6 Reasons Why Every Upcoming Musicians Should Have An Alternative Source Of Income SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 BY SITA BOSS COMMENTS (0) “Multiple Streams of Income” is one of the highly touted concepts in the world of business and across other professional career fields. It simply entails having more than one way of making a living or getting money. The reason for the popularity of that concept is pretty obvious. It’s increasingly becoming difficult to eke out a living from various career paths. Competition is rife in all sectors due to the unprecedented information explosion. Whatever you do, just knowing the basics and concentrating on that field is no longer a guarantee for success. Jobs are being lost everyday and what appears to be a flourishing career can suddenly take an unanticipated nosedive. So people are encouraged to have more than one way of making money. What about musicians? More so those who have not actually started making money from their craft. Should they also look for other ways of making money? Even if it’s not for the long term, at least until their music starts paying? The answer to all the above questions, by all means, is a resounding “yes!”. And I’m going to give you six solid reasons why an upcoming artiste should have an alternative source of income other than music. 1. Music Career Is A Long Term Investment I know it may not look like it sometimes, but doing music is something that takes a considerable amount of time before it starts paying off. This is true no matter the aspect of the music business you are involved in. You need time to perfect your craft and make the right connections whether you are a singer, rapper, instrumentalist, producer etc. During that period, you need another way of making money to carter for your everyday needs. 2. Music Production Costs Money If you are an upcoming artiste, you’ll need money to produce your songs initially. Even those who were so lucky to be signed by big record companies early in their careers, still had to spend some money on their demo CDs. The fact is, no one will give a tinker’s cuss about your music until they’ve heard you sing. So you need to figure out a way to give them something to listen to, and that entails production costs. 3. Music Promotion Requires A Lot Of Money The in-thing for upcoming artistes now, is to promote themselves. Many have even learnt production and produce themselves to cut down cost. That is really a commendable career maneuver you should consider, rather than sitting and waiting for big record companies to come knocking. You can give your career a huge lift by using that model, as many big record labels you hear about today, started that way. So you need an alternative means of making money to fund your emancipation. 4. Professional Media Image Costs Money To Create And Maintain As an entertainer, your media image is undoubtedly one of your vital selling points. You need to carefully create and take care of it, the way you do yourself. And that entails a lot of money being spent. Money to buy clothes, take care of your hair, attend events, make phone calls etc. Even your facebook and twitter pages, require money to manage. 5. It Gives A Backup Plan For Making A Living I know the die-hard go-getter out there will scoff at this one. You know the “all-or-nothing” type. You must have heard motivational speakers who exaggerate the effect of will-power. The type that tell you that you can do whatever you put your mind to. While I’m in favour of 100% commitment to your vision and believe in the sheer power or will-power, I beg to burst your bubble a little. You cannot do anything you put your mind to my friend, no matter how hard you try. For example, can you jump off a cliff without any form of gear and make it down unharmed, no matter how much you put your mind to it? The answer is “No”. Their are limits to our abilities as humans. Let’s be frank to ourselves. It’s not everyone who is an upcoming artiste today will make it big tomorrow. Luck plays a part, as well as other factors beyond human control. You’ll be a lot smarter by having a backup plan, in case the music thing fails to work out. 6. It Helps You Develop Other Skills That Will Improve Your Life Doing other things to make money while you do music, gives you the opportunity to learn and develop other life skills that you wouldn’t otherwise have learnt. You know what they say: No knowledge in life is a waste. For example, working as a waiter, as an alternative source of income, will help you learn humility – something that you may not really learn from working in studios and performing on stage. In all, having an alternative source of income is something that is guaranteed to pay of in your life, one way or another. So give it thought, and please share your observations and/or contributions in the comments section below. Thanks
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 22:11:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015