Advice, balance, music career December 17, 2018 It’s very easy to become a massively successful professional musician, guitar instructor or guitar player when you follow these three steps:
Advice, Career, Education tagged career advice, guitar, learning, music career October 26, 2017 Learning to play a musical instrument is both a challenging and rewarding hobby. Whether you favor the violin, saxophone, or guitar, becoming a master with your chosen instrument takes years of diligent practice. Therefore, creating the perfect environment to practice your art is important if you want your talent to truly flourish. Whether you live in a large home or a small apartment, it’s possible to create a suitable space for practicing music with a few simple steps.
Advice tagged DIY, instruments, music career, practice August 24, 2017 The Lean Start Up Method was first proposed in 2008 by Eric Ries the author of The Lean Startup, using his personal experiences adapting lean management principles to high-tech startup companies. The methodology is in short a way to present an idea/hypothesis to the end consumer to find the “minimum viable product” (MVP) before starting to develop a product or servie to find if there’s actually a need for the product that the end consumer is actually willing to pay for. The method has been expanded to apply to any individual, team, or company looking to introduce new products or services into the market. But how about music?
A recent course have been added to Udemy showing how to implement Lean Start Up methods into building a music career while building a fanbase. There haven’t been much content about this subject but some have touched on it such as Ryan Tanaka, Matt Shadetek and George Howard. Giving examples on how Demo’s could be called the “MVP” but often takes way to long and to much resources to be called the Lean Method. Matt gives the examples when often UK rappers made “dubplates” pressed singles to radio DJ’s to find out if it was a hit or not. That way knowing if it’s worth persuing pressing or releasing the new single.
Now with Live streaming and direct feedback with social media whould this be the new way to create music and engage with fans?
Career, Music Business tagged Startup, music career, music promotion August 17, 2016 This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids Blog
I speak for myself when I say this, but I’m sure plenty of other musicians think the same: we all want a consistent, full-time, make-a-living-off-of-music job. Whether that’s behind the scenes or center stage, being able to sustain a life off of our music would be fantastic.
July 29, 2016 Limiting your options to being only a musician is like saying you’re only going to try one instrument. The journey is the destination, and most successful musicians ended up where they are not because of their musical abilities but because of their abilities to venture into other areas of business.
Advice tagged Music, advice for musicians, music career, partnership April 21, 2016 Being a musician these days is tough! Back in the good ‘ol days, artists just had to worry about learning their craft and booking shows, hoping to get radio support along the way that could eventually get you signed to a label. But today things have gotten a bit more complicated. But with every challenge there always lies opportunity. This opportunity is that we now have more access to information than ever before–information is knowledge. Now all the barriers of entry only large record labels knew about are out there in the open. With a bit of research and time, we know the industry works and we know how musicians can make money in it.
February 17, 2016 Being the top of any given field can be hugely advantageous for people who are looking to build a serious career. This applies to every field, but it is especially important when it comes to music education. If you are someone who has finished an undergraduate music program and are considering whether or not to try for a master’s degree, there are a number of reasons why you should.
Music Education tagged degree, job, music career, music program, teaching, teaching music