January 31, 2018

MUSICIAN, ARTIST, AND… ENTREPRENEUR?

advice, artist, digital magazine, education article, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, experience, hustle, music business, musician, Nashville Unsigned, opinion, success

MUSICIAN, ARTIST, AND… ENTREPRENEUR? Musician Artist Entrepreneur Here at Nashville Unsigned, we do a segment during our artist interviews called “WHYLD?”, which stands for “What Have You Learned, Dude?”. Our artists share their greatest and often hardest lessons learned from their years of experience in the music biz. I’d like to share with you one particular ...

MUSICIAN, ARTIST, AND… ENTREPRENEUR?

Musician Artist Entrepreneur

Here at Nashville Unsigned, we do a segment during our artist interviews called “WHYLD?”, which stands for “What Have You Learned, Dude?”. Our artists share their greatest and often hardest lessons learned from their years of experience in the music biz. I’d like to share with you one particular lesson I learned from my almost fifteen years trying to ‘make it’.

You can’t just be an artist. You have to be an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur: a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money; one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise

Today, it seems so obvious. But let me tell you… it took me years to figure this out. And when I finally did figure it out, it was too late. I was jaded. I was burnt out. Tired of the constant hustle. I was older and my personal goals and life had changed. By the time I figured it out, I didn’t want to be a musician anymore.

Don’t be like me.

Understand early on that you are an artist AND a business(wo)man. You can’t just write songs, rehearse, and get up on stage and nail your performance. You have to kick ass on AND off the stage! Because chances are no one is going to ‘discover’ you and sign you to a million-dollar record deal, finance your $20k music video, and make all your dreams come true without putting in the hard work and finding some success yourself first. That is a fantasy. It is not reality. You have to make your own dreams come true. You have to be willing to take the risks.

And the only way to do that is through a lot of hard work. And if you’re not willing to work hard, how can you expect others to want to work hard for you?

The music biz is one of the hardest businesses out there. Especially for artists. Unless and until you have built a team to help you, at least in the beginning you will be booking your own gigs; marketing your music on social media, online streaming sites, and print; building your own website; financing and producing your album and music video; taking your own photographs; creating your brand; managing your career; networking like crazy, and so much more! You are an artist first, of course. But you are a business, a company, and personified LLC, as a close second.

And every business requires time, energy, money (!), and unwavering, limitless passion.

Our curated Nashville Unsigned artists ‘get’ this. They are indie to the core, managing their artistry and careers effectively and with vigor. That is why we are so passionate about, proud of, and excited for them!

Maybe you have not yet awakened your entrepreneurial spirit and that’s ok. There is still time. But when you do, don’t hold back. Go all in. Build a team for yourself. Because running a business ain’t easy. Then again, neither is being an artist. And you’ve got to do both.