'Making It'

Understanding the business is really essential, I think. Everyone I talk to in interviews or read for book reviews (and most of the biographies I get to read as well) really stress treating the music business as a business.

Luck and talent, like in the rest of life, are good to have but will never guarantee anything. I think you'll need more than a "bit" of desire.

As for the "no morals," I'm not really sure that enters into things as much as one might suspect. As hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) perhaps. I think we tend to equate "making it" with "selling out" and therefore we'll stick a "no morals" tag on the person who's sold out.

But in reality, there are lots of ways to "make it" in the business. I know people who play for a living or teach for a living or who do other work in the industry (luthiers, engineers, etc) and that's what they do for a living. They make, relatively speaking, average earnings - one wouldn't think of them as wealthy but one certainly wouldn't think of them as poor either. They're just normal everyday people who happen to work in music.

Too often our standard for "success" involves moving in the same circles as the Rolling Stones or Bruce Springsteen or Creed or whoever happens to be capturing our attention today. The fact that we hold this sort of success up as a goal is a good indication that our interest in music may not be as pure as we might like to think.

But this brings us back to point - if this is how you intend to make your living, then you have to treat it that way. If you had a choice between a carpenter who you've seen work hard and gotten a lot of good reports about and who, after talking with him or her, gives you the impression that he or she knows the trade and loves it, you're more than likely going to choose that person to build your home than the one who tells you that building things is a matter of luck and/or talent.

Good question for discussion, by the way.

Peace

I've generally leaned more over toward Pete's side on this one in that often I'm pessimistic on how people "make it."  Case in point:  You have a job interview and there are 10 candidates.  You may have superior skills and be a great person but can't sell yourself.  One in those ten are less gifted but may be prettier and market themselves better.  Just last month this happened to me in an interview at my work where I knew the candidates and skills.  But that is office politics.

I relate that to many industries.  Right place, right time.  Your buddy Bob know a guy in EMI and arranges a meeting because he owes you one.  Gets you in the door when you never would have auditioned or had your cd listened to.

Certainly I don't suggest those who make it don't have talent.  They HAVE to to get up there.  Can't polish s**t that much (then again, Milli Vanilli made it but we'll call that a rare exception).

I think it takes good looks (or at least unique), sex appeal, stage prescence, good lyrics, decent instrument sounds, and great creative energy.  But then again, my opinion means very little in that I know zero about the music bus.  All just speculation for sure.  Now I'll go crawl back into my cave and contemplate what I've just said . . .

;)

Not sure if I'm answering the post right, Anyway here's my Thoughts.

To make it in the highly competitive world of today's music business is an overwhelming challenge.

If your desire is strong enough, if you educate yourself and come up with a game plan and implement that plan! You can do anything you want.

I'm here to tell you: Don't let Life get you down, because there are people who make excellent money working in their chosen area of the music business. And the majority of these successful people weren't born into it. They didn't make it because of luck, fate or mystical circumstances. They became successful because they made a conscious decision to do so and then took the action necessary to make it happen.
That's what sets the winners apart: acting on good ideas!

With drive and determination I then made use of what I had, which was a guitar and a head on my shoulders. And it didn't get that way because of money or connections or lucky breaks. It got that way because I took the raw resources I had and acted on my desire to make playing guitar a reality.

I've came to realize there are rules.
These could mean the difference between success and failure.

First off,I believe success has as much to do with your frame of mind. "You Are What You Think"
Many of us are so used to thinking negative, it's difficult to shift into Thinking positive and staying there.

Second, You Get What You Want When You Help Other People Get What They Want.
Success in the field of musical giving means that the product or service you specialize in adds real value to the lives of the people who become your listeners.Making sure your listeners feel that what they get from you is worth more than money.

The bottom line is this: Concentrate on what you're giving to the people.
If you continue to give what they want and need, you won't have to worry because they will come back for more again and again.

Third, Practice whenever and whatever you can. Hone your live act.
Become a master of your instrument.
Keep your mind open and your aim high.
There's no reason why you can't turn your musical idea's into reality.

Forth, You need to have a "vision" of why you want to be a Professional guitar player, and keep it.
For myself, my playing is a labor of love, and I believed in my talent and idea's deserved to be heard and shared.

Nothing beats playing live. To be on stage entertaining a crowd of people is one of the greatest thrills in the world. But it has its downside is hard work, unresponsive crowds, months spent on the road touring, unscrupulous promoters and leaches.
Don't let that stand in your way.  

Individuals who are successful and thrive full time in music or a related field understand the inner workings of the industry. One can learn about the music business through both experience, education,and right hear at Guitarnoise.

I have finally learned to define my Thinking and playing on my own terms.

After wondering in here to these Forums about month ago, was purely by accident.
Anyone who's read some of my replys to questions knows I still play the same chords and scales except I take it one further by playing my own sound and style. Always have and always will.

Thanks ...Joe

Talent is good, but we all know (or know of) people who've made it with little talent.

Luck is good, but hardly something you can count on.  
Sure, somebody might see you playing a guitar in some crummy bar at a $25 gig and offer you a recording contract.... but it's not very likely.

Persistance trumps talent, and makes luck happen.  The odds of being discovered at any given time may be a million to one; play in a thousand dive bars and you improve the odds to a thousand to one.

Tom

Sell-out - the disenchanted cry of the player hater.

If you stand up in front of people and express yourself to a degree you find satisfying, you are a success. Success is one of the world's greatest misunderstandings - it can NOT be measured in wealth.

It's all about having a burning passion to become what you want to be. If you really want to do something, so much that you are willing to suffer for it, you will get it. If you are truly dedicated to make it, you will research the biz, make a plan, and go at it 110% until you do make it. Once you realize what it is you want to do in life, you just have to plow forward like a steam train. Very few people actually fail, they only give up because they're too lazy to do some actual work.

Remember:

Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% persistence.

It is persistence. 1,000 guys start off at 17 saying they want to become professionals but only 1 makes it. The one who didn't quit because his girlfriend didn't like it or because his job was more important or because... whatever. Anyone who keeps at it and never gives up makes it.