Let's face it.
The music business can be a tough nut to crack.
It can be discouraging at times.
If you don't have really thick skin it can be very easy to second guess yourself.
I'm sure you've all heard stories about how bands like the Beatles were turned down by a gazillion record labels before they signed their first deal.
Basically every artist who has succeeded in the music industry has a story that is a variation of this story.
You are inevitably going to be facing lots of obstacles on your path to success.
Why is this and what can you do about it? Well first let's look at the obvious.
There are, simply put, a lot of musicians trying to "make it" in the music business.
There are several MILLION bands on MySpace alone.
Of course a lot of those bands aren't very good..
..
but I'm digressing.
There is a lot of competition.
But if you love making music and you're passionate about it I don't think you should let that slow you down one bit.
Music is personal and although there are a lot artists making music no one is making the music that you make.
And the more you cultivate your craft the more true this becomes.
And a lot of the competition will simply quit and resign themselves to working in a cubicle for the rest of their lives.
Sad but true.
OK.
So you accept that there is a lot of competition and you're not going to let that stop you.
Now what? Well there are two things you can do consistently that if you keep doing will take you as far as you can conceivably go, in time of course.
Are you ready? The first thing you should do, on a regular basis, is educate yourself about the music business.
This should seem pretty obvious.
If you want to succeed in the music business you need to know how the music business works - how things happen.
The path to success in this industry has a lot of variables but there are overlapping elements that exist in almost all success stories.
What are those elements? Well you should think about this and come up with your own list.
But obviously exposure is a big one.
If no one is exposed to your music no one is going to know you exist in the first place! So start thinking about how you can generate more exposure.
There are lots of ways.
I focus on music licensing as an avenue to generate more exposure.
This is a great path to pursue because you can pursue licensing deals from anywhere, regardless of age or image, and it also happens to pay well too! You need money to stay in the game.
But there are certainly other avenues for generating exposure.
I've shared several success stories of artists who marketed themselves creatively and generated a lot of press and CD sales as a result of their marketing strategies.
Hopefully these stories have provided some inspiration.
Be as creative with your marketing as you are with your music! Next, you need to take the education and strategies that you've armed yourself with and implement what you've learned.
Then, and this is key, celebrate every success you have along the way.
Success breeds more success.
At the risk of sounding all new agey and woo woo I can't emphasize this enough.
When you start having success you will find ways to create more success and when you shift your focus to your victories, as opposed to your obstacles, you'll feel much more empowered and you'll create the momentum you need to keep going.
So if you want to start licensing your music get started by taking action every day.
Make a new contact, pick up the phone, work on a new track, read my newsletter, network with other songwriters, submit your music to different places, etc...
If you take action in this way every day things will start to happen.
It worked this way for me when I first started licensing my own music and I'm currently going through the same process with my new music marketing company.
If you build it they really will come.
Well..
..
if you build it well.