Why You Didn’t Become A Pro Musician Yet (And How To Do It)

By | 2018-10-17T19:36:34+00:00 June 11th, 2018|acoustic guitar, Acoustic Music Artists, music career, musician career|Comments Off on Why You Didn’t Become A Pro Musician Yet (And How To Do It)

By Tom Hess

There are countless musicians who want to succeed in the music industry but fail to do so. Most of them fail because they are taking action to do things that actually accomplish very little (although they spend tons of time on these things). Unfortunately, this causes most musicians to waste years of their lives only to end up frustrated and disappointed.

Here are six reasons why you have not become a professional musician yet, and what you should do to immediately move your career forward:

1. Your Living Situation Prevents You From Growing Your Music Career

It’s just not possible to grow a massively successful music career if you spend every minute of your free time exhausted because you work full time hours every week.

To start working full time on your MUSIC career, you must develop a strategy for smoothly transitioning out of your day job. One way to do this is to reduce the hours you spend every week at your day job from forty to thirty five and spend the difference working to build your music career. As you begin making additional music related income, you can cut down the amount of time you spend at your regular job and gradually phase inyour music career.

2. Your On Stage Performing Skills Are Severely Lacking

Amateur musicians have not yet mastered the ability to perform well in live situations. It’s not enough to just stand on stage and play your instrument. Pros are able to put on shows that motivate people to see the band play again, sell music and take your band to a higher level in the industry. Anytime you play on stage, it should motivate your fans to tell everyone they know about how awesome your band is.

3. You Hold Yourself Back In Your Music Career

Musicians often complain that they don’t have enough opportunities, but if they were only given a chance, they would take advantage of it. In reality, musicians often pass on big opportunities because of their own fears and insecurities.

The main idea here is that these kinds of musicians complain about not having opportunities for developing their careers, and eventually go on to reject the big chance to break into the music industry. I sometimes talk to these musicians years later, and they tell me the identical sad story about how they never got the chance to become highly successful.

Don’t become another one of these unsuccessful musicians. Don’t put things off and allow inaction to be the main factor for why you never became a professional musician. Don’t allow fears of failure to become the DESTROYER of your musical dreams… Take action NOW and begin recording your first album, playing in a new rock band, improving your songwriting skills. To take powerful action to move your music career forward, first build your greatest musical goals, then work with a mentor who will show you how to reach them.

4. You Already Gave Up On Your Musical Dreams, But Don’t Know It Yet

One of the worst ways to ruin your chances for success in music is to listen to the advice of people who have never been successful professional musicians. These people will tell you things like:

“Music isn’t a real job.”

“You want to become a rock star? Dream on!”

“To be a pro musician, you have to become a starving artist who plays on the street corner.”

“The music business is too risky, you’ve got to get a job doing something more safe.”

“You should do music on the side while you get a music degree in case it doesn’t work out.”

Reality is, the music industry is a very safe industry to work in (for musicians who follow the correct steps for earning a good living in music). The majority of the true professionals in the music business are NOT playing on street corners… they make a good living doing what they love to do and are simply not known in popular media. Actually, it is a lot easier to earn a great living in the music business than most people think (while also having that income be very consistent and secure). That said, endless amounts of musicians pay attention to the ignorant advice of others who never even worked in the music business. As a result, they think their musical dreams are impossible and give up on them altogether.

To transform yourself into a highly successful professional musician, you need to ONLY listen to people who have accomplished major success in the same areas of the industry you want to work in. There is truly no reason to accept the well-meaning (but misguided) advice of your peers, friends or family who only repeat myths and platitudes about success the music industry without any true experience in this industry. Remember, your favorite bands and musicians all started at or below where you are now in your music career before they went on to become legends. The only thing that keeps you from achieving what they’ve done is your own mindset!

5. You Are Heading Down The Path To Becoming An Amateur Musician… NOT A Professional!

There exist many differences between how hugely successful pro musicians build their careers, and how amateurs try to build them. Professional musicians expect to accomplish great things at all times and only associate with other like-minded people. On the other hand, amateurs allow their careers to become consumed with mediocre results.

Here are a few examples of what I am talking about:

Amateur musicians invest most of their time performing in bands with musicians who have no true ambitions for greatness.

Professional musicians only work with other musicians who are totally committed to success in the music business. For instance, here is a one question test to help you understand if your band is near or at the professional level: Would every member in your band cancel all their plans to go on a huge tour throughout the country (that could possibly results in losing substantial money in the short term), in order to increase the chances of gaining more profitable opportunities in the band’s future? If the answer is no, then your band is a long way away from reaching the pro level.

Amateur musicians frequently associate with band members, friends or peers who are negative and question their ambitions for becoming successful professional musicians.

Professional musicians surround themselves with other people who motivate and inspire them to reach their musical dreams. They don’t spend any of their time being around people who bring them down.

Amateur musicians (falsely) assume they can achieve everything they want in their music career alone, without a trainer or coach. Instead, they are satisfied with relying on trial and error or merely doing what other musicians are doing. They assume they can accomplish the same success of other musicians by copying what those musicians are doing. This approach is why the majority of musicians don’t understand how to get into the music business.

Professional musicians invest into a music industry coach instead of simply copying what other people are doing, to ensure that every action they take brings them closer to their greatest musical goals.

6. You Don’t Truly Understand How To Earn Money In The Music Business

Amateur musicians use tons of time recording tracks for their albums and improving on their instruments, yet have no clue how to earn a living from all these things. These musicians usually invest months into writing and recording music, then finally release it online where no one (except for their friends) hears it. They become disappointed, their music careers come to screeching halt (before even getting started) and they never again try to accomplish anything significant.

You will not earn a nice living as a professional musician by taking isolated actions as discussed above. Professional musicians make tons of money by developing entrepreneurial mindsets (and taking action on these mindsets), growing strategically interweaved streams of income and working with an experienced mentor to understand how to create their own opportunities in the music industry.

Now that you know why you haven’t become a professional musician, learn how to finally make it in the music business with music career coaching.

About The Author:

Tom Hess is a recording artist, music career mentor and virtuoso guitar player. He trains and mentors musicians of all different experience levels on how to develop a successful career in music. Visit his musician website to get free music career building tools and read professional music business columns.

For more information on the 12th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), go to: http://inacoustic.com/enter-here/