Ask any musician who is ten years older than you how business is, and he or she will probably say, “It’s okay, but it was much better ten years ago.” If that same person asks the identical question to another musician ten years older than he is, he will probably Read more
Relevance, regardless of your profession, depends heavily upon the expertise you command. For a musician, if you have a broad knowledge of music, are comfortable playing in a wide variety of styles and know something about music history and theory, you’ll have the breadth. Now comes the depth part. You Read more
The next several “lessons” will center around the professional musician as a business—a store—where clients can get musical expertise. If you buy into the idea that musicians are small businesses, you can take it a step further. Companies spend a good deal of time and money thinking about, developing and Read more
What Is a Brand and Is Yours a Good One—What Is Your Brand? The last blog gave a few definitions to work with. Now think about your brand. And it isn’t just about your playing, but we can start with that. What do people think of when they think of Read more
Here is the third installment in this series of blogs that discuss the musician as a brand. If you are new you can catch up quickly by reading the two previous posts. You’ve probably heard the cliché, “To get ahead it’s not how you play, but who you know.” Certainly Read more
It’s important to understand image. Your brand exudes a certain image and is made up of the following: Tangibles & Intangibles[i] Tangible—Can you play accurately? Do you show up on time? Are you a good sight-reader? Intangible—Do you have a beautiful sound? Are you musical? Do you make the notes Read more
The ultimate measures of success are trial and repeat, and the buyer is the final judge. If a manufacturer of just about anything, from dishwashing detergent to automobiles, gets you to try their product, and you are satisfied and return to purchase again, that is success. Using a music example, Read more
This is always a difficult question to answer and it varies from person to person. It stands to reason that if you do one thing and take it to the max, your chances of being superior to the person who does two or more things is enhanced. With a few exceptions Read more
When I was a doctoral student, I was in a class that had an assignment that asked us to think into the future twenty years and forecast what the music profession would look like. I wish I still had that paper. It would be fun to see how far off Read more
You should have a price in mind for the particular service that is under discussion. Different types of gigs will have different pay rates that are either set by the musicians’ union or are the going rates of the area. Many jobs pay scale and that’s it. A traveling Broadway Read more