Why Very Few People Become Highly Successful Professional Musicians

Why Very Few People Become Highly Successful Professional Musicians

by Tom Hess

Want to become a professional musician so you can start doing the things you always dreamed of such as recording in the studio or touring around the world? Are you sick and tired of working a crappy day job that does nothing to help you reach this goal? I know where you are coming from... I used to be in the exact same situation.

First thing is first: you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, get up and start taking action to become the professional musician you should be!

One of the best ways to build some momentum for your music career is to emulate the practices of Olympic athletes. If you’ve been watching the Olympics recently, you’ve probably observed how in many games nearly all of the athletes are very similar in skill and intensity. However, the difference between getting a gold medal and no place at all usually comes down to fractions of a second (if it is a racing event for instance) or other small measurements.

When someone wins in the Olympics, they are showered with praise and gifts from the people of their home country (as well as from newfound fans around the world). This leads the person to get extensive media coverage, gain profitable endorsement deals and receive many additional opportunities to further his/her career. But what about those who don’t get a medal? These athletes come away with the satisfaction of being able to ‘participate’ in the Olympics, but completely miss out on all the other benefits I mentioned above. As you can imagine, this is extremely frustrating for someone who has trained for years in order to achieve the single goal of winning a medal.

Like these athletes, you have spent many years to work on your music career. You have very specific musical goals you would like to achieve through your efforts. You do not want to have spent all that time working to reach your music career goals only to end up with a career in some industry completely unrelated to music while others accomplish all the things you wanted to do for yourself. To avoid this worst case scenario, you have to take action to make yourself the absolute best musician for success in the industry. This is NOT something that someone will do for you... no one will suddenly knock on your door because they heard you playing music and immediately sign you to a record deal.

You might be thinking: “What do I need to do to set myself apart from everyone else so I can get all the biggest music career opportunities?” The answer is NOT simply becoming a better ‘musician’ than everyone else. Truth is, musicians who are the most talented are not necessarily the ones who get the most opportunities from music companies. Instead, to put yourself on top of the list above everyone else you must develop a total understanding of how to deliver ‘high value’ while eliminating the ‘risks’ you present for others when they work with you.

You need to understand that all musicians (including yourself) bring various levels of risk to the table whenever they work together with other people in the music industry (music companies, band members, managers, etc.). The worst way to ‘shoot yourself in the foot’ is to be unaware of this. By being unaware of the risks you bring to the table, you will –in turn- be unaware of how to make yourself more valuable to those you want to work with. This all goes WAY beyond just the music you play or songs you write.

Of course, if you don’t yet know these things about yourself, this is completely understandable. Why? There simply do not exist any resources where you could learn more information about this topic. This is a very specific subject that has to do with your own unique personality, career situation and musical goals. The things that are valuable or risky when it comes to working together with you are completely different in relation to working with someone else. You must become familiar with exactly what you offer in terms of risk or reward in any specific situation. It’s for this reason that I am not simply publishing a long, extensive list of ‘risks and values’ for you to look through.

To understand this better, think about the Olympian athletes I mentioned above. These athletes face extreme levels of competition where the difference between one athlete’s skills and the skills of another is very small. When one athlete is off by even the tiniest degree in his/her training or mental preparation, this person will end up going home without a medal. That’s why the most successful Olympians do not train by themselves. Instead, they work together with a coach who will consistently keep them performing at the highest level possible so that they do not ‘slip up’ when it is time to compete. By working with a coach, the athlete not only is able to compete at a higher level, but is able to quickly correct any fundamental flaws that would keep them from reaching their goals (something that they simply couldn’t do on their own).

The musicians who become the most successful in the music industry all use coaches in this same manner. Just like Olympic athletes, you will struggle to correct all the errors in your thinking and preparation if you try to do everything by yourself. Fact is, there are so many musicians who are just a step away from achieving great success, but are unable to see a key mental error that is keeping them from fulfilling their full potential. Only the musicians who work with coaches or mentors are able to spot any fundamental mistakes they are making in order to rise above the rest. These are the musicians who reach the greatest success in this industry.

Learn more about working with music career coach in this article about developing a successful music career .

Moral of the story: if you are serious about becoming a professional musician and succeeding in the music industry, don’t take the same approach as most musicians by trying to do it alone. Locate a music industry mentor who has tons of experience helping musicians succeed in their careers. Don’t be content with merely ‘participating’ in your music career, find a coach and get the gold medal!

Find out how a music career trainer will help you become a highly successful professional musician by filling out this free music business resource .