HOW I TOTALLY FAILED…(AND THE SYSTEM THAT WAS MISSING):
I remember what it was like to be a struggling musician. In fact, I remember the day I quit.
I never tell this story because I help run a studio business, and it’s bad for business to tell people how you failed in music. But for the sake of the few that may be able to identify with this scenario, I want to tell you what happened when I gave up being a musician. This is how it went down…
It was about 10 years ago; we were on tour (sort of), and we didn’t really have the money to make it home. Our parents and friends had given us the money to get out as far as we did with our gas guzzling conversion van and our tiny U-Haul trailer.
There were six of us; we didn’t know what we were doing, and we didn’t agree on how we were doing it. We didn’t know what was most important, but we had all tried to do our part to hit the invisible target week after week after week for so long, we didn’t even remember how we started.
The bassist was driving the van. Looking back now, that was probably more dangerous that what happened next…
Our lead singer and the drummer were brothers, and they got into an argument in the front. I chimed in with something like “oh yeah?! Then, I’m out!” just in time to see my life flash before my eyes as Steve (the singer…who outweighed me by at least 150 pounds) grabbed me by the throat and threatened to “slay” me!
We were all a little stressed to say the least, but we gathered our composure long enough to “break up” before anyone got hurt.
I officially quit first, then one by one, they all did too. Everything we had worked for (for years) was gone in a few minutes.
As we crossed the state line, the ride home was quiet. We had let each other down, and everyone else who sacrificed for us to try to “make it” out there. It was sad.
Quitting is lame, even when it’s the right thing to do.
So, like I was saying, I know what it’s like to be a struggling musician. And I know what it’s like to give up. It’s a tough game to play, and almost all the cards are stacked against you. Almost all of them…
Since the day I quit, I have spent a lot of time trying to help other artists and bands do a better job than we did. Obviously, a lot of that has been done from inside the mastering studio @ SoundOps. But audio mastering isn’t the only thing an indie artist needs to be successful. We’d be lying if we said it is.
In fact, from time to time, I see something outside the studio that is so important, I’d recommend it over my own company’s service…
This is one of those things.
If you’re in a band, and you are low on cash – so low, that it’s either guitar strings, or gas, or mastering, you need to check out this link before you spend a single penny on any of that stuff.
The link to THE NEW MUSIC ECONOMY
The first thing you’ll see is a video. It’s about a special marketing system by Greg Rollett from Gen-Y Rockstars (5 videos and 4 workbooks) that if you just follow along, will change everything you and your band are doing on a daily basis, and show you exactly how to focus your efforts on what matters – getting fans (in a way that will pay your bills)!
This is not a sneak attack sales pitch – I’ll go ahead and tell you, what he’s offering costs $47, and if I was a broke musician again, I’d spend my last dime on it. I would do it for myself if not for my band.
I’m not usually this serious, but failure for anyone is serious. And if I had to choose between food and making an investment like this in my music…
knowing what I know now…
I’d starve to make it happen. I am convinced it would have made the difference for me.
- Will
PS: We don’t work for Greg, and he doesn’t work for us. I recommend his stuff because it works.
PPS: Don’t worry, I’m a pretty happy dude these days 
Things turned out OK.. but they would have been cooler if we had made it to the big time.
PPPS: Good luck!