5 Facts Every Musician Should Know About

We’re all indebted to someone for one reason or the other.

10:53 23 December 2019

But there are certain people that we are all indebted to –– the musicians that have made our lives just a little bit easier with their music. It is a fact that music is one of the best companions a person could ever ask for, and we should be grateful for the number of times a song made us feel a little better when we were at our worst. The people who make this music are ordinary people like you and me, but they have been blessed with a gift. 

If you have that gift and are considered to delve into that world, there are some facts that you should know about. 

You can’t make it on your own

If there’s on the undisputed fact, in the music industry, it is the fact that you cannot make it on your own, and no one can. Behind every successful artist you know is a team of experts to help them manage their finances, marketing, distribution and labelling, and even their looks. It is a cutthroat industry and without help, you will be lost and directionless. This is why it is important to surround yourself with experienced people that can help you achieve success, because it is not just about talent. A lot of people have that, but very few actually make it and become household names. 

Your gear matters

Believe it or not, a musician is as good as the gear they are using. You can’t hope to sell out a stadium while using a 100-dollar guitar; it just won’t happen. If you really want to make it, you need to invest in getting the right equipment for your music. The reviews by Merely Music show the difference between a good instrument and a great one –– which pretty much tells us the difference between a good musician and a great one, too. You are basically investing in your career and your future, so don’t go buying the cheap stuff. It is always a sound idea to get the best gear your money can buy, and it will make a huge difference in your career. 

Music sales aren’t what they used to be

This is perhaps the trickiest part of the music industry. Music sales aren’t what they used to be, because anybody can download free albums whenever they want, which doesn’t exactly benefit the artists. This is something you need to take into consideration if you plan on becoming an independent artist, because your record sales might not be enough to sustain you. In this day and age, it’s the live shows and merchandise that really count. Coldplay made over $500 million dollars off their ‘a head full of dream tour!’ So, you need to be well prepared for the fact that you might not generate much money from album sales. 

Not every talented musician makes it

Picking up from the last point, musicians are divided into two types: those that are in it for the money, and those who are in it for the art and because it’s what they love. You need to understand that there is a very strong possibility that you won’t make it big and you won’t make millions of dollars off your tours. But it is not impossible either. After all, all the big names you know started small, for the most part. Still, the odds of that happening are not very likely, and you need to get into this world fully knowing that. Is quitting your job to make music the right call? Do you want to make music for the sake of making it, or do you care about sales and will consider quitting if it doesn’t work out? These are all questions that you should answer early on. 

Record labels still count 

While we live in a digital age where there are dozens of alternatives for musicians starting out, record labels still count. Those other options won’t necessarily work with any musician, and signing up with a record label might just do you a world of good. True, they have a reputation for being greedy and trying to scam artists out of their hard-earned money, but not all are like that. It is definitely an angle you should explore because you never know what might help your name become known. 

 

You see those musicians on TV and music videos and you assume it is an easy industry to get into, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The competition is fierce and it’s a brutal world, and success is far from guaranteed. These are all the things you need to fully comprehend before venturing into the music world.