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99.9% Of You Will NEVER "Make It"

3/22/2017

14 Comments

 
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​I’ve known and met a LOT of musicians in the last 20 plus years of working in the music business.  If you factor in all the musicians I knew from way back in my Berklee days, to the bands I played in and hung out with in my Chicago days, to the musicians I’ve met and interacted with via my website, I would estimate I’ve met at least 1,000 musicians over the years.  That’s a lot of musicians!  In fact, it’s a large enough sample size that I think can draw some fairly statistically sound conclusions about musicians and the likelihood of “making it” in the music business.

Of all the musicians I’ve met and interacted with over the years, I know of only one musician who I would describe as having “made it”, for a time.  It was actually my former lead singer of a band I played in from 1999 to 2002, Joshua Scott Jones.  He moved to Nashville after the band we were in together broke up, formed a country duo called “Steel Magnolia”, went on the CMT reality tv show called “Can You Duet?” with his singing partner in 2009, I believe, and won.  First place. 

As a result of their exposure on Can You Duet, for a time “Steel Magnolia” was riding high.  They had two top 20 country singles.  They toured arenas opening for artists like Reba McEntire, Brooks and Dunn and the like.  They were nominated for several Country Music Awards. They appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. They were signed to Big Machine Records, the same label as Taylor Swift. 

Their success continued for a couple years.  Then problems ensued.  My former singer, Josh, had drug and alcohol problems that forced him to leave a tour with Steel Magnolia to go into rehab.  Problems developed between Josh and his singing partner, Meghan, who he was also dating and engaged to.  They ended up breaking up.  They were subsequently dropped from their label, Big Machine.  They both went their separate ways and although they have both had limited success on their own, neither of them have been able to achieve the success they experienced together, individually.

I can think of one other musician, out of the 1,000 or so that I’ve met over the years that has had a relatively successful career as a songwriter.  This particular person, the artist Bleu, that I crossed paths with a bit during my Berklee days, has written songs for a lot of well known artists like The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Hanson and the like.  He tried to launch a successful solo career early on, and although immensely talented as a writer and performer, his career never fully took off.  He’s opened up for artists like Jon Mayer and Train over the years, and was signed to a subsidiary of Colombia Records, but for reasons I don’t fully understand, it just never quite happened, at least in a major way.

The music business is a fickle business, achieving what most of us would consider “mainstream success” is something most of us will probably never achieve.  I don’t say that to discourage you or get you down, it’s just a statistical fact.  It’s pretty hard to argue with statistics and facts.

However, I’m also here to say that it doesn’t matter.  In fact, I think this whole obsession with trying to “make it” and reach a certain level of notoriety and fame that we associate with success is actually what prevents many of us from ever actually achieving real, sustainable success. 

Let me explain…

I think a lot of us, as musicians, have a sort of preconceived idea of what success in the music business looks like, or that we think should look like.  Most of us started pursuing our dream of “making it” in the music business at a young age. I was 12 years old when I started playing guitar and daydreaming about becoming a rock star!  We often start pursuing music from a fairly naïve, inexperienced place.   When I was 12, for example, I loved the idea of being a rock star.  Who doesn’t fantasize about things like becoming a rock star or a famous actor or celebrity?  These sorts of goals seem to be part of our collective consciousness.  Most of us have some version of this fantasy during our adolescent years.

As we grow up and move into adulthood, most people decide to “grow up” and pursue more traditional and stable ways of making a living.  Some of us though, decide to go for it and chase our dreams.  People like myself, and I’m assuming people like you if you’re reading this.  A few more years go by and most of us don’t “make it”, because let’s face it, it turns out to be much harder than we thought it would be and as I’ve already pointed out, statistically it’s simply very unlikely.  The odds were against us going into this.

However, maybe if you associate with enough musicians, you see one or two people that actually do, through a combination of talent and being in the right place at the right time, go on to “make it”.  Then you think to yourself, it really is possible and so you decide to keep going for it.  But, deep down, you feel discouraged that you haven’t gone farther, and you can’t help but to compare yourself to those who seem further down the road than you are. 

All this comparing ourselves to other people and wishing we were somewhere else ends up slowing us down.  Instead of loving the process of becoming better at our craft, we obsess about why we’re not “bigger” or “more successful” than we are.  Instead of falling in love with the journey, we end up hating the fact that our journey is still unfolding.  We long for our journey to end, or at least to lead us to a better place.  We want to get to our destination already.

What started out as something we loved doing, making music, turns into something we end up despising, trying to “make it”.  As we feel the abyss grow between where we are and where we think we should be, we grow resentful.  The joy we used to feel when we picked up our guitar, or sit down at the piano, or sing, starts to fade.  We start to associate something we were once passionate about with a feeling of failure and negativity.

This is the part of the journey, where most musicians just throw in the towel and resign themselves to the fact that they’ll never “make it”.  It just wasn’t in the cards they think.  They went for it, they tried, but it didn’t happen when or how they thought it should, so they decide to give up.  I know this part of the journey, because I’ve been there.

But there’s another possible realization, one that I eventually reached, which is the realization that you can keep going.  You can realize that although time does fly, life is actually pretty long and you still have time, so you get back to focusing on what you can actually control, the effort and dedication you put into your craft.  You can realize that for 99.99% of us, there are really only two elements at play that really make a difference that we can actually control and influence; effort and talent. 

Just like most businesses don’t unfold in the same way that Facebook or Google did, most artists won’t break onto the scene the same way Justin Beiber or Miley Cyrus did.  And that’s ok.  Most successful businesses are built on years of blood, sweat and tears.  The same is true for most truly successful music careers.  Most of us will never be an “overnight success”.   Most of us will have to fight for whatever success we attain. To me, this is true success.  Success that just luckily falls into your lap isn’t true success, it’s luck.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been very lucky.

This blog post was inspired, in part, by Gary Vaynerchuck and the following video:

​If you want an amazing dose of no holds barred, in your face motivation, be sure to check out Gary’s channel.  Great stuff!
14 Comments
Devin
3/23/2017 07:02:48 am

Powerful. There will come a time when you feel like stopping or quitting. You will feel like everything is going against you and nothing is working. You've tried and tried but nothing is happening. You aren't feeling passionate anymore. You become impatient and start second guessing everything... THAT my friends, is the most important time of your life. At that moment, you will literally have to decide whether you walk away from everything, or you just go for it! That moment is what makes you a winner or a quitter.... If you are experiencing this, go for it. Win! Everyone goes through tough times, everyone struggles, and not everyone will make it on there first try, but just go for it! Your success is on the other side.

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Cowboyslim link
3/23/2017 07:25:51 am

If your intention is to make a career out of music, your intention is misplaced. If you are honest with yourself, you cannot be fooled by the many predators waving red flags in your face. Your intention must be pure. Your expectation should only include enjoying what you do. If you are only in it for the money or the fame or glory, you need to be honest with yourself and find some kind of gainful employment. 99.99%? You, sir, are an optimist.
The only good reason for being a musician is this: you love to make music. Anything that comes from your efforts at making music, ANYTHING AT ALL, is gravy. Go in with expectations of anything else and prepare to be disappointed.

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Stardust
3/23/2017 07:29:57 am

Super relevant and oh so true. Very inspiring and we should do our best to spread this truth!

Just go for it. Life is short and if you love what you are doings, well this is true success.

Thanks Aaron. You really make a difference out there and it is greatly appreciated 😊

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Jonnymel link
3/23/2017 07:32:59 am

I've been playing music, writing and performing since I was 14, sustained myself and am raising two sons. I've already made it. I'm 66 years old. Doing what you want to do and not letting the world tell you what you should be doing is success. If you're playing music just for money or for some other off base reason, quit, and create room for the next wave of artists.

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Richard link
3/23/2017 08:23:07 am

I thought this was a really salutary article.

Over the years, I've had people say to me, "I don't understand why you aren't further ahead with your career,´ not about music, which I came to seriously only at the age of almost fifty, but about other creative efforts along the way.

Like you, I feel I've worked hard and not had a lot of easy breaks. But my sense of success comes from the feeling that I've gone my own way, without sucking up to anybody, and that even at my vast age of sixty-one, anything is still possible.

Comparison with others is meaningless, although in our society we do it all the time. In particular, where those who have achieved the conventional idea of "success" are concerned, we have absolutely no inkling of what they have given up along the way in order to get there.

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Love Groove Music Publishing Company BMI USA link
3/23/2017 09:14:21 am

Love Groove Music Publishing Company BMI USA Would Like To Review Your New Unpublished Copyrighted Songs. For Licensing, Sync, Vinyl Reissue And Publishing Administration, Contact The Publisher At Email Address : lovegroovemusicbmi@gmail.com

MUSIC PUBLISHER: CALVIN HODGE LAKE

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Steve Dockendorf link
3/23/2017 09:34:05 am

You hit a home run, Aaron. Very well thought-out and inspirational. One could easily conclude from experience that one is "only as good as his last failure" but that could just as easily be dispelled by looking at Edison's number of failed attempts at the lightbulb or Babe Ruth's numerous strikeouts and noting that they got back on the horse and learned a better lesson from their mistakes.

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Ross Tonkin link
3/23/2017 09:49:43 am

Hi Aaron, This is a great Article and Topic. It is true that in most cases you will not even be signed unless you have a very signifigant do it yourself or do it together system of attracting and engaging your own fans. A fully active Artist can make a living and Labels will be drawn to great records with all the bells and whistles from an established producer.
Since not too many Artists are able to manage all the areas
involved; it is difficult unless one was to partner with an independent Label first. Ross Tonkin, Concerthouse Music

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La Mont link
3/23/2017 01:22:36 pm

Excellent read!! Also Gary V. is the man.. seen one of his videos today and it got me pump.. lol peace brother..

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Martin Weeks link
3/23/2017 07:47:52 pm

I almost passed by this email till I read the following: "However, I’m also here to say that it doesn’t matter. In fact, I think this whole obsession with trying to “make it” and reach a certain level of notoriety and fame that we associate with success is actually what prevents many of us from ever actually achieving real, sustainable success. "
Personally I think that what actually will guarantee one's success in this business, has nothing to do at all with uh...business.
Like yourself and many others I started out early and wanted the rock star thing. However, I realized quickly that
A. I wasn't very good at lead electric guitar so no Jimmy Page Awards for me.
B. I was a good singer, but there were a lot more and much better singers out there than me. (No Bono Award)
While I was a good musician, I seemed to have more spread out talents like playing multiple different instruments in multiple different genres. So their was variety.
That's when how to be successful fell into place, and the other more important factor. "Being Grateful."
Once I changed my whole attitude about all this, everything worked. But not in the simple straight line to $$$ and Fame. What I got was to:
1. Travel all over the country.
2. Meet and learn from some of the most talented musicians anywhere...and guess what folks...most of them you've probably NEVER HEARD OF. They were the session guys and gals. Those musicians that make the famous ones sound so good. They taught me what was in fact important. And it wasn't fame. In fact what they taught me was that all that fame stuff holds you back. If your pinpoint focused on one thing, all the other wonderful magical things that come with music will simply pass you by and you'll never even notice they were happening.
Because I refused to quit I had those hard times, had to deal with issues and rehab, lost everything, got almost all of it back. Learned more stuff than I ever wanted to, traveled and met amazing people and had amazing experiences that will last my lifetime and always make me smile not matter what else is gone. And now at age 60 (yeah I'm an old fart now officially) I've met the love of my life and she happens to be an amazing lyricist, and extremely gifted at Video editing. All at the perfect time with our wonderful digital age that makes it possible now to do things that twenty or thirty years ago, I couldn't possibly do or even afford to think about it.
All in all I think that makes me qualified to say... "I've been a successful Musician."
Money isn't the heart of all this stuff people. It's a God Thing. It's a Blessing and most of all it's a magic carpet ride that will give you life experiences that no one else can ever even understand.

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John Watt link
3/23/2017 07:57:24 pm

I appreciate your comments and feel exactly the same way. We should definitely remind ourselves to enjoy the journey. Nevertheless, why some keep going against all odds is something to observe. It reminds me of a short story idea I once had- A miner, after many years of un-successfully digging a claim, gives up. 6 days later a new miner working the same claim strikes gold on his first turn of the shovel. The lesson- If the first miner wouldn't have abandoned his claim- And you already know the rest of the story... I've seen my local musician fellwos do the same with recording projects. They got bored before they reached perfection and gave up on what would have been a very decent project. Go figure- so long as I keep advancing my skills- I'll never give up on the dream!!! Yours truly, John Watt

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Boyet Reyes
3/24/2017 02:21:40 am

I appreciate all the comments.
Good on yah

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Andy Fediw link
3/25/2017 06:37:40 pm

Thanks for reminding me what I have to keep re-affirming to myself. I do this because I can't not do it. I loved the idea that time flies but life is actually pretty long. I needed that.

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Michael link
3/28/2017 02:17:45 pm

Very well written, and unavoidably brutal in its realism.Like a nasty accident you shouldn't be staring at, but cannot avert your gaze from. Respectfully, though, using Miley Cyrus was not a good example.She already had a head start.

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