This is quickly becoming NOT the case! Many labels want you to crowdfund your own projects to validate the “demand” and also so they don’t’ have to front it!)
Leah McHenry – The Online Musician 3.0
“I’ve taken everything I’ve learned from investing more than $200,000 in music marketing & business education PLUS everything I’ve done to make multiple 6-figures from my music annually, and boiled it all down to a program that is SIMPLE to learn and implement in record speed.”
– Leah McHenry, Founder of Savvy Musician AcademyBuild & Launch Your Online Music Career In 8 Weeks Without Labels, Advertising, or Touring
If you’re a musician, songwriter, or composer looking to make music your full-time living than you already know you need to build your music career online.
Thanks to the internet more musicians are making a living from their music today than ever before! Sadly, less than 5% of musicians ever successfully accomplish their dream of making music full-time.
There’s a very good reason why, and it’s not because your music isn’t good.
The reason most talented, hard-working musicians are still broke today is because they believe one or all of these myths….
5 Myths Broke Musicians Believe… and What You Can Do About It
Myth #1
You need a label to succeed
This USED to be true, even just 10 years ago. But something unprecedented happened, which completely leveled the playing field. It’s called Napster (do you remember this?). It was the world’s first file-sharing app. Whether for good or bad, it changed the music industry forever. With the addition of Youtube, Facebook, and many other social platforms, the ability for fans to reach their audience completely removed the need for middle-men. Today, this is the first time in the history of the music business, talented & hard-working musicians can succeed TO A GREATER DEGREE without a label than with one!
If you’re still trying to get a record deal, let me quickly break down the pros and cons for you:
Pros
They have capital $ to invest
This is quickly becoming NOT the case! Many labels want you to crowdfund your own projects to validate the “demand” and also so they don’t’ have to front it!)
They have contacts
True, many labels have been around for a long time and they know the right people to get you into the right festivals, or get you special promos. There are ways around this so that you don’t need a label, though.
Maximum Exposure
This assumes the label is actually doing a good job of marketing! The truth is that most labels today are COMPLETELY BEHIND when it comes to digital marketing practices. We’ve observed a complete lack of basic marketing knowledge in some of the most popular labels around. Here are SMA, we say they are still in the dinosaur age, based on what we see from them.
After considering these things, do you really think you still need a label?
Cons
Any $ invested in you is actually a loan that you have to pay back!
And usually that involves some serious terms…. and that’s where you end up trading your time for dollars, by having to tour and tour and tour just to make back that load. You don’t make much money at all until that loan is paid back… if that even happens!
You could lose your artistic freedom
You can spend all this time on your music, and the label can hear what you’re working on and decide it doesn’t like the direction you’re going in.
They don’t always deliver on their promises
They might not actually do everything they say they’ll do for your music career. I’ve met many artists who were so disappointed with what they thought was a good deal, only to find out it doesn’t do diddly squat.
You won’t make that much money after all
The labels take such a huge cut that you’re rarely going to be able to make a real living doing music with them. Unless you’re the next big superstar (and let’s be realistic: most of us are not superstars — we’re everyday artists doing our thing and we want to share it with the world) it’s not even worth signing away the little you’d be making!
Get immediately download Leah McHenry – The Online Musician 3.0
Myth #2
Independent musicians can’t make money
People believe this myth because we now live in a streaming and file-sharing era. With Youtube, radio, and digital formats, people think no one buys music anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth! The reality is consumers love to consume the music & products they love in multiple formats.
Physical music and merchandise is still one of the leading revenue streams for musicians around the world. Streaming enhances this relationship and plays a big role in our sales today! The key is to have a strategic plan that incorporates ALL streams of income, including digital & physical formats.
I built a multiple six-figure music career without touring, labels, or licensing deals all because she embraced the fact that people STILL BUY MUSIC from artists they support, and die-hard fans want everything you have, including all merchandise you make available!
If you think you need millions of fans to accomplish your dreams, you’re wrong. For example, in my last crowdfunding campaign, I raised close to $90,000 in only 30 days with less than 1500 fans! You only need to be “niche-famous” to a small group of fans who are CRAZY about your music.
Myth #3
You need to tour in order to be successful
The third myth is that you have to tour or play live all the time… or as many gigs as you possibly can to get exposure.
Now this one I really get. I used to believe that I HAD to tour in order to be successful, to sell any music, to get exposure.. and it’s just what musicians did!
Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with touring. HOWEVER… the more you understand the real costs of touring, you discover how LITTLE artists make and the payoff is really not what it used to be. Even popular bands have written about barely breaking even, and most lose money, even on a successful tour. Touring may have its purpose, but for 90% of bands, you will not make a full-time living with this method.
If your reason for touring is to shake hands and get your name out there, I can tell you there are FAR more effective ways to do this… and on a GLOBAL SCALE that pales in comparison to playing for 20 people in a dive bar (who are all scrolling on their phones anyway).
Launching your music career online is the way to do this and leverage your time and talent. Imagine gaining hundreds of new fans while you’re sleeping. That’s the power of The Online Musician at work.
Myth #4
I’m too old/fat/ugly/fill-in-the-blank to have a successful music career
Yeah, I used to think that too. After I had kids I certainly didn’t fit the supermodel package I used to see on MTV and I thought no one would take me seriously. The good news is more than ever, people want to connect with music that is meaningful to them, and they don’t care what you look like or how old you are. Just look at shows like America’s Got Talent or The Voice and you see incredible people of all ages, ethnicities and body types — the crowds love them all! I’m living proof that even after having 5 kids and well into my 30’s — you can still build a music career of your dreams. I’m living the dream and I don’t have to hold back because of a limiting belief I used to have.
Myth #5
All you need is good music
I agree 100% that good music is the absolute foundation and heart of why we’re here. No one is going to get anywhere with bad or mediocre music. Your music must be good. It must stand out. It must be excellent. Now, having said that, I’ve noticed there’s often a false mentality that goes along with this. It sounds like this:
“In order to become successful, you have to eat, sleep, and breathe your music 24/7. Play anywhere and everywhere 7 days a week. Do this for 5-10 years and then you MIGHT get noticed. And any other way is BS.”
That was an actual comment from Facebook! But you know what… what this guy described was the OLD way. That was how things were in the Old Music Industry. That’s the old-school way of thinking now and it will seriously limit you!
Now we have entered what I call the New Music Industry. This means new opportunity like never before! Never before have we ever had access to people at any moment in any country around the world in an instant. That is NEW.
Never before could you write a song, upload it to the internet, go to bed…. and someone across the globe in another world discovers you while you’re sleeping… and buys your song, and becomes your fan. That is NEW.
This is an extremely exciting time we live in for musicians, old and young. There’s actually a market for EVERYTHING.
Every kind of music is wanted. Someone somewhere is searching for the most obscure niche music and wants to come across what you’ve just created.
And while the internet can feel like a huge ocean, and it is… If you do things RIGHT, you can seize an incredible opportunity to connect with the RIGHT fans who are already looking for your music.
Why Your Efforts Have Gotten You Nowhere
If you’ve ever believed one of those 5 myths, it’s no wonder you’ve been struggling. I was there!
I know exactly what it’s like to put so much energy into getting your music off the ground… and get absolutely nowhere. You’ve posted your music to Youtube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Spotify, and ALL the places. You have profiles on all the artist sites. You’ve tried Patreon, crowdfunding, and anything you could think of to try and raise funds, and you never got the traction you wanted.
You have social media accounts and you try to post as often as you can, but it seems like no one is engaging or paying attention. After doing so many things, you start to wonder if the truth is that you really just aren’t very good and maybe you should even quit…?
If any of that resonates, you are completely normal! This is so common and exactly why I created Savvy Musician Academy.
Why You Need To Become an Online Musician
You can stop waiting to be discovered
No more fantasizing that someone hears your track or stumbles across you at a gig, waiting for you with a magical contract in hand. You’re in charge of your own success. Success won’t’ happen TO you, you’ll make it happen.
You control your own schedule
You decide when you want to work on music, how long, how often, and when you want to release a new album. No pressure to do anything from anyone! No answering to managers or industry people who don’t care about your personal wellbeing, health, or finances. You control what you want to do.
You control your own music rights
So important, but so overlooked. Too many musicians are so desperate to get signed, they completely shoot themselves in the foot with a bad contract. The appeal of being on a label completely clouds their reasoning. When you’re an online musician, you never have to worry about anyone controlling or owning your music. It’s yours, end of story.
Only tour if and when you want to
Tired of gigging all the time? Or maybe you’re a full-time parent or student and touring constantly is not realistic. When you’re an online musician, you call the shots. Maybe you want to do what I’m doing and really focus on having a recording career and building a fanbase worldwide… and then decide to tour later on (and sell out all your shows!). Never feel obligated again.
You get 100% financial benefit
When no one is taking a huge cut from your hard-earned royalties that’s 100% more for you to live on! The likelihood of you actually succeeding in your wish to have a full-time music career skyrockets! Every dollar counts when you’re a musician. When you keep what’s rightfully yours, that means there’s more for you to help out your family, get the dream gear you’ve been wanting, fund your own projects and invest back into your career – which will drive it forward even more!
If you’ve decided you want to become an Online Musician, that’s great! I applaud you — that’s a fantastic decision.
I will warn you though: in making this brave choice, there are many places musicians tend to get stuck in the learning curve:
The project planning, the time management, social media strategies that actually move the needle, launching an album online, finding your niche, technology…. SO many things. How can you be an expert in all these things all at once??
What I would’ve given to have a clear-cut path & methodical strategy to get me where I wanted to go. It would’ve saved me YEARS of frustration, wasted time, money, and energy.
And that’s exactly why I created The Online Musician self-paced course. I created the entire steps & processes to go from creating my masterpiece to launching it online and making sales organically.
It’s everything I wish I had years ago, boiled down into simple, doable steps, and explained in a way you can completely understand and implement!
More information won’t do you any good. Implementing will.
The Online Musician isn’t just information. It’s a methodical program designed to help you implement everything you learn in a sequential step-by-step method.
Get immediately download Leah McHenry – The Online Musician 3.0
At the end of 8 weeks, not only will you have a complete understanding of exactly what it takes to succeed as an online musician today, you’ll see incredible progress in everything from your social media following, your music sales, and your success mindset (which is responsible for all your future success!)
The Online Musician is the only program of it’s kind that…
Gives you teaching that will actually move the needle for you
If it hasn’t affected my bank account in a positive way, I don’t teach it. I don’t ever believe in filler or fluff. I only care about what really matters and will change your music career right now. We don’t have time to waste.
Comes with unprecedented support
We pride ourselves in the Savvy Musician experience. Not only will you get the education, tools, and resources you need to succeed, we make sure you are surrounded in the community and friendships that will truly take you to the next level. In addition, we provide top-notch support from our Savvy Success Team. Our motto is that no one will outserve us. Expect to be supported all the way!
Teaches what you need to know in a methodical step-by-step system
Lots of people have information, but few know how to “teach” in a way you can absorb and process the information and easily implement it. This happens to be my gifting (besides music). I’m can make complex and difficult concepts easy to understand and then I can help you figure out exactly the way you should implement it for YOU.
What You Will Get In The Online Musician 3.0
Clarity & A Roadmap
We’ll help you determine what your goals are, how long it will take you to get there, and how to map out your entire year so you know exactly what you’re doing and how you’ll do it!
A Plan To Reach Fans
We focus on building a real brand that will outlast you. This means we focus on real brand-building concepts that move the needle, including your music culture, image, website, and message.
Tech How-Tos
If you don’t consider yourself a “techie” – never fear! We are known for our easy to understand tutorials to show you each step of how to set things up, easy-peasy!
Help Along the Way
If you’re worried about getting stuck, you’re in the right place. You’re on this journey for yourself, but not by yourself – our support staff, coaches, and community are here to support you!
Read more: https://archive.ph/R1MpG