A Great Resource

Having just started this blog and being the type who thinks before I act, I have pages and pages of notes that I have been making as I contemplated doing this, along with a list of topics. But, in that age-old way of meaningful coincidences, I just became aware of a tremendous resource that is already complete and covers a lot of what I was going to cover! As I was going through the Alberta Music Industry Association newsletter today, I was interested to see that there was a resource called "The Art of Managing Your Career". As referenced in that newsletter, the Cultural Human Resources Council has recently released a 2009 edition of their resource called "The Art of Managing Your Career - A Guide for the Canadian Artist and the Self-Employed Cultural Worker". This five chapter book is available online and while it is for all artistic disciplines, there is also an accompanying discipline specific series which includes "The Art of Managing Your Career in Music and Sound Recording". If you are at all serious about your music career - take the time to make use of this fantastic resource. I just read The Art of Managing Your Career in Music and Sound Recording. It is 35 pages of general but extremely valuable information along with several pages of links to relevant websites. While I haven't yet read the five chapters of the main publication, they appear to contain helpful information and exercises. The exercises help you evaluate your competency and help you set goals, and then there are chapters such as "You and the Law".

In short, as it says in The Art of Managing Your Career in Music and Sound Recording "The basic assumption of this project is that you wish to treat your musical aspirations like a business. This is no small step - many musicians never make this leap of logic, and spend their careers wondering why their bank balance never seems to equal their talent" (page 13). Quite frankly, that is exactly how I feel. I have listened to many, many musicians lament that they don't earn what they should. I will tell you right now that you earn exactly what you should and if you don't like it - then you need to do something to change it or get out of the business. Don't be like the guy in the seminar I was at this year at SXSW who stood up and said "I'm approaching retirement age and I have no money because this business never appreciated me and paid me what it should". Seriously, whose fault is it that he has no money? The industry's ... or is it his? Personally, I think it is his. I know that is a very unpopular thing to say but it is true - if you are going to put a price on something (your performance, your CD) and sell it; then you are in business. Just like any business, you cannot expect people to line up to give you money. You need to provide something the marketplace wants; you need to create your career. So start acting that way and learn about not just the business side of music but about business in general. The sooner you embrace the business side of music; the better off you will be. Or as an alternative, you can continue to sit around with your musician friends complaining about the industry. Because that appears to be many musician's second best talent - complaining. I suggest that you take the energy you have been putting into complaining, and put it into learning. Your bank account will thank you!

I'll be drawing a lot on this resource as I continue to blog. The next topic up is "Where Are You Going" and I'll talk about making the decision on whether or not you want to make music your career, whether you want to keep it as a hobby, and what factors enter the decision that you need to make. There is no 'right' answer - you need to assess your situation. And I will try to give you some tools to help you do that. In another post I'll talk about goal setting after I help you assess "Where You Are". And then we'll get into the fun of making a career plan.

If you know me at all ... you know I wouldn't forget this ... this is where you get that great resource that I referenced above http://www.culturalhrc.ca/amyc/index-e.asp

The music industry specific information is a "Discipline Enhancement" from the menu on the left hand side. Enjoy reading!