Making it in the Music Industry

This is an age-old question asked by everyone who has ever been in a band, was in a band or even pretending to be in the band. There is no magical answer, but I will tell you that there is plenty of work involved with a sprinkle of luck added.

I started out with an interest in music, writing lyrics to be exact. I searched far and wide for anyone that remotely resembled a musician to hand my tattered old notebook filled with a thousand pages of words, lyrics, poems and chicken scratch. This was 7 years ago, and as you can see I am writing on Hub Pages, Helium, AC, myspace...well you get the idea.

I started my own Music Company called SouleD Out Music, ran that into the wet dirt of the music industry for several years and recently decided it was time to dig up my roots again in writing. SouleD Out Music is now my portal into the writing world.

Along the way I heard people tell me that it was all about who you know, persistence pays off and all that other garbage. I am hear to tell you exactly what it is about, from a real person who not only tried to do it, but helped others try to do it.

The music industry is tricky, wonderful, perverse and a bit eccentric, so keep that in mind while reading this post. I promoted several if not hundreds of bands on my little home on the net, and none have truly made it into the business for real.

These bands that I have on the website are fantastic and wildly talented musicians, playing gigs here and there, but still no phone calls from Sony, why is that do you suppose? It is because there lucky number has not been picked of the vine of stardom yet, if at all.

Some of these guys "know people" too, heck "I know people", and you can obviously see where it got me! I had a correspondence going for awhile with Keifer Sutherland's Record Label, thought I would be a shoe in there, new label, looking for real people, well I think they blocked my number or something.

Endless hours spent putting together press kits, calling labels, calling venues and convincing some big wig promoter that "Jellyfish Tango" was the new hot ticket! That name is copyrighted by me, just so you know...see another bad quality I picked up in this business...distrust!

Simply put, because I could go on and on about this topic, It does not matter who you know, it may help but it won't guarantee. Talent does not always guarantee either, again, it helps.

What matters is paying close attention to "mainstream" music, start listening to what is hitting the commercials as theme songs, build a HUGE fanbase, even if you have to pay them to listen to you. You need to become the next big thing among the PEOPLE, not the industry. The people is who these labels are paying attention too, the label will not be buying your albums, the people will be buying your albums.

I truly believe my lyrics were just too deep, too real and a bit normal. Today's society is "out there" and they want music that is "out there", in every sense of the word.

Good Luck