I really felt the need to speak about investments. Investments
are things we believe will give us a large return in the end; things we believe
we can more than double our money with if we make the right choices. Don’t
worry, this post is not to clutter your minds with numbers and concepts, but to
give my opinion on very important investment musicians should consider.
When advancing in life, there are always investments
involved—if you would like to have a good paying job, it is wise to invest in
college. If you want to increase your stream of revenue, you could invest in
stocks; if you would like to become a great musician, you also have to make an
investment—you must invest in YOURSELF!
The investment that I am talking about is artist
development. Artist development is the stepping-stone for creating a successful
musician/ group. Artist development includes image consulting, song writing, interviewing
skills, song selection, and vocal coaching, just to name a few. In order to be
a marketable and attractive artist to a major record label, they would like to
see what you have invested in yourself before they decide to dish out any money
or time. Record labels want to see that you have a fan base; you should create
YouTube videos and compete in talent shows and open mic competitions.
Most people would like to skip the artist development stage,
but artist development is the foundation to a house of potential wealth and
fame. Without a strong foundation, the house would crumble. Aside from having a
vision for what you would like to accomplish with your music career, record
companies would like to know if you would actually be an asset or a liability
to them—in other words, would you bring value to the label or just be dead
weight.
I told you I wouldn’t muddle your brains with financial
concepts or numbers, but I do want you to remember: In order to be a successful
musician, you must invest in artist development so you can be an asset instead
of a liability.
