Is your music career strategy to try to win the lottery?

Last week I was talking to a friend who is a talented singer-songwriter. He was excited about some progress he'd made in his career. He had submitted his music to a sync licensing company a year ago and finally heard back from the music supervisor. She said she loved his music and that she was going to bring it to her boss's attention to see if they could get it licensed for use in a movie or TV show. While this is great news for my friend, it's not a done deal. There are no guarantees that it will come to fruition and that he'll make any money out of this.

Which brings me to my point. My friend said to me in this conversation that the only way he ever saw himself making any money from his music was if he got a sync licensing deal. I disagreed with him. While getting a sync licensing deal would certainly be a windfall, it's not the only avenue for an independent artist to make a great living in the new music business.

Here's my concern: if nothing comes of this potential opportunity for a sync licensing deal, my friend will have wasted a year on this with nothing to show for it, because he'd put all of his eggs in one basket.

Too often as artists, we look at things like getting signed to a major record label, getting a lucrative sync licensing deal from getting one of our songs in a movie or a TV show, getting a support slot as an opening act for a massively successful artist or band, having our song included in a popular Spotify playlist, or having our song get into the Top 40 as being our ticket to success in the music business. While these things can be great opportunities, they aren't necessary to become a successful artist who's able to make a great living from their music.

But also, more importantly, we have no direct control over whether these opportunities ultimately come to fruition. If you did have any of these opportunities happen, you'd probably feel like you'd won the lottery. And this is an apt analogy in more ways than one. Yes, there would be a major payoff if you got any of these opportunities. But, you also have similar odds of getting them as you do of winning the lottery because you have about as much direct control as you do of winning the lottery; in other words, none.

You can't choose to win the lottery. You can't give yourself a record deal. You can't unilaterally put your song in a movie or TV show. You can't give yourself the support slot on someone else's tour. You can't put your song in a Spotify playlist that you're not the curator of. In each of these situations, you're at the mercy of gatekeepers' whims. You're held hostage by them.

You are subject to what Seth Godin refers to as “the tyranny of being picked.” There are gatekeepers and tastemakers who you have to win the approval of in order to be granted access to this magical kingdom. There are whole platforms dedicated to this like MusicXray, Taxi, and Fluence where you pay to have gatekeepers listen to your songs. While there are things that you can do to make yourself or your music more attractive to the people who do have direct control over these situations, you have no direct control yourself.

We focus on the wrong things. We focus on those opportunities that we have no direct control over and we never get anywhere. It's an extremely inefficient use of our time and effort. What would happen if instead of sitting around hoping that your song is going to catch the ear of a music supervisor and they'll put it in a movie, or a playlist curator who'll include it in a Spotify playlist, or sitting around waiting for a major record label to discover you, you put that time into consistently, systematically building your fan base? That's actually the most important thing you can be doing for your music career. It's something that you DO have direct control over and it's the area where you have the highest leverage. This comes down to your marketing abilities, and it's a skill set that you can learn, that any musician can learn. If you haven't watched my Facebook Live from last week on marketing, then I'd suggest you go and watch it once you're done here. It will give you a new perspective on marketing.

Part of the appeal of getting signed to a major label, getting your song into a movie or TV show or a popular Spotify playlist, or having a radio hit is that it's perceived as a silver bullet. The perception is that you've made it, you're on easy street, it requires no work from you, success will just magically fall in your lap from that point onward. It's the same mentality that underlies why people play the lottery. The days of the big break are over. If you're looking for overnight success or quick fame and fortune, you're in the wrong business. A music career in 2019 is a steady, progressive upward slope. If you persevere, eventually you'll be able to sustain a comfortable lifestyle from getting paid doing what you love.

The vast majority of independent musicians seem to think that they're going to succeed just by writing great songs, making great albums, and putting on great shows. That's a fantasy. It's not the reality of the new music business. The sooner you come to terms with the fact that you'll never be able to make a living exclusively from writing, recording, and performing music, the sooner you can start making progress in your music career. A lot of musicians are frustrated or even resentful that it's no longer enough just to have great music, and that they now have to consider marketing and business as part of their job as a musician.

The antidote to this frustration and resentment is to remember the “tyranny of being picked.” The model of success in the old music business was based on the notion of raising your hand and waiting for someone in power to pick you. If you get picked, it's great. The problem is that almost no one gets picked. We're talking 1% of 1%. That's the tyranny! It's very likely that under that old model you never would have been picked, and you never would have had a chance at having a music career. So we should think very carefully about wanting to go back to the “good old days” of being picked.

The reality is that there has never been a better time to be a musician than now. Technology has totally changed the game and levelled the playing field for musicians. The old model of making it no longer has the legitimacy it did 10, 20, or 30 years ago. There is now no one-size-fits-all approach for a successful music career. You can have success on your own terms. You have more power, more opportunities, and more control over your music career than ever before.

The greatest thing about the new music business is that you don't have to win the approval of gatekeepers; you don't have to wait to be picked. You can pick yourself. But if you pick yourself, you need to understand that that comes with a lot of responsibility. You are now responsible for your results. You can't pass the buck and blame the music industry, a record label, music supervisors at sync licensing companies, Spotify playlist curators, the media, or radio. It's all on you. You have to be proactive. Part of your responsibility is figuring out how to bring your message to the world. That's where marketing comes in.

If your strategy for your music career is to make it big by getting signed to a major record label, getting a sync licensing deal, getting your songs included on popular Spotify playlists, getting a support slot for a super-famous band, or having a radio hit, that's the equivalent of having a strategy to get rich by winning the lottery. This is a losing strategy because you have no direct control over the outcome. All you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best. I'm not saying that you can't or shouldn't pursue these opportunities, but put them into perspective. Don't spend the bulk of your time on these things that you have no control over and don't build your entire strategy for your music career on them.

The shortest path to success in your music career is to focus on the things that you have direct control over that give you the highest leverage. This will be things like creating a culture around your music, your marketing, finding fans and building your fanbase, and giving your fans a unique and memorable experience when they interact with you or your music. If you do focus on what you have direct control over, you're going to make much faster progress towards making a sustainable income from your music and being able to devote yourself to your music career full-time.