Make music professionally. That is something a lot of people have on their list of new years resolutions. Some even year after year.
And still, the courage to make music professionally takes more than new years resolutions. However, the coronavirus has us all in lockdown at home.
This is crazy, many people start having another perspective on their lives. For some, it may even have been a welcome distraction from their real self.
All of a sudden, we are collectively in a time of extremes. For one thing, an extreme situation can lead to self-reflection and catharsis.
For this reason, musical people come to the conclusion that now is the perfect time to make music professionally!
Top ten tips on how to make music professionally
- Find your reason, your north star. What does that mean? That means that you should pin down why you are doing music. In order to make music professionally, you have to have a very strong certainty. The music industry is a very competitive field. You will need to do a lot of convincing. However, first, you really need to be convinced yourself! Selling music is not different than any old product. If you want to sell it you have to really be sure that your product is the best.
Find your why!
- Figure out the absolute best and brutal practising scheme. Now: you have to see practising as part of your new job.
Even the nicest job comes with a drawback here and there. In order to make music professionally, you have to see it as your professional job! As any football player, ballerina or dancer will tell you. You need to work your body in order to become better. Becoming a musician is no exception. Many folks are under the impression that in order to make it in the music industry, you have to look good. However, before you invest some hard earn cash into a stylist. Invest the time into your practising scheme. In my humble opinion, having blisters on the fingers is still the best look!
Perhaps you want to look into starting a podcast?
- Learn about music law and copyright! As I said before, the music industry is based on selling it actually. The digital transformation is changing this big time. However, the music business used to be a massive manufacturing industry. And to some extent still runs like this. Important to realise, every manufacturing industry has a base product that it is built on. No matter if you sell cars in the car manufacturing business or potatoes as a farmer. Here’s the kicker: you probably think that the base product here is CDs or Vinyl. However, the actual base product is copyright law! This is the absolute basic of everything that runs in the music industry. If you want to run your career on a professional level, learn about music law as much as possible!
Don’t mix copyright and copywrite
- Make songwriting a daily habit. Going on from copyright comes songwriting. This is your base product. In other words, your songwriting can pay your rent. If you write great songs. In order to do that, you first have to write really bad songs. However, if you write 5 bad songs a week, chances are you can pull off one good one at the end of the week. What’s the bottom line? If you make songwriting a daily habit, it becomes an almost natural process. It is just the same as trying to amp up your fitness game. First, you might struggle but if you plan it out in your calendar it becomes easier. The same goes for music, treat as the most important task of the day!
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- Network till the cows come home! Wanna learn a secret? The music industry is based on personal connections. Make this a priority from an early point in time of your career. Go to artist meet-ups, networking events, open mic sessions. Do collaboration in order to meet other musicians. Learn about doing an elevator pitch. Yes, that also works for musicians! If someone on an event asks you how your music sounds, you should be able to answer with a precise description.
Starting to make music professionally does not come easy but is really rewarding
I know, starting to make music professionally isn’t always easy. No matter what the media will tell you.
Those musicians in the charts and in the magazines are only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many musicians underneath that pole positions.
However, that does not mean that you can’t have a go at it. At the end of the day, the music business is not a set thing.
It is ever-changing and in constant need for more music. Especially written by women and female-identifying people!
Perhaps those crazy corona times are just the right moment to challenge yourself. I won’t tell you how to optimise your life right now.
Also, I really don’t care how tidy your closet is. Nor how many languages you’ve learned since lockdown started.
The only thing I really care about is that you become happy. And if you are a musician by heart, then go and make music professionally. Nothing will make you as happy as music!