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How To Feel Miserable As A Musician

image from www.flickr.com I tell people who ask if they should pursue a career in music, "Not if you can imagine doing anything else."  Though the chances of making a living as a musician have increased, the chances of being a major success may be smaller than ever, and the journey even to moderate success is going to be long and often painful.  Keri Smith blogs about being an artist, and while she's a illustrator, her pain is much the same. Original published in her Artist Survival Kit, Keri's insights hold equally true for musicians:

       How to Feel Miserable As An Artist

      (or, what not to do, underline and that currently apply)

  1. Constantly compare yourself to other artists.
  2. Talk to your family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on.
  3. Base the success of your entire career on one project.
  4. Stick with what you know.
  5. Undervalue your expertise.
  6. Let money dictate what you do.
  7. Bow to societal pressures.
  8. Only do work that your family would love.
  9. Do whatever the client/customer/gallery owner/patron/investor asks.
  10. Set unachievable/overwhelming goals.  To be accomplished by tomorrow.

 photo above via Flickr by Alaskan Dude

Bruce Houghton on 09/12/2011 in Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (8)
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8 Comments

  1. Great advice! I respect and appreciate when advice just gets down to the basics of things. I like to tell remind people that we’re all our own worst enemies. 9 times out of 10 we’re the cause of our own headaches and problems because we give into the outer pressures around us and undermine our own strengths. If everyone, not just musicians, took your advice, then the world in general would be a much better place!
    Free album download at http://www.facebook.com/chancius

  3. I tell people who ask if they should pursue a career in music, “Not if you can imagine doing anything else.”
    ^ this

  4. People will constantly tell you to give-up & get a “real job”. You’re making a big mistake or there is no money in it. Don’t let your friends, family & society beat you down, because they will definitely try. Not because they want you to fail, but because that’s the route they took & it’s a safe one.
    In my experiences you do much better following your heart & sticking to your goals.

  5. This is great! I guess almost every artist has these moments when everything seems to fall apart. For me personally the numbers 1, 2, 5, 7 and 10 are highly dangerous. All of these lead to “11. start believing what others tell you”. In the end we need to push through it because we love our work so much that it shouldn’t make any difference what others think about it!

  7. Sure it feels likes this from time to time for one and/or all reasons but you feel like the ceiling is going down to you especially stop & remember the very first moment you got into this & why you did, clears everything else than don’t matter the most or can be solved in a way or another.

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