Crash Time

I recently had a crash on my laptop and thought I'd like to talk about computer crashes and back ups and how they're important to the working musician.

Two Systems

Now I'm sure by this point you're aware of how important it is to back up all of your important projects on a regular basis. It's a good idea to have two separate back up systems going. For example you could have an external hard drive for one and a DVD back up for the 2nd. You need both. They need to be different systems and preferably in different places. There are a lot of online back up systems available now and they're free. Most of them have lots of space (some up to 5Gb) and are easy to use. They are the perfect thing for musicians who need to back up crucial files on a daily basis. Once you get a recording done, you can back up the entire thing online with a touch of a button. If you're like me and don't have your main recording computer hooked up to the internet, it's a good way to make sure that you use that external drive or DVD. You can then use those to make the transfer on a connected computer.

Ghosts in the Attic

Since we're on the subject of crashes I'd like to mention Ghost. Ghost is a program by Norton that makes an image file of your hard drive. That way, in the case of a crash, you simply run Ghost and it returns your hard drive to the exact way it was before the crash. This is unlike system restore which simply makes adjustments to your existing system. The great thing about this is that you can setup your computer to where it has all of the necessary drivers and programs and in case of a crash, you can set it back to that exact point. I do this whenever I get a new computer because if I want to set it back to it's original settings, I can. This is also way less work for your computer since system restore running can take a lot out of your system performance. Some manufacturers (like Dell), ship some of their systems with a restore button (actually, a series of buttons that you press on start up) that restores the computer to its factory settings.

KISS

The last point I'd like to make about computer crashes is about keeping things simple. The crash in this case wasn't my main computer but my laptop. I use my laptop as my 'office' so it's just as critical to my business as my main computer. This is where I keep all of my important documents as well as all correspondence and internet related stuff. With all of this on a single computer, it's easy to get disorganized and lose track of things. The biggest problem with this aside from it being a time waster, is the fact that it makes it hard to back up. Here, more than anywhere is why it's important to keep organized and efficient. Herein lies the title for this section: Keep It Simple.

There are a couple of ways to do this: First of all try and get all of your emails from one place online. Most of the email programs now have systems where you can have all of your mail going to the one place. This makes it easy to keep track of, keep organized and most of all no need to back up. You can also use this space to save some of your important documents and even create the documents online. This saves you money and the need for extra programs to be installed on your computer. You can also use the planners online and send emails to yourself to remind yourself of important appointments.

Remember, if the files are really important, you still need two systems.

As long as we're talking about crashes and keeping things simple, we should try and apply that to the computers themselves. It's all too easy to overload your computer with a ton of extras that you don't really need that slow down your system and may cause a crash. This includes themes, animations, plug ins and widgets (browser and desktop), utilities, and programs. Try to find the best application for what you want to accomplish and stick with that. It's easy to get out of control. I once had a half dozen media players installed on my computer at one time. These things slow your system down and are time wasters in more ways than one. It also makes backing things up much tougher because you've got all of those extra files and file types to deal with.

Finally, since we seem to have so much drive space these days, there seems to be the need to fill up every inch of that space. If you come across some items that you feel you really need, then save them and archive them as soon as you can. Or, if it's an article that you really love, make a hard copy and delete the file. I have a binder that I keep as a reference for important articles and material. Get all of that stuff off of your hard drive. If you have a laptop or just the one computer, that's hard drive space that could be used for more productive things (like your projects and business files). Having your hard drive free of clutter is not only good for the drive, but it stops you from wasting time accumulating all of this clutter, then feeling the need to organize it, thereby wasting more time.

Not If...But When

Always remember that if you rely on computers, the case of a crash ever happening is not if, but when. Not only do you want to be prepared when it does happen but you also don't want to have all of your critical files, projects, songs and pictures on something so unreliable as a hard drive. Have two systems going constantly and do it on a regular basis. Keep your computer uncluttered and use it efficiently. When you have a crash, or transfer to another computer, the move won't be such a big deal. Most of all you'll have piece of mind knowing that in this area of your life at least, you're covered.

Getting It Done...Regardless

Every once in a while I find it really hard to keep motivated. Even when it comes to music, something that I really love, I sometimes find it hard to get to work. Why is this? Let's take a look.

We’re Not Machines

There may be a lot of factors involved. There may be a lot of other things going on in your life, both good and bad that may be weighing on your mind. Even if you don’t think that these things are affecting you, they may be and you don’t know it. You also may have been working on music a bit too much lately and haven’t taken time out to take a break. Or, it may be a special time (like the holidays) and you really just want to be out having fun but still feel that you should be working. We may feel sometimes that we can go on everyday, working hard and getting things done but our minds and bodies don’t work that way.

The mind and body demands things from us even when we don’t want to accept it.

Like the athletic community knows all too well, our bodies operate in cycles and it’s in our best interest to acknowledge these cycles so we can take advantage of our peak periods. This is something musicians have yet to learn. Most musicians I know go at it everyday, without any consideration for their bodies or natural cycles; expecting peak performance day in, day out. There are times when you’re going to have more energy, greater creativity and be able to perform better; then there are the times when you’re not. Since we usually don’t have the privilege of working only at our peak times, we have to find some way to work with these cycles so we can get things done without burn out or injury. That means paying attention to what’s going on and making necessary adjustments.

Stop…and Go

When you’re finding it hard to get some work done, instead of fighting it or beating yourself up about it, you may want to take a moment and figure out if your body is trying to tell you something. If you’ve been working in the studio and doing a lot of writing and playing, your mind may need some rejuvenation time to ‘refill’ so to speak. There have been volumes written on all of the things that you can do to get the creative juices going by taking time out to recharge and get a fresh perspective. If you’re having a hard time getting to work, and it’s not just a one time thing but goes on for a couple of weeks, you may want to take a break and try working on something different. For example, if you’ve been doing a lot of writing and things just aren’t coming to you, take a break from writing and work in another area. Slow down the writing for a little while and use that time to work on your website, go to some industry events, work on some PR, or even try playing with some other people or somebody’s else’s stuff for a while. You may come back with renewed energy and a ton of new ideas. Keep in mind that new ideas need time to incubate so you may need some time to work through the ideas and it may seem like you’re getting worse for a while.

Sometimes it’s a matter of energy, sometimes it’s a matter of creativity. A lot of the time, since these seem to go hand in hand, it’s feels like it’s both.

Creativity

If it’s creativity, a good thing to do is to try something new that makes your mind work in new ways. In music this might be learning a new instrument, learning a song in a genre that you’re not familiar with, or joining a group. Joining a group will force you to work with other people and you become part of a creative force where ideas are exchanged. Sometimes you get stuck in a certain way of thinking and being part of another creative group makes you start thinking in new ways. The other thing you may want to do when stuck is get the opinion of somebody you respect. This is just another version of the group idea above where you’re getting a fresh perspective. You can also try separating the various processes or doing the process in a new way. For example if you’re a songwriter, try writing the lyrics only or the melody only. Try writing on a different instrument even if (especially if) you can’t play the other instrument. Try writing with no instrument at all (an especially effective exercise because it makes you really focus on the melody). A great though, if you’re having trouble writing, is to set aside a time and just write without any judgment. Set a timer for about 10 or 15 minutes, pick up your instrument and your tools of choice and just start writing. The most important part of this is to dismiss any judgment. You’re just going to write for the time allotted and just let it flow. No idea is bad and no idea is thrown out. Just let it go. Once the time is up, stop. Let it sit for a while and come back to it later. See what comes up. You’ll be surprised how many great ideas come up when that judgmental part of our brain is completely shut off.

Energy

If it’s a lack of energy, and you just have to get the work done, try some of these ideas: Take a quick walk before starting. Walking seems to clear the mind and it gets the heart and blood flowing without going into a full on workout. A light stretch will have the same results. One thing that works really well for me is the half hour appointment. If I’m having a hard time getting to work, I just tell myself that I’ll just work for half and hour and ‘see how it goes’. Sometimes, the half hour passes and it becomes obvious that it just isn’t working today and I try working on something else. Most of the time though, the simple act of starting and keeping with it for a short time is enough to get a flow going and a couple of hours pass before I realize it. One other thing to keep in mind when it comes to energy is to take breaks. Get up once an hour and walk around, or leave the room. Five minutes is usually long enough to get refreshed and not lose your flow. This gets the mind and blood flowing and it may save you some injury from sitting in the same position for an extended period of time. Sometimes we get so involved in what we're doing, we forget about things like posture, stiff muscles or even how we’re feeling. Getting up once an hour for a stretch is a good way to keep the body loose and keep us from sitting in the same position for an extended period. Moving also has an effect on our minds because sometimes just getting up from where we’re sitting, gives us a ‘different perspective’. For example, listening to a mix from a different position or even another room is valuable in giving us an overall view of the song. Sometimes you get so involved in tweaking a certain sound that you lose perspective of the big picture. The last important aspect is to know when to stop. Since we’re involved in a creative art, we can't really 'cram' like in certain other activities. There comes a time when you’ve been working too long and you either start to make some bad decisions, you lose perspective of what you were trying to accomplish in the first place, or your mind starts to wonder and you lose that creative space and the work suffers. I know that sometimes when I’m working on a mix for too long, my ears get tired without me realizing it and I start tweaking sounds to some horrible results. In the arts, there is the point of diminishing returns and you simply have to stop for the day.

We’re not machines; we’re artists. Whether we like it or not, we can’t keep the wheels grinding day after day without taking time out to take a break or switch gears. It’s important to take note of the times when our mind and bodies are telling us that they just don’t want to do it today. It’s best to acknowledge these times and take a break or work on something else. If that’s not an option, we have to find some way of getting the work done while respecting what our bodies are trying to tell ourselves so we’re healthy enough to work and create another day.

Doing It All…Or Not

So for all of those musicians out there who think that they have to do it all (like me), it's not only easier in the long run to get as much help as you can, you may end up with way better results than if you were to do it all alone. Decide on what your strengths are and try and get help on the areas where you know you are weak. I’m guessing that this may be more of an issue with men simply because they have a harder time asking for help but I’ve found women who fit into this category too. Remember that I’m speaking here from years of experience trying to do it all myself. It’s simply more efficient, more satisfying and cheaper (in terms of time and money) to get others involved in whatever you may be working on.

You also end up making some valuable connections along the way. Not only there is the possibility that someone you know may have other valuable connections that you can use but as far as exchange of ideas and knowledge, there’s no better way to get the inside track on what’s happening. If you have a lack of funds like most musicians, remember the tried and true barter system. Whenever I’ve gotten somebody to work on my material I always made sure that there was something in it for them even when they were just happy to take part. This included credits on the CD, a copy of the finished product, and recommendations to other clients and contacts.

So for example all the songwriters out there, you don’t need to do it all. Find some players to play on your demo. Find someone in your area who’s good in the studio as far as recording and mixing. Having this step alone will save you years. Barter the time that they spend on your demo with singing on their demos. Everybody needs a great singer. If you want to learn to do it all, take it one step at a time. Focus on the songwriting first, get your demo done and learn the skills along the way. I know people who had a hard time getting the exact results they wanted so they decided that they were going to do it all themselves. Most of the work never got done because the learning curve on all of the different skills needed to put together a great CD was just too much. It may be some work trying to find the right people get the sound you hear in your head to tape it but in the end you may save yourself a lot of work and time.

Sometimes You Just Have To...

I’ve had tons of singer come through my studio and sing my songs. Sometimes the results where great but a lot of times they weren’t: it’s all part of the process. A few times I had a song and just couldn’t get the singer to get the sound right. Sometimes you have to just make the best of it. Sometimes it’s more important to get it done than to wait for that perfect performance. It all depends on you and the song but the point is that you want to get it done the best you can within a reasonable amount of time. If you have more time and a bigger budget then you can take advantage and get the premium players. If you don’t have all of the resources at your fingertips, get it done anyway and don’t make any excuses. No matter what the situation, first demo or major label release, some concessions are always going to be have to be made. While some of you may argue with this point, I think that it’s better to get it done and out there than to let it sit on a shelf forever because it didn’t live up to your expectations at the time.

If you're not sure it's always a good idea to get an opinion from somebody that you trust and isn't a fan or a family member. It may be hard to hear the truth sometimes but it's an essential part of the process. Try to find somebody who knows what they're talking about. This doesn't have to be a musician, just a person with great ears. One of the best critiques I got was from an industry professional who didn't play an instrument at all. She told me what was wrong with my song and after listening, I realized that everything she said was right. It was at an industry listening session and after hearing the song, a lot of people commented that they really liked the song and didn't agree with what she said. After listening to the song with fresh ears, I knew that she was right. Take criticism with a grain of salt, try to listen with a fresh perspective and see if what was said applies. Even with people who know what they're talking about, music is an opinion and nobody is right 100% of the time. This step alone is worth the effort. It's this type of thinking that will differential you from the pack. So many people are just happy to get something out that they think that every note is necessary and perfect. If you get the same critique from a couple of different source though, take note! People with great ears may be just as hard to find as a good player but very valuable.

Within A Reasonable Amount Of Time

Keep in mind that I talking about making the best effort you can in making it as good as you can at this point in time. This isn’t an excuse to be lazy, simply make sure that you make the best of what you’ve got. This mostly applies to all of those people out there who take forever to get a project done and even then they're not happy with the results. I've been through this a million times and I've seen it in other musicians as well. Tweaking something to death while trying to do it all is counterproductive. I've also met bands who worked on their CD for the better part of a year and the results reflected all of their hard work. Mostly though I've seen a lot of time wasted on working on material that never sees the light of day being bogged down by people try to do it all. It’s also good to get into the habit of working with somebody as soon as you can because odds are it’s going to come up a lot. If you're a bit of a perfectionist and you know somebody who's eager to get things out there, try to work together. A lot of time their eagerness to get it done will rub off on the perfectionist 'it's not quite perfect yet' and the perfectionist's eye for 'quality and detail' will rub off on the eager beaver's 'just rush through it' attitude. I'm being really general here but you get the idea. Whatever you do, get out there and make those connections. In the end, you will save time and effort over trying to do it all yourself and it may lead to some great partnerships and ultimately some great music.

You’re A Big Biz Now!

We're A Lot Alike...

When it comes to doing business, corporations have certain ways of doing things. From what we’ve seen of the music business in the last decade, this hasn’t always been the best ways of doing things, but from a pure business and project management point of view though, there are a couple of things that we can learn from them. For one thing, businesses always put together a business plan including all of the financials when they first start out. This may be overkill when first starting a band because initially you may just be jamming and seeing if you gel. Once into a situation where you’ve been together for a while and are planning on going to the next level and plan on getting things done, you should get together and discuss some things. You may want to discuss where you are all at as far as the band is concerned, see what you want to do next and see where people’s priorities are.

On the surface you may not realize it but you have the same issues that a big corporation would have when taking on a new venture. You may be trying to figure out your style and the look and feel of the band. You want to get a demo done and start making some money. You want to set up some shows. You have to get a web site set up. At the very least, you need to have a MySpace page. These are the same things that a corporation has to deal with; they just call it different things. Finding your sound would be their developing a product, finding your look is their branding, making your demo is the same as their manufacturing and the MySpace and website is their marketing. If you look at how they get these things done, it will be easier for you to figure out what to do. Since corporations have big pockets, you may feel that you don’t have much in common but if you look at how they do things, you can learn a lot. For example, when the big labels release a new album, there are a whole series of things that they do before it ever sees the light of day. Yet I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a band booking their CD release party before they even have the CD printed. There should be about a 90 day grace period where you can set everything up before making the official release and having a CD release party.

...With One Big Difference

From a music point of view, I’ve heard this analogy for a long time from industry professionals and never really cared for it. Comparing my band to a soulless corporation took all the coolness out of it. It's just a good idea to keep this in mind when sitting down and making decisions. I actually think it’s better to keep the attitude that your band and music is anti-corporate. That what you’re creating is not some lame dispensable product but your voice: your art. The reason why I bring this up is because when making big decisions and trying to keep organized and get things done, it’s better to approach it with the professionalism of a corporation. If you’ve ever put a CD together or a tour for your band, you’re aware of all of the things that go into making these things a success. It’s so easy to start out without any plans and just jump right in. Ask anyone who’s been on tour though, once you do this the first time, you don't do it again. There's nothing like being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no spare tire, no transmission, etc. You can always tell a band that’s been on the road a lot. They seem to have it all down to an art form: organized, stripped to the bare essentials, and prepared for all the million things that can ( and usually) go wrong.

Lessons From The Road

They are the things in the business world called logistics. That’s all the things that are needed to get you (and your product) from one place to another. Most of the guys that I know who’ve spent a lot of time on the road, including myself, learned the hard way. The first time I went on the road I took so much stuff with me, that I spent half of the time just moving this stuff around. The band I was in was also booked for about 6 months so I left my apartment, put my stuff in storage and was going to find a new place when I got back. Bad idea. The tour ended prematurely and I ended up being homeless for a month. The point is that when you undertake any one of these things, it’s better to be prepared than to just do it tempt the Gods. If you can get material on the subject and most of all talk to bands that have been on the road and ask them about their experiences. You'll be amazed how much you learn. Guaranteed one on the first things they'll say is 'Make sure you don't...' and then go on to tell you some horror story.

Project Management 101

When it comes to project management though, there’s a whole other list of things that you should take into consideration. Right now I have about 5 different projects going on at once. This is nothing new for me and a lot of times it’s necessary. For example if I have the time, I like to have something I’ve completed sit for a day or two before I come back and make any final decisions. If you leave a piece of music for a while, you come back to it with fresh ears. If there’s anything wrong, it’ll usually jump right out at you. I try not to listen to something I’m working on too many times because you tend to fall in love with something after a while. I listen to it once or twice, then make the changes. If you’ve listened to a track too many times, you lose your objectivity. It's called demoitis, falling in love with the demo simply from listening to it over and over.

Let’s start at the beginning. You have the idea for a new demo, new song or new band. The first thing that you should consider is if this is worth pursuing in the first place. Keep in mind that you already have a couple of things on the go and your time is precious as it is. If there is money involved (I mean money now, not the prospect of some in the future) then that my take the highest priority. If you’re making the final adjustments on another project that’s really important to you, you may want to put it off or not do it at all. It may be something you’ve always wanted to do creatively (like tackling a new genre or new instrument) or work with somebody that you’ve always wanted to work with.

There are no hard and fast rules for making these decisions. For example, the two above (working in a new genre or with somebody new) sounds like a no-brainer. Anybody will tell you that it’s always a good idea to work with somebody new to make connections and hopefully make something better than you alone could create. Musicians generally hate to say no to anything, especially more music! The problem is that there is only so much time in the day. Even if you’re young, there’s only so much you can accomplish in a 24 hour period. You might be thinking that you just want just try anything that comes along and see what works out. This was always my thinking. The problem with this is you don’t have any focus and instead of having more opportunities, you end up limiting yourself because you have no real direction.

Focus

I remember the turning point for me. I always figured I would become a session musician; playing one- nighters or whatever came up. I practiced a lot and tried to become well versed in many styles. Not a bad plan, right? The problem is that I had been in a couple of projects that were terrible from the very beginning yet I spent time and money (gas mostly) in them anyway, while still pursuing anything else that came my way. I had spent valuable time in a lot of bands with people with attitudes and a lot of flakes. Keep in mind; I don’t think musicians are any more flakey than the general public, they are trying to put something together that does take a lot of personal time and effort.

One day a friend of mine who I had played with before asked me if I wanted to be in this band that a friend of his was putting together. I said sure without even meeting the other guy because my friend was a good guy and I trusted him. Well, I hated it. I didn’t get along with the guy who ran the whole thing but I stuck with it until the end anyway. The reason why I didn’t like the guy was that even though he had put together this CD which wasn’t bad, I didn’t consider him a very good musician and had trouble ‘taking orders’ from somebody who I felt had less talent than myself. Plus, it wasn’t a true band in my sense of what a band should be. The main guy had put together a CD and was looking for a band to play his material. I wanted to be part of a band that wrote together, he just wanted people to take orders. There are times when the above situation could lead to some work, even a tour with a major artist. But for me, it was a bad situation that surprisingly turned into a great learning experience. I decided that if I was ever going to do anything musical again, it was going to be on my terms. That was the last time I was ever in a band that I didn’t put together myself. I learned a lot from this guy. As far as I was concerned he had minimal talent (it was no secret among the band members that he was the least talented player), and was a bit of a jerk. But, he had put together this CD, got a lot of great players to play on it, and got a band to tour with. Not bad. It was because of two major factors; he was organized and he had focus.

Focus..With A Point

Which brings us back to the point in the very beginning; while it’s great to pursue many avenues while trying to make a living and figure out what it is you want to do, it’s vital that you have some sort of focus. If you do have that focus, you will have to turn down some ‘opportunities’ while pursing your personal vision. If you're not sure what exactly that focus is, as soon as you examine what you really want to do, ideas will pop up. If there a couple of things on your list that you'd love to get done, just pick one and get on with it. Make sure though, that whatever you pick, you stick with and see it to it's final conclusion. This guy only did the one thing; he created the CD. Once that was done, he put the band together, and shopped the CD. He was the least talented of all of the musicians yet he had the most success.

From that point on, I decided that I was going to really sit down and decide exactly what it was I wanted to do and I was going to see it through. The next band that I played in was my own. It was a funk band and it was the best band I ever played in. I got the best players that I could and this time it was me who was the ‘worst’ musician. This sounds bad but it’s really a good thing. If you’ve ever played in a band with musicians who are better than you, it can be intimidating but you learn so much and become a better musician way quicker. The bar is raised that much higher. Plus this band rocked. It lasted a couple of years and ended up disbanding because of lack of gigs. I then started a small project studio and opened my doors to songwriters and musicians who wanted to create a demo without the need for a band. I had learned to play numerous instruments along the way (not something that I planned but was well worth it; you can’t plan everything) and became a one stop shop for songwriters. Most of my clients never even played an instrument and I usually had to fill everything in, including the chords. It was another great learning experience. I stopped playing live for a while to focus wholly on this new business. Financially it kept me going for a while but on its own wasn’t enough so I had to augment this with a couple days of teaching a week. I now just work in the studio, focusing on creating the best music that I can.

Why Things Always Go Wrong: You Can’t Predict the Future

The Ubiquitous To-Do List

The problem lies not with the technology itself but the utilization of the technology. It’s fine to make lists of all the things you want to do and all of the steps needed to get there, but what is it that motivates you to get all of these things done? The problem with any undertaking is that things will invariably go wrong: or at least not according to plans. The reason for this is 'variables'. In life there are just way too many variables to predict what’s going to happen from one moment to the next. So what has this got to do with my plans? Well when you make plans if one way you are predicting what’s going to happen in the future. For example, you decide that you’re going to bring in a guitarist to play on your demo. That one thing could lead into any number of directions. Do you have one in mind? What happens if he can't make it or it doesn't work out? What happens if he suddenly has to leave town? You get the idea.

Once you start trying to get things done on your list, a couple of things are going to happen. You going to have some setbacks, have some troubles staying motivated, get discouraged and sometimes just want to quit and give it all up.

How Do You Work?

So you've decided on a major project and have started to put together a list of all of the things that you have to do to reach your goal. If you’re new to the process, then there’s a huge variable right off the bat. I think we can agree at this point that once you start a new project, there’s going to be a lot of things come up that are unexpected and not on your list. So right from the start, the list is going to be a work in progress that’s going to have to be updated on a regular basis. Using the guitarist example from above, if for some reason he becomes unavailable, you’re going to have to make up a new list to include finding a new guitar player or learning the parts yourself or…you get the idea.

The basic point here is that one of the reasons why projects don’t get done is because of the inevitability that things aren’t going to go as planned. The problem that sometimes when things go smoothly, we naturally assume that that’s the way things are supposed to be and when things go ‘wrong’ then something is off. As we’ve seen from the example above, the chances of things going off course are far more likely than things going exactly as planned. So when you start a project and things go wrong, it takes more energy than you thought that it would and adds extra stress to the project. One of the great things about experience is once you’ve been through a certain process, you’re more likely to know what may go wrong and are equipped to deal with it effectively. When building a house for example, a professional is aware of all of the things that can go wrong where a novice would probably get frustrated and quit before the process is even finished. So not only do you have to deal with all of things that can go wrong, you can’t give up or lose sight of what you’re trying to accomplish in the first place.

Building A Career

This is where the musician comes in. The musician starting out is like the novice trying to build the house from scratch. And like building a house, a lot of projects that you may have to undertake are big and demanding; putting together a band, creating a demo, putting together a tour, etc. There are tons of variables like: all of the people involved (band personnel, agents, friends, club owners, studio people, etc.) and the fact that most of these things can take up to a year to accomplish. No small feat even for an organized person. Not only does this apply to the projects that a musician must take on but it applies to his/her whole career!

Career Musician: Where to Start

Getting Things Done

When it comes to getting things done, it would be nice if we could just get to it: do the things that needed to done, when they needed to be done. But it’s rarely as simple as that. First of all there’s deciding exactly what it is we’re supposed to be doing at this moment, then there’s how to go about doing it, wondering if you’re doing it right or wondering if it should be done it at all. Combine this with the fact that our lives are busier with more options than ever and it’s a wonder that anything gets done at all.

If you’ve done any reading on career management you’ve probably come across the same basic concepts: decide what you want to do, make a list of all of the things that you must do to accomplish that goal and go about doing the items on your list one at a time. There are many variations of this but these are the essentials. So even though we know this, how is it that we still have so many troubles getting things done? I don’t know how many to-do lists I’ve made in my life, there must be thousands. Yet when I check these lists months after the fact, very little is done. Why? I’m not lazy or completely unorganized. Let's look at a couple of factors.

Ummm...Now What?

The biggest problem the musician faces is unlike most other careers, there is no one blueprint. As many different careers there are in the music industry, there are paths to get there. The good thing about being a musician in today’s society is that there is more information available and ways of making it than there ever were before. With all of this info comes the problem: what applies to me and what doesn’t? What can I use and what is useless? Since there are so many ways in making in the music industry, it won’t be the same for everybody. What may be good for you may not be good for somebody else.

There are a few general guidelines that you can follow: for example if you want to release an album, there are certain things that need to be done. The specifics though, are up to you. For example how you go about marketing the album is entirely up to you. Since most musicians don’t have much of a budget for marketing, you may have to come up with some creative ways to get your name out there. If you’ve been in a band and that hasn’t worked out, what do you do next? Like I said there is no blueprint. Do you join another band, go out on your own, try to capitalize on another musical talent that you have? The only way to know is to make a decision, then get in there and get dirty. Experience above all, will allow you to make better decisions. Once in there, you’ll gain knowledge and meet other like minded people that will help in your journey. In the beginning, since you don’t have the experience, you may just have to jump in there and see what works. Once you’ve started and got your feet wet, it becomes clearer of what you need to learn and do.

So it can be said that sometimes things don’t get done because we’re not sure what to do and even when we do, there can be so many things that come up that it’s easy to get discouraged and lose focus. One of the things that we’re going to have to deal with on a constant basis on our journey to get somewhere is figuring out what has to be done, and then having the discipline to see it all through. One of the big factors why we don’t get things done is because we may lack long term focus and discipline. You may be saying at this point ‘Wait a minute, I have discipline, I get things done everyday!’ The problem with the music industry is that it takes a long time to get where you want to go. It takes long term focus and commitment. Think about how long it took you to learn your instrument and apply the same principles to the rest of your music career.

You Already Know The Way

You learned your instrument by practicing everyday. This included practicing when sometimes you weren’t in the mood. Sometimes you practiced things like scales and sight reading when you really hated doing them. You also followed a path and tried to go a bit further each day. For those of you who had professional lessons, your learning path was maybe more conventional but even those of you who were completely self taught, had a method by which you learned and grew. If might have been haphazard and sporadic, but it’s there. It’s this same type of method that we’re going to apply to your music career and things that you want to accomplish.

When you first started learning your instrument, you may have bought a book, took lessons, learned from a friend or even just started noodling around on your own. You didn’t know what you were doing in the beginning so you just kind of muddled your way through. The more you played though, the more obvious it became of what you needed to learn and want was missing from your knowledge. You may have learned a couple of chords and were quite proud of yourself until you got together with a friend of yours and saw how he could solo without knowing the song. So you started asking questions. ‘How did you do that? What's a scale?’ You now had a couple more nuggets of knowledge that you applied to your playing. It was at this point that you realized that you needed some help and either set up some lessons or went out and bought a book. Or, maybe you went on the internet and downloaded some tabs of guitar solos to see what they were made of. The point is you took it step by step without really thinking about it.

This is what we've got to do with our music career but we should be more organized and deliberate about it. Every decision will have a lot more impact on your future and be time consuming so we want to be more thoughtful about the steps we take. It becomes a little more daunting when applying all of this to your music career because now you’re going to have to be out there, in the thick of it. It’s one thing to try different things in the safety of your practice, but it’s another to go into a room full of professionals and sell yourself. Like your music practice, there are many different directions you can take, and the ones you decide will depend on you, your talents and personality.

Help, I Need Somebody

So are you going to do it on your own or are you going to get some help. I hate to be the one to tell you but it’s going to be both. So if you’re great one your own and have trouble asking for help or vice versa, you’re going to have to make some changes. Here’s why.

As a career musician you’re going to have to be incredibly self motivated and have a lot of confidence in yourself. At the end of the day it’s your career and it’s a tough industry so you’ll have to keep focused and learn to develop a thick skin. Rejection and disappointment are part of the course, not exceptions. There are going to be times when it feels like everything is going wrong and you don’t have an ounce of energy left to deal with it. It’s then that you’re usually on your own and the only person you have to really depend on to pick yourself up is …you. It’s also easier to get other people motivated and to get help when you’ve got it all together.

Herein lies the second part of the dilemma. No matter how tough, organized and together you are, you’re going to need other people to get where you want to go. The music industry is a relationship industry. Managing a music career on your own is also way too much work for one individual to do it effectively. The sooner you get used to asking for help and getting people involved, the sooner it will all happen for you.

Next we'll look at some principles in project management.

Manangement for Musicians: Intro

I’ve been working on quite a few projects at the same time in the last couple of weeks and decided that I would spend the next couple of blogs talking about management for musicians. I’ve worked on my own and with a lot of artists over the years and I’ve found that most musicians don’t get as much done not for lack of trying but of simple mismanagement. Most musicians these days pretty much have to do it all: write, record, tour and promote. Getting all of this done can be overwhelming to almost anyone never mind the fact that most musicians have never been taught how to properly manage any one of these things. I also have come to realize the value of this discipline and hold it right up there with marketing and promotion. It’s the use of these management skills that ultimately allows me to get everything else done.

Basically when it comes to getting anything done, it’s all about management. There’s time management, project management and career management. No matter what you’re working on right now, all three of these have a place in what you’re trying to accomplish. If you don’t like doing paperwork and feel that you’re not much of a planner, stick with me, nether am I…or at least I wasn’t. I’ve learned how to incorporate some great time and project management skills without becoming a stiff administrator.

In the next couple of blogs I’ll be focusing on project management and how to make sure that you get everything done using your existing skills and habits. I’ve taken courses and read many books on the subjects of time management and project management and they all seem to want to make you fit into a preconceived program that has no bearing on who or how you are. I’ve been making to-do lists and creating planners for years yet never seemed to get very far. I’ve always had a problem doing things on a regimented system and tried to find some sort of way to use the great skills that these courses described but within my own capabilities and faults. It’s all about using what you have and not trying to squeeze into some regimented drill sergeant routine.

More to come…