Personal Development For Musicians - And What Does It Take To Create A Successful Music Career?

If you want a successful career in music, there are 3 areas that you need to focus on (aside from luck): 

• Philosophy/development - what you put in (to your mind).
• Creating music - what you put out.
• Marketing - get people to listen to your music.

It's only logical that you need a good input if you want a good output, and once you have that output, you are going to want everyone to know about that output (music). That's what this entire site is about.

#1: Philosophy & Development

The philosophy you have behind your music is the 1st part of what will help you develop and mature as a musician (and a person); this development leads to thought-provoking lyrics and music that avoids shallowness.

Feeding your subconscious with the right ideas, experiences, music, art, culture, and environment allows your subconscious to pay you back in a really big way; when you go to write music, it'll just flow out of you.

That is what I consider to be a genuine expression of oneself, and is generally how I choose to value other's music.  

It’s important to be exposed to different types of music because the more music you know and learn, the more resources your subconscious/conscious mind will have to draw from when you are writing music.

I believe that true, genuine music is created when an individual (or group of individuals) allows their subconscious minds to speak through them, and translate into music.

Your mind consists of different emotions, feelings, opinions, and overall outlooks on life.

With that in mind, re-read what I just said earlier…

“It’s important to be exposed to different types of music because the more music you know and learn, the more resources your subconscious will have to draw from when you are writing music.”

There may be times in your musical career where your subconscious can’t seem to translate what it is experiencing through music. This happens when your subconscious has no more ideas (exposure to new music) to draw from.

So that is why developing your mind as a musician is so important, and branching out to accept the good parts of every type of music (the good parts = parts that really speak to you).

Of course you will always have a tendency to like some genres more than others, and that is perfectly valid, but it's also important to branch out and experience each different genre as you progress and grow.

Everything on this site is designed to help you do that.

The first place you can start finding new music is to look at my “Music Artist Directory”. Look at some of the artists there and get familiar with their work.

Developing your philosophy (everyone has a different one) is important to creating music with depth. The only music I can’t stand (and will critique mercilessly on this site) is music that is shallow.

#2: Creating Music

In order to be somewhat successful in music, you will need to develop your technical musical skill.

That may mean becoming great at an instrument, learning how to create amazing compositions on the computer, or developing your vocal talent.

This mainly covers the technical side of your creativity. If you have lots of creativity, and good ideas, but you suck at the guitar (or whatever instrument you play) it is likely that you won’t be able to translate your creativity into music very well.

So you need to be good at your instrument.

I won’t be the guy who says that all you need to do is “practice” your instrument a whole lot to be a successful musician.

Yes, technical practice is healthy and good for your talent, but don’t make it into a chore, and don’t think you have to do it every single day that you live in order to be successful.

If you plan on being the world’s most technically proficient guitarist, it might be necessary to practice for 8 hours every day, but that is not going to be the focus on this site as I am more supportive of developing your creativity rather than your technical skill.

I will have times where I don’t practice guitar (my main instrument) for weeks, and will just decide to play drums for a while.

If you are going through a practicing phase, then practice often. If the idea of practice seems really bland to you, then I suggest you don’t force yourself into it. Although I'm not encouraging you to be undisciplined either.

The point here is that you should love and enjoy the music you play; if you decide to practice yourself to death you will eventually come to loathe music (many musicians get burnt out this way).

So on this site I will go into different methods for you to get the most out of your instrument, and how to keep yourself from getting burnt out (I want you to enjoy your practice time as much as possible).

I’ll also share some music equipment that works well. Of course, I will only make reviews on equipment I personally use, so the list of reviews I have on here will not be a mile long.

I’ll simply share what I find to be useful and what works in a music environment (and what doesn't work).

There is a common misconception that you only need to be able to play an instrument well in order to build your music careers. But as I have previously stated, that is only 1/3 of the picture here; it's no wonder that many musicians struggle to succeed in today’s musical world.

#3: Marketing Your Music

How often do you find that artists receive their music careers simply because they had a record label doing their marketing for them? Far too often in my opinion.

Pay attention, because the marketing is an area where many creative geniuses fall short (and eventually they fall through the cracks and are not recognized).

Although many musicians may claim that you need a record deal to make a name for yourself, you will actually find that with so many networking capabilities of the internet (Facebook, iTunes, TuneCore, etc.), you can learn how to do the marketing yourself (or can hire someone to do it for you).

The main thing to remember here is that you do not need a record label to do your marketing for you.

Yes, of course if you can get your foot in the door and a label is interested in you, by all means I would recommend you don’t pass up the opportunity (their training and resources in marketing can be extremely helpful in furthering your career).

But for the most of us, we don’t enjoy placing the bet of our future on something that has fewer odds than winning the lottery (and trust me, if you are hoping for some talent scout to “find” you, prepare to be disappointed, because this rarely happens).

I will go through many of the marketing techniques and recommendations that I have discovered over the years on this site.

I’ll teach you things like How to Organize an Outdoor Concert, and How To Use The Facebook Advertising Platform To Promote Your Band.

The list of techniques will continue to grow as I discover more techniques to market your band and develop your music Careers.

So that is a brief outline of what TheRealMusician.com is all about. It’s about taking those 3 things (Music, Philosophy, and Marketing) that are necessary for you to build your music careers (And not be counting on a record label scout to find you).

It’s about taking your chances for success out of the hands of the record label, and back into your control.

So take some time, get familiar with the site, and become a regular contributor and reader. It will pay off in the end.

I recommend you subscribe to my RSS Feed, or my Mailing List; that way you will have gentle reminders every once in a while for new ways to grow yourself as a musician, and be well on the way to becoming successful in the music world (and don’t forget the benefit of learning how to explore your creativity!)

Just use the left-hand navigation to find an area on this site that interests you.