I have developed a set of music industry “secrets.” These “secrets” are designed to develop positive behavior, so do not expect a ton of tactical talk. Strategy will be the ultimate takeaway. In each shared “secret,” I am going to give ideas that should help you make the right changes toward a substantial music career. Be sure you check out the previous “secrets” of “Be Yourself”, “Reach Out”, “Listen” and “Have Humility” on FryinginVein.com before reading this.
By definition, there are two ways you can interpret integrity. Regardless of whether we are talking unfettered completeness or moral soundness, having integrity is crucial to succeeding in life - period. In this piece, I will list key actions you can do to increase your level of integrity in your music career.
When you are a person with integrity, you are a person that people can trust. You are someone that can be depended upon to do what you say you are going to do. That is where the “completeness” ties into the definition, so for the first key action:
To paraphrase Scarface, “all [you] have is in this world is [your name] and your word.” Therefore, if you say you are going to do something, do it! If you commit to band practice during the most antipated football game of the year, then you need to be at band practice. Hopefully, you are recording it on your DVR (LOL). Digression aside, your name is connected to your actions. Every time you do not deliver on your word, you decrease your dependability. This is simple stuff, but it is amazing how often we forget how important it is.
The best policy to get good at follow-through is, cut back on commitments. You do not have to do everything. The less you assume for yourself, the easier it will be to tackle the important obligations you do have. Consider that in your local music scene. Don’t mark “attending” on Facebook, if you know you cannot go. Stop saying “we are work on something together,” unless you really mean it. When you free up your life of unnecessary empty promises, you can be totally present for the events that matter.
There will be moments when you will not be able to do what you said you would and IT IS OKAY. It is better to confess to a failure than not acknowledging it. We all make mistakes, so trust that people will understand that and give them closure.
That “get 25000 Twitter followers in 24 hours” offer looks awefully tantalizing, but think about the platform for a second. Your personal account requires you to manually follow people. What makes you think that the “followers” that you are going to get are going to be willing participants? Sure, it will only cost you a few bucks/pounds/euros, but is it worth it? The actual answer is NO from a logistics standpoint, but even moreso it is totally void in the moral space.
If you do not know enough about something to understand the good and the bad of it, then you should not engage in it - simple and plain.
In Conclusion, TRUST = VALUE
The keys that are given in this article will set you a part from the pack. If you make it easy on everyone by being an upstanding individual, then you can expect the bonus nod of approval more often than not.
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Hubert is the founder of FiV Music Business Services - a SorSaw Enterprises, LLC company. If you want to build a sustainable career in music, then subscribe to his blog for helpful information. You can contact him directly at learn [at] fryinginvein dot com.