There is one thing that Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have in common- they both make millions of dollars a year and neither one can sing. They are also both geniuses. That's right, I said "geniuses". You have to be a genius to captitalize on a talent you don't actually possess. They have found a way to market themselves so that consumers pay more attention to their image than their inability to sing. And they are laughing all the way to the bank.
If you want to actually make money in the music industry these days, you have to put down the instrument for a while and start studying business. Real musicians have to make it a priority to educate themselves in the business they are trying so hard to enter. The days of sitting on a street corner, playing music and waiting for a music producer to discover you are over.
I can't stand it when musicians say "I'm an artist, I don't do math" or "I'm an artist, I don't concern myself with economics". Those are the people who will be sitting on that street corner for the rest of their lives, just waiting to be discovered.
Music executives aren't the least bit concerned with how well you sing or play guitar. They are only concerned with the bottom line: how much money can you make the company. Someone that doesn't know how to market themselves, won't make very much money.
Take a lesson from the queen of marketing, Ms. Paris Hilton. She's been in movies and she can't act. She's sold a book and she can't write. And now she is topping the charts with her version of a reggae song and she can't even sing. I'm sure she's aware that she's not particularly gifted in any of these areas, but she is gifted in the area of self promotion.
Real music fans are acheing for some innovative talent, but it doesn't seem like we are going to get it any time soon. Musicians need to embrace the business side of their craft. They must realize that finding new ways to promote themselves and market their craft can be as creative an experience as composing a piice of music. If they don't, we are going to be stuck listening to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears for a real long time to come.
If you want to actually make money in the music industry these days, you have to put down the instrument for a while and start studying business. Real musicians have to make it a priority to educate themselves in the business they are trying so hard to enter. The days of sitting on a street corner, playing music and waiting for a music producer to discover you are over.
I can't stand it when musicians say "I'm an artist, I don't do math" or "I'm an artist, I don't concern myself with economics". Those are the people who will be sitting on that street corner for the rest of their lives, just waiting to be discovered.
Music executives aren't the least bit concerned with how well you sing or play guitar. They are only concerned with the bottom line: how much money can you make the company. Someone that doesn't know how to market themselves, won't make very much money.
Take a lesson from the queen of marketing, Ms. Paris Hilton. She's been in movies and she can't act. She's sold a book and she can't write. And now she is topping the charts with her version of a reggae song and she can't even sing. I'm sure she's aware that she's not particularly gifted in any of these areas, but she is gifted in the area of self promotion.
Real music fans are acheing for some innovative talent, but it doesn't seem like we are going to get it any time soon. Musicians need to embrace the business side of their craft. They must realize that finding new ways to promote themselves and market their craft can be as creative an experience as composing a piice of music. If they don't, we are going to be stuck listening to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears for a real long time to come.
