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 The Bravura Newsletter provides valuable information that you can use to reach your music career goals and to help you gain a balanced and enjoyable life whilst working within the fast-paced Music Industry.
What keeps you going? Hi there, Do you struggle as an artist, musician or member of a band to keep motivated to achieve your music career dreams and goals? Do you sometimes think "what's the point - I'm not getting anywhere!" Have you been playing or singing or writing songs for years and on several occasions you think you're close to 'making it' and then success either continues to elude you or perhaps it slips through your grasp? I'm sure that you have read heaps of stories about bands and artists who have been playing for ever, and finally…finally they get the record deal they have dreamt about for so long. I have recently been reading about one such band in Q Magazine (September 2007). They are Biffy Clyro - a 3-piece band from Scotland. The article states that they 'have spent 12 years toiling in near obscurity.' They formed in 1995 and 'a decade on, and after three albums, Biffy Clyro found themselves still playing such desolate venues as the Stornoway Sea Angling Club.' The band members state '"We've had to fight every step of the way".' So do these sentiments sound familiar to you? Does your striving for success feel like a fight? I recently asked a number of my clients how long they had been working to achieve their music career goals. Most told me they had been seriously working at their music for around four to five years. This was the case with one of my clients, Meri. When I asked her what kept her motivated to reach her success, she responded "I'm stubborn!...and I don't feel I have a choice - I know it's what I'm best at and I would spend the rest of my life regretting it if I didn't pursue my music career". Meri also went on to give a few thought provoking points: "I have made many sacrifices to live this life as a singer songwriter - I had trained to be a maths teacher and could have had a relatively comfortable life but instead I decided to pursue a career in music. My music feels almost like a calling or a mission!" "My music is not just about my personal need to keep writing - but it is also about my need to share my lyrics with others in the world - whether those lyrics are happy, sad or angry, they help others know that they are not alone in going through difficult times - that they are okay and normal and they help them feel less isolated. I also want to put a decent, catchy riff into their heads!" "I feel that I have been 'training' over the last five years - you can have a talent, but you also need to learn your craft, how to perform on stage and how to entertain your audience. You also need to learn how to promote and market yourself and how to communicate well, as well as to know such things as looking after your guitar and when to change the strings et al!" You can check Meri out on her Myspace profile here. So all those years for Biffy Clyro and Meri haven't been a waste - it's where they will have made all their mistakes and found out the hard way what works and what doesn't. Does your music career echo theirs? Perhaps you are at a stage where you have been thinking of jacking it all in, or just feeling a bit weary with it all? The following Tips just may help you hang on in there or just give you an extra boost of motivation and momentum. Check them out. Tip 1 - Look at your 'training' years. During the years that you have been taking your music seriously and wanting to make it your career, what have you learnt? Write down everything you can think of - use Meri's example above as a starting point if it helps. What else do you need to learn or practice to make your music career better? If you are not sure how well you do things - for example: how well you interact with your audience - score yourself on a scale of 1 - 10 (where 10 is fantastic). Then if you are scoring less than 9 or 10, ask yourself, how can you improve? What would it take to increase your score? If you have problems knowing how well you do something, ask someone you trust to tell you the truth and let them score you. If they score you low - ask them for constructive feedback on how you could improve. Just make sure you don't get upset about any low scores - the idea is for you to make improvements to help you succeed not to get personally attached to their comments! Tip 2 - You're not alone! If you find that you have a number of areas where you need to improve your skills or gain more experience, but don't know how to go about doing it - you will find that others are either in the same situation, or have gone through the same issues. So use all the social networks out there (MySpace, Facebook et al), to talk to other musicians about how you could improve your specific issue or situation - there is no point in re-inventing the wheel - for example, if someone knows how to promote yourselves to record labels or management companies, then ask them how to do it. There are Musician Forums out there too that you can become members of, on which you can raise specific questions and gain answers and heaps of support from. I have been thinking of setting up such a Forum - if you would be interested in this, please get in touch with me via email! Tip 3 - Success Traits. Highly successful people have a number of traits in common - these traits can be learnt! Here are just 3 traits. Highly successful people: • Dream big dreams - they get incredibly passionate about those dreams. Key Point: is that you need to focus on what you want within your dreams, not on what you fear may happen. These dreams become your purpose. • Make plans and set goals to make their purpose happen. Key Point: these goals will help you keep your focus intact and help you move forwards more quickly. • See setbacks as stepping stones, not stumbling blocks. Key Point: you need to carry on regardless - determined to reach your goals. Adjustments may need to take place, but there is always a solution or another way to achieving what you want. Total commitment is a must. The above are just a few 'success traits'. If you want to know more, you can search 'Success traits' in Google. I hope you have found this months newsletter useful and if you are able to follow some of the Tips, I hope that you find success in your music career, just like Biffy Clyro, who crossed a number of 'stepping stones' to reach their success within the last year. If you continue to struggle and you would like to talk to me about your specific issues and to see how I can help you with your music career, please feel free to email me to set up a free consultation call. So, do you know what keeps you going? With very best wishes,  Bravura Group helping you brave the music industry http://www.bravura-group.com t: 01246 231 249 / 0845 456 460 e: lindsey@bravura-group.com I work with signed and unsigned artists and personnel working in the Music Industry who want to become more productive, creative and ultimately more successful in their music careers, whilst enjoying a more enriched, fulfilling and balanced personal life. If you have received this copy of the Bravura newsletter from a friend or colleague and would like to receive future copies, please visit www.bravura-group.com to subscribe. Thank you. |
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