We’re writing this post a few weeks before the new year so that you have some time to think about which of the following apply to you, and which ones you need to do something about.
1. Making music that nobody hears
Stop it! If you’re making music for yourself, there’s no shame in that. But if you’re making music and you’re afraid to share it with people, therein lies the problem. Or maybe you’re afraid of all the hard work it takes to get your stuff out there. Stop making music that nobody hears…especially if your stuff is good! But there’s more…
I once had a friend who, once he finish putting out an album, he would head into the studio a few months later and start recording the next one. Stop doing this! This is the worst idea ever and it will literally kill your music career! At the very least, give yourself 1 year to heavily tour, promote, or share you album with fans. After all you spent so much time making it. By right, you should put 2-3 years between each album to really give it the breathing room it needs.
2. Living vicariously through other people
Are you one of those people who sits back, watches other people’s success and wishes it were you. This happens to everyone…literally. The first thing you should know is that the grass always looks greener on the other side. Often what you’re seeing is the product of alot of hard work. Alot. In addition, living vicariously through others doesn’t help you one bit. On occasion, it can motivate you to actually do something, but most times it just makes you jealous. And there’s more…
Stop living vicariously through your daydreams. Any time you get stuck in “what could be” instead of “what is”, you’re getting yourself into major trouble. Dream, but don’t daydream.
3. Cluelessness
Ok, this one sounds a bit harsh, but you have no excuse for not knowing how to do stuff. We’re not saying you should do everything, but we are saying that you should be aware. Stuff like creating Facebook events, pitching yourself to a venue (See: Writing the Perfect Email Pitch), booking and promoting a show, and all those other annoying things we wish we didn’t have to do. If you really don’t know what you’re doing, spend some time (extensively) on this site, and you’ll be better for it!
4. Trying to get your friends to come to your shows
Look Open mic is great, and you’ll make some great friends, but you can’t keep asking your music buddies to come to your gigs. You can’t keep asking your family and other friends either. You need fans – real fans. We’ve talked about this one before, but it still happens all the time. And we’d be lying if we didn’t give our friends at Indie on the Move credit for point #4. Read their latest post and you’ll see what we mean: Dear Indie Band, Your Friends Are Not Your Fans.
5. Ignoring your website
While hanging with another friend this week, he decided to pull out his laptop and stick his show on his website’s calendar. The only problem is that the show was the following day. I bit my tongue but I wanted to punch him and say, “that should have been on your website 4 weeks ago”!
Stop ignoring your website…or your Facebook page, or your band’s Twitter account. If you have fans, that’s where they’ll go. If you want fans, that’s where they’ll go. Check out: The 3 Biggest Mistakes Artists Make on Their Website and How To Measure Your Website’s Success.
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