5 Crucial Factors You Have To Consider Before Moving To NY Or LA For Your Music Career

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids blog.

Every musician wants to base him or herself in buzzing surroundings that promote plentiful opportunities for creative collaboration. Therefore, it’s no surprise that many artists who aren’t from major cities around the country have lofty aspirations of hitting it big and moving to Los Angeles or New York City. Yet all of the motivation or talent in the world cannot hide the reality that not every artist is ready to make this next step. There are multiple factors in play that are necessary for every artist to put into perspective before making such a momentous decision. So before you pack your bags with visions of accomplishing all of your wildest dreams, be sure that you refer to this list and are honest with yourself by evaluating each factor when determining whether or not you’re primed to make the big move.

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Want To Get In The Industry? Become An Audio Engineer

The dream of being a rock star eludes most of us. Fortunately, you can work and succeed in the music industry. Being an audio engineer, you can have a huge impact on recording, mixing, editing, and much more.

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MusicThinkTank.com | October's Most Popular Posts

MusicThinkTank.com takes great pride in being a renowned resource for all who comprise today’s music industry. We appreciate the conversations you start, the advice you share, the projects you promote, and the feedback you share and we want to encourage your continued efforts.

Thanks to our loyal readers and contributors, October was a great month for MusicThinkTank.com - so today, we’d like to share that success with you by highlighting October’s most popular posts. On behalf of MusicThinkTank.com, thank you for your support. We enjoy providing a unique platform where the music industry really can think out loud!

Laura Schneider, MusicThinkTank.com Community Manager

34,708   MTT (Journal) 4,685   MTT - 49 Ways to Get Free Music Promotion (Journal Entry) 4,606   MTT Open - 10 Awesome Independent Record Labels [LIST] (Journal Entry) 3,967   MTT - A&R Tips: The Art Of The Press Kit (Journal Entry) 3,755   MTT - Top 10 Rules For Better Songwriting (Journal Entry)

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1 Important Music Business Skill You REALLY Need To Learn

Hey guys. Today I want to look at one very important music business skill that will greatly benefit you in your quest for a ‘successful’ music career. We all have our own idea of what success is, but if to you it involves getting known on a wider scale then you already are, the below strategy will definitely help.

I’ve already looked at three other essential business skills for musicians, but this additional skill is just as important, if not more so. You should use it alongside the others for a more professional and faster moving music career.

So, let’s have a look at what the subject of today’s guide is:

Leveraging other people and platforms who currently command more influence than you.

With that in mind, let’s get into it!

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The Most Underrated Things in a Musician’s Career

A few weeks ago, I posted about The Most overrated Things in a Musician’s Career. Due to some requests, I’ve decided to write about the most underrated things that we often don’t think about or use to the fullest extent. Like my previous article, there are a number of things that depend some time or commitment. However, unlike the “overrated” list, these are all things that you can probably never have too much of.

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It's all who you know?

When you hear, “It’s all who you know,” it sounds so intimidating - like you need to be a former roommate of Mark Zuckerburg, cousins with Richard Branson, and dating Taylor Swift.

But simply contacting a stranger can lead to a worldwide network of connections.

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10 Questions Artists Should Ask Themselves at the Beginning of Their Careers (To Increase their Chances of Success)

Every young artist has their reasons for working hard at their music, yet so rarely do they ever define these reasons to themselves, bandmates, and their team. Some reflective thinking and sharing could lead to a great deal of clarity when running your business (well, band). I’ve seen success get in the way of an artist’s core values and goals too many times. Sure, goals are allowed to change and augment, as circumstances do, but too often do great goals get lost, and that bands fold on the brink of their success, and abandon everything they have worked so hard for. Thinking about these questions and sharing the answers with your team might be hard, but it could help bring you back to what’s important OR save you from wasting your time with the wrong team, and pursuing your career aimlessly in different directions that will never connect.

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There is No Magic Formula For Success

The urge to believe there is a magic formula for success, and that it can be deduced from studying past hits, is powerful. Strategic Communications Group CEO Mark Hausman believes he has distilled The 3 Hallmarks of Exceptional Content. Columnist Marcel Williams is convinced he knows The Essential Features of a Hit Record. Using the so-called Nickels Paradox, we show the fallacy of such beliefs, how correlation with the past seldom predicts future success.

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8 Steps To A More Successful Music Career In 2013 (Free Ebook Download)

Hey my Music Think Tank gang, I hope you had a good new year. That said, the turkey’s done, and it’s time to pull sleeves up and get our music business grind back on!

With that in mind, I’ve written up a guide for anyone looking for some motivation and a way to move their music career forward this year. What’s more, I’ve made it available as a free (And very pretty) ebook for you to download!

So start reading this guide below, and if you feel it could be helpful to you and want to read the rest, simply click the ebook link at the bottom of this post and download the full version.

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Focus = Independent Artist Success OR Failure…

Do you ever feel like modern society is like a million screaming kids with A.D.D. unleashed at a Chuckie Cheese?

We’re just bouncing off the walls, interrupting each other, there’s no order, we just go and fling ourselves into the next unconsciously interesting experience…

A successful artist was just an artist who did the right things, the right way, and didn’t quit.

I’ve never met a dumb musician. Seriously.

So is it the structure, the discipline, or the determination?

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How to avoid serious mistakes when choosing an agent

Role of an Agent

If you want to succeed as a live act in the music industry, you will likely need an agent. Agents strive to find great gigs for their clients at good venues and earn a nice commission in the process. Although they are also often involved in commercials, television events, tour sponsorship and other areas, music agents don’t generally have quite the same status or influence as those in the film business. This article contains some useful information on selecting the right agent for you.

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How To Make Your Music Career Highly Profitable And Sustainable

If you hold the belief that it is ‘wrong’ to try to make money with your musical talents, do not read any further…simply close this page now.

For those of you who have decided to continue reading….welcome. Fact is, the majority of musicians want to have a career in music. However, these musicians also doubt their abilities to make good money in music, and fear that they will not be able to support themselves. Unfortunately, these people end up pursuing non-music jobs where they work full time and despise every time they go to clock in. This is all done out of the idea that a ‘normal job’ is safe and secure, while a music related career is highly risky with little security. This is one of the very most common misconceptions that I see ALL THE TIME while training musicians to succeed in their careers!

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Don't Act Like an Amateur Band

A while ago, I wrote a piece about The Unspoken Rules of How to Treat a Touring Band. Basically, it was some rules on courtesy between bands show share a gig. After going on a few more tours myself, I wanted to share some additional advice on how to make shows run a little more smoothly and how you can be a little more professional in your gigging.

Here are some assorted tips on the pro’s do it:

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Are you reflecting on your goals as an artist?

The success of large Japanese manufacturing companies is largely attributed to the Eastern culture of reflection and open-mindedness. The leaders who design the future of companies like Toyota spend a great deal of time reflecting on the past and future – something that is not as highly valued in Western culture - where ‘action’ is the so called key to success.

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