Do you need some immediate help on how to
start a successful music career ? Here are 4 key
things you can begin to focus on right now to
begin.
1) Practice to become a professional musician –
Continuously work on improving your musical
skills, but before you think, “That’s obvious. Tell
me something I don’t know”, there are important
things to consider. It’s not necessarily about
learning more techniques, improving your guitar
speed or increasing the size of your chord
vocabulary. Think about what a professional
musician really needs to know and do musically.
Playing your instrument well at home is one thing,
but playing well consistently in the studio or on
stage is completely different, thus the training and
practicing required to play well in those
professional environments are also very different.
Yes, you should continue to improve your overall
musical skills, but if you want to start a successful music career you will need to specifically practice your ability to play well ‘consistently’ in a variety of higher-pressure situations. - Amateurs practice something to ‘get it right’. Professionals practice to ‘never get it wrong’.
So the next time you practice your guitar, instead
of trying to play something ‘faster’ or learn something ‘new’, focus on playing whatever you can already play ‘consistently well’. Think about a professional guitar player like Eric Clapton. He’s not a great technical guitar player at all, his knowledge of music theory is probably
not vast, but one of the reasons why he became
successful in his early days (and continues to be
successful today) is because he can play on his
own level ‘consistently well’ every night in any
environment.
In addition to the ‘consistency factor’ just
mentioned, there are other things professionals
practice that most guitar players typically don’t
implement in their practicing. For example, having
a really good ear is something that professional
musicians rely on heavily, yet most guitar players
don’t dedicate practice time to develop their aural
skills.
2) Your Recordings – If your music skills are good
and your songs are good it might be all for
nothing if your recordings suck. You do not
necessarily have to invest huge amounts of
money to record in a great studio, nor do you
have to invest huge amounts of money in a great
home studio (although it is nice), but you DO
need the playing on your recordings to sound
TIGHT (making everything rhythmically PERFECT,
appropriate dynamic playing, etc.)!
Do NOT make the mistake of thinking, oh this is
only a demo, so tight playing is not that critical
when making a simple demo... I assure you, IT
IS! Virtually anyone in the music industry today
who hears your music will immediately notice if
the performance recording is not tight. And if it’s
not, they won’t be interested. Why? Because your
“demo” is supposed to show others both your
songs and your musical abilities. The assumption
will be that if your demo is not tight, then your
live sound will be amateurish and putting you in
the studio will cost a fortune when you have to
play something 500 times to get it right.
So if you want to start a successful music career,
you should practice recording yourself frequently
in order to make your studio playing as tight as
possible.
3) Your Live Playing – It’s been said that
successful music careers are built on the stage.
While not all musicians start a music career this
way, it is true that your live playing is a critical
component and can make or break your chances
of developing a music career .
Record companies want bands that can sell
themselves from the stage. That means when a
band plays live people listening should want to
actually buy the band’s music, and all other band
related merchandise. It’s a fact that your fans
will buy more during and after a great live show
than after a mediocre one even if the songs
played are exactly the same. The music industry
(or successful bands you might like to join) look
very closely at your ability to create a great live
show experience for audiences.
Most musicians and amateur bands don’t truly
work to improve their live performance skills.
Great live playing is much more than simply
playing songs while standing (and hoping not to
make mistakes)… yet for the majority of local
musicians and bands this is all they really seem
to focus on when playing live.
4) Where your fans live is really important – If
you want to get signed to a major record label,
which do you think is better?
A. To have 5,000 fans in your country (or around
the world).
B. To have 5,000 fans in your local area only.
The answer is “B”. It is much easier to get 5,000
fans around the country (or the entire world) than
it is to get 5,000 fans in your local area. Everyone
in the music industry knows this (including record
companies). If you sold 5,000 copies worldwide of
your new album on your own, that is good
accomplishment, but if you sold 5,000 in your
local area on your own that would be a major
accomplishment in the eyes of record labels.
Why does it matter? Record labels know that if
you can sell 5,000 copies in one location on your
own, then it makes sense that a record company
could probably sell even more copies not only in
your area but in many cities/countries.
By having so many fans in one area you demonstrate to the music industry that you have a lot of proven value to offer and their willingness to invest into your music career will go way up! Although the internet is a great tool for musicians, many artists are focusing on reaching out to the whole world at once and don’t invest enough time and energy into building a valuable local foundation of fans.
Before the internet, bands typically tried to build a
strong local fan base around their city. Those that
succeeded in this area where most likely to build
a successful music career. But since the internet
has opened up so many new possibilities, many
unsigned musicians/bands have forgotten the
basics which are still very relevant to getting
signed to a major record company.
What’s next? – Obviously there are a lot of things
you need to do to start a successful music
career, but this article is designed to get you
started now so that you will be in a better
position to do the next steps after you have
implemented the concepts above. Here’s a quick
summary of action steps to take now:
In addition to improving your overall musical
skills, practice to play ‘consistently well’ with the
skills you already have.
Practice recording yourself frequently in order to
make your studio playing as tight as possible.
Work on improving your live performance skills
( stage presence , playing in totally different
environments, etc.).
Build your fan base locally as well as internationally (using different strategies for each).

source: tomhess.net/HowToStartASuccessfulMusicCareer.aspx

There is no mathematics to be successful in music. Just like there is no mathematics to be successful in life