© 2013 Vinny Ribas
- Lack of Planning – If you haven’t planned out your career path, then you are just winging it. Everything you do should have a defined purpose behind it and be well thought out. If you don’t know how to do this, find someone who does. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!”
- Wrong Order – It is vital that you do things in the right order. What good is getting 100,000 YouTube views if you don’t have a good website to drive the viewers to or don’t drive them to where they can buy your music? What good is a nice website if you don’t have a newsletter and a way to capture email addresses, or a link to where they can purchase your music? Think every step through. If everything goes the way you hope, do you have everything in place to capitalize on it?
- Not Marketable – This doesn’t mean that you’re not good. It just means there is not a demand for your particular talent in the places you are marketing yourself. Maybe that market is flooded. You might want to search out where your talent will be in demand and market yourself there.
- Too Common – It could be that you don’t stand out from the crowd and so you get lost in it. Find a way to be unique. The last thing you want is for people to say you are similar to another artist. What you want is for them NOT to be able to pigeonhole you! You can do this in any number of ways – being a cross between several artists, the way you dress, the instrumentation you use, the songs you write, the way your music is produced etc.
- One or More Pieces Are Missing – This is a tough one to pinpoint. There are so many components to a successful artist’s career, and they all need to be in place and solid. One of the things missing for many artists is good production, especially if they record and produce themselves. Another is one or more weak team members. Everyone on the team has to contribute to the artist’s success. For example, what good is a manager or booking agent who doesn’t have the industry knowledge, contacts, clout, and negotiating skills to make a difference in the artist’s career?
- Bad Song Choice – Weak songwriting is a major challenge for many artists. Just because you write doesn’t mean that your songs are the best for launching your career. There is nothing wrong with recording cover tunes as long as you make them your own. You can also get songs from other strong songwriters. Look for ones who have a history of writing good songs and getting cuts.
- Fear of Success – This may seem like it doesn’t fit, but it is amazing how many artists unknowingly sabotage their own careers. They don’t go after the big gigs. They are afraid to network and reach out to people who can help them. They never get around to fixing their website or starting and growing a mailing list. They have an excuse for just about everything, the most common of which is ‘not enough time.’ Yet they have time for all kinds of unrelated activities. What are you neglecting?
- Not Learning The Business – If you don’t know how the business works, how can you successfully navigate it? If you don’t know what to watch out for, how can you expect to avoid being taken for a ride? If you don’t know all of the ways you could be making money, how can you maximize your income? Be a student of the industry!
