Musicians: Should you quit your day job?

…I can’t give you a blanket answer for that question, obviously. But I will tell you what’s important: day job or no day job, be sure to not treat your music career as just a hobby.

A career in the music business is in some ways similar to any other bootstrapping, entrepreneurial activity. It’s acceptable, even arguably smart, to start on a small scale backed by whatever type of conventional employment you can stomach.

Yeah, yeah, I know: working your day gig can take some spring out of your step, but it may also bring you key benefits like health insurance (don’t hit the road without that one, folks!)

Still, supplemental employment is no reason to treat your music as just a hobby. To succeed in the music business on your own terms, you’ll need to run your career like a real business – beginning now. Run your part-time business just as professionally as a full-timer would.

My friend Charlie Hunter, legendary manager emeritus of Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, et. al and current proprietor of The Roots on the Rails Music Train tells this story about a recent “overnight success”:

“If you caught the heart-tugging story on Oprah (Faith Hill recently recorded a whole album of folksinger Lori McKenna’s songs), you would think that Lori was a ‘stay at home mom’ who had only played a couple local clubs before her big, big break. In reality, Lori toured for years, released several CDs that were nationally distributed, and had serious music-business connections. She never, ever treated music as just a hobby.”

I’ve written more on this subject and others in my Insider’s Guide: How to Thrive in the Music Business: Ten ideas from Micah Solomon. If you’d like a free copy (it would be my pleasure!) as well as other goodies, please click here.

–Micah

Micah Solomon

President

Oasis Disc Manufacturing

http://oasisCD.com

Standing Room Only at Puck’s

Sometimes, it’s best to maintain your independence. Especially now, especially in the music industry.

At a time when certain focus-grouped, demographics-driven major label artists have trouble filling events unless their record company begs, pays, or cajoles enough people to fill the seats, independent music has a real opportunity to shine.

Especially if you’re the kind of independent artist who doesn’t mind doing some good hard legwork.

I was pointedly reminded of this the other night at Puck in Doylestown PA, a hopping little music venue in this postcard-perfect town where Oasis clients Lisabeth and Maggie were having their CD release concert.

Here’s one measure of how healthy an independent act can be when it gets its one-to-one marketing right: the handful of industry invitees on the guest list couldn’t get in to the show until the club had seated all the paying customers. (Which was possible only just barely, and belatedly — the show was so popular.) The house wasn’t faux-sold-out in Hollywood “Special Industry Event” style; it was door-to-door filled with paying customers.

Are Lisabeth and Maggie nationally known? Not to my knowledge. But it was clear from that night at Puck’s that what they may lack in breadth of market they more than make up for in depth. They are favorites in their community, are involved in their community, and their community comes out to support them — and to hear their lovely music.

– Micah

Micah Solomon
President, Oasis Disc Manufacturing

Tower Founder Russ Solomon unveils new Brick and Mortar

Russ Solomon, the 81 year old founder of Tower Records, once the predominant recorded-music chain in the nation, is back! His new concept harkens back to the old idea of the information-rich record store: highly informed clerks in varied musical disciplines, deep inventory, intelligent layout. Everything you need for the serendipity that stopping into a record store once was.

He’s starting with just one store, R5 Records, in Sacramento (hometown of the now-defunct Tower chain), and hoping to bring the concept nationwide.

Here’s the article from his hometown paper, the Sacramento Bee:

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/213184.html

– Micah

Micah Solomon
President, Oasis Disc Manufacturing