Living The Dream

Yep, that's me. Living the dream. I certainly look happy enough...and I am! Why wouldn't I be? I get to do what I love for a living....play music.

I have a lot of people approach me and tell me how lucky I am or that they wish they could do something they love as their primary source of income. They can. Especially if they sing and play an instrument.

Now let me make something perfectly clear right now. I don't have a hit record, not even a record deal. I've never been discovered through a talent show like "Idol" and I'm certainly not rich and famous. A lot of people are under the illusion that you have to have a song on the radio, a video clip on MTV, and a major record label backing you in order to make a career out of music. Yes, that would be very nice and those fortunate enough to have achieved that level of success are doing very well but if that's your definition of success then good luck.

The reality is that most of us musically-inclined people are never likely to be rich, famous pop stars. So what do we do? Give up? Resign ourselves to the fact that it's just never going to happen for us and go back to our menial day jobs, swearing to never pick up a guitar again? Ok, we can always count music as a hobby but it can also be a good living, or at the very least a good source of additional income depending on what you want and what you're prepared to sacrifice.

For many years I dragged myself out of bed to the shrill of an alarm clock to go to a job that I hated every day, my saving grace being the fact that I could look forward to playing a gig on the weekend. Now I know we all have different situations, circumstances, and responsibilities but if quality of life is more important to you than a big house, a flash car, an escalating mortage and increasing stress levels then you might want to consider making music your living too.

There are many ways you can derive income from music. Playing gigs is an obvious one but take a look around your area. What kind of gigs are they? Pubs, clubs, coffee shops, restaurants? What kind of music is most popular in these venues? Do they book soloists, duos, trios or bands? It's important to research your market in order to tailor the music you provide to your intended audience. Forget about being an "artist" for a moment and think like a business person. Be prepared to give the people what they want. That usually means playing cover songs and quite possibly some songs that you don't really like. So what? Beats a nine-to-five job hands down in my book!

If you're a versatile singer or particularly good on your chosen musical instrument you may also find additional work doing sessions for other recording artists. Check out recording studios and feel them out if this is something you feel you could do.

Can you teach? There are always opportunites to teach music either through established music schools or setting up your own private tuition from home.

Are you creative? Can you write catchy songs? Perhaps you could pen jingles for radio and television advertisements.

No, you don't have to completely kill off the artist inside you. If you're a songwriter then recording your own CD and marketing it independently is easier than you think. You can sell them at your gigs or through various sites on the internet. Check out my MySpace page and also my CD Baby page for some ideas on promoting your own music. Another good promotional tool is a site called Sonicbids where you can set up your own online electronic press kit.

I know a number of musicians who record CD's featuring cover songs that they perform at their gigs. These are also a handy little earner as people who've enjoyed your show often like to take home a CD of the songs they liked you playing.

So what's your dream? Sometimes we need to re-evaluate and ask ourselves what we really want from life. As I said, I'm not rich or famous but I look forward to going to work. I feel great after a gig knowing that I was responsible for them having a good time. I love not having to get up to an alarm clock every morning and having the freedom to go and soak up some rays at the beach if I feel so inclined.

If you can live without the security of a fixed wage coming in every week and you're prepared to put the work in to get established then you too can be living the dream as I am.