MUSIC INDUSTRY
What every artist needs to know
Knowing more about the music industry than music theory is far more important.
Overview
The artist's point of view
Whenever we talk about the music industry or the music business as artists, it means something completely different than when we speak about it from a business perspective.
As artists, we are often considered to be the face of the product being presented to an audience. Although it may sound appealing, our position in the music business is not easy.
The reality is that many artists fail to recognize their position within the industry, and they end up becoming trapped by it, blaming music as an evil force or the industry as a whole as the reason for this.
There is no doubt that this could turn into a nightmare for some. However, the chances of this happening are quite slim if one understands their position in it and uses it to his advantage, or if one simply stays away from it and seeks other ways of achieving a better quality of life.
Rather than concentrating on what’s in it for businesses, this course will focus on what’s in it for artists, and we will not get distracted by information that is not relevant to our position.
In Simple Terms
What is the music industry?
The music industry consists of a wide range of businesses and organizations.
A $50 billion industry worldwide. It is basically every business that is involved in the process of signing up an artist, recording their music all the way to the point of selling their music to consumers around the world, and everything in between.
But just like any other industry, it has both bad and not so bad sides. As a result, it has developed a reputation for being harsh, direct, and extremely strict when it comes to doing what is necessary in order to see the results it seeks.
By simply understanding that there is a large amount of money involved in the music industry, it is important to know that it could either be a means of making an artist successful or it could completely end their career.
As an artist, it is important to know the core of what the industry is like, but you should focus more on how it could benefit or hurt you in the future.
Let’s move forward and make our way through it as artists as we learn the steps necessary to become successful.
The Music Business
It's all about understanding the business side of music
The world within a world
As someone who has been involved in the music business for quite a while, I can speak from experience.
The majority of musicians are misled into thinking that having the best skills or reading plenty of books about music theory equates to success, but in reality, this is not the case. Many musicians have succeeded by simply understanding how it works and why.
Most likely you have seen this phenomenon in which talented and skilled musicians are unable to find success no matter what they do. In contrast, there are musicians who become superstars out of nowhere and achieve some of the highest levels of success with virtually no noticeable skills compared to others.
How do you explain that? – Why are they not successful?
The answer is quite simple and straightforward, but somehow it seems as if for some weird reason, what these gifted musicians resist is the simple truth of the matter.
Our perception of what is good does not always translate into sales. The music business is in it to make a profit.
If the style of music we like or are good at does not sell from a business standpoint, you will not be considered as valuable as you would hope.
If you do not provide value through your music, your skills are meaningless. The facts don’t lie. Facts and data stats are the language of the world. Regardless of what we think, that’s where the world expresses what it considers valuable and what it doesn’t. It’s not your fault, and it’s not the world’s fault either. Embrace the facts.
Success will remain an illusion as long as we resist the facts.
Let’s forget about the business side of this for now, and see what we as artists should do in order to succeed.
There is no need, by understanding the business side of music, that we have to learn the business management side of it, we just need to understand what is considered valuable and what is not.
A Harsh Reality
Embrace the harsh reality
Feelings could make your hard work appear insignificant
Musicians often fall for the emotional side of things. Their situation prevents them from rising and becoming successful. There are some who are passionate about a particular genre, or a certain style of music, and they put their heart and soul into it only to later realize that the world does not support it as much as they had hoped.
Almost every artist has faced this, including some at the very top at the moment.
There are many guitarists who end up becoming jazz players or other types of music styles that allow them to show off their skills. Additionally, they expect the world to treat them like artists in the pop or hip hop genres.
In this business, you must always remain open-minded since it fluctuates very frequently. In a few years, what works today might not work anymore.
If we fail to do the proper research about what lies ahead for us a few years down the road, we might find ourselves in a situation that we didn’t intend to be in, in which it would appear that we have wasted our time.
If you’ve worked on a specific music style or genre because you enjoy it, but you’re expecting results from someone who’s working on a totally different style or genre, you’re not being realistic.
The music business doesn’t care about these things. If the genre or style of music you’re producing has limits, you may feel that success is far from possible regardless of how talented you are.
It is important to embrace reality. Try to adjust regardless of how you feel, and don’t let your emotions get in the way.
The problem with most musicians is that they simply fail to come up with a way to do this without blaming the world and the industry.
It is important to know that music styles are manipulated by the music industry to serve an agenda, making other music styles harder to find. This means that when the industry finds a reason to elevate a new genre to put out messages through music to the masses, other music styles suddenly lose their popularity.
However, this doesn’t always occur worldwide. The situation may only exist in a certain region or country.
If you play rock music in a region where pop and hip hop dominate, your chances of success are slim. If this is the case, you should research the areas which hold your style of music as some of the most popular ones and consider relocating if possible.
The fact that some of the most successful people have relocated is no accident.
Top Music Genres
Popular music genres
Facts and data stats are the language of the world.
Trends in music
There are a number of charts that can be found on the web that show the trends in music genres either globally or country-wise so that we can see where the ears and eyes of the current world are pointing, regardless of how they are being influenced, through social platforms, radio or television.
There are some artists that are so close-minded that they expect to see the same results that some of the most popular genres will give even when their own genre does not gain much popularity at all. There is no doubt that this is the primary reason why we see some very talented guitar players on social platforms that do not seem to have achieved the level of success they are likely to have hoped for.
I am not suggesting that every musician who wants to succeed drastically changes the way they make music to be in line with the latest styles of music available. However, these charts present a true picture of what is happening in the current industry. Refusing to acknowledge the facts will lead to you failing in the long run.
It should be noted that these trend charts will vary depending on the country or region of the world.
Pop
Rock
Electronic
Soundtracks
Hip-Hop / Rap
World
Children
Jazz
Classic
...
It is at this point that the path to success can be seen, yet it is ultimately your decision as to whether or not to follow it.
Dark Side Of The Industry
Dark side of the industry
Just like any other industry, it has both bad and not so bad sides.
The music industry is known for being harsh on its artists. One of the most important things that artists must have clear and concise from the very beginning is that they must know how the music industry sees them. Nothing else but the face of a product that will be presented to the public.
There are some people that have achieved success already end up being lured by greed and fame and end up signing up for deals that are beyond their control.
Having a solid understanding of what success is and how it relates to the industry will help you avoid being a victim of the nightmare side of this industry. We will be focusing our attention on success as a guitarist and also we will cover how to combine these two topics so that we fully understand how to use them for our benefit.
In reality, this is not something to take lightly. Many bands or artists who may have had a good chance of getting ahead usually make the mistake of signing a record deal without the help of their legal representation. The artists usually lose out on these deals, but the business side usually ends up doing very well.
Once you understand what success means and how you see it from your perspective, you’ll be able to use this information to your advantage.
There will not be any dictionary or article able to describe what really goes into it better than those who have experienced the good and bad of it for themselves.
TASK
Talent is everywhere. The fact that some of that talent will most likely go unnoticed due to the facts covered in this lesson is a real phenomenon.
Trends in music
Find out which genres of music are currently the most popular in the world and in your country or region. Then find out who the top artists are in each genre.
There is no need to make this list completely accurate since the information keeps changing all the time. This will just give you an idea of what all these artists have in common, what kind of music they’re making, and what makes them stand out.
Thumbs up when you're done with this task
Trust The Process
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