The Problems Musicians Face and How To Solve Them, Pt. 2

Written by Tommy Darker, originally published in The Musicpreneur.

Travelling the world and chatting with fellow aspiring artists reveals astounding insights about the future of music. Here’s the deal: we think we all face different problems, but the reality reveals the opposite. I will share one of these insights, explaining what it means for the way we work as musicians and how to move in the future.

This is the 2nd part. Each part is linked at the end of the post.

PART 2

How do I make money? How do I find live shows? How do I manage my time?

During June ‘14 I conducted a survey, asking three simple questions to the musicpreneurs that follow my updates (you can join here):

    •    ‘Which are your 3 main struggles as a musician today?’
    •    ‘Why do you think these problems are unsolved?’
    •    ‘Do you believe that other regions/countries face the same problems?’

This is not an official academic piece of research. However, without wanting to influence the answers of this survey, I tried to articulate the questions in a neutral manner, for the sake of objectivity in the respective answers.

The responses confirmed my initial assumption: the predominant problems of musicians today are more-or-less the same all over the globe.

The dominant problems are related to:

    •    Making a viable business around their art.
    •    Live performances (finding performances and making money from them).
    •    Promotion of their music and building an audience.
    •    Time management & productivity.

A bit less popular — but still significant:

    •    Building a team of quality professionals (bandmates, management, collaborations)
    •    Funding their projects
    •    Staying motivated/focused/positive

Every other problem suggested was way behind the list, with merely 5-6 answers out of 100+ answers. The full analysis of the answers will come soon.

We are not alone facing these problems. And that single fact is so eye-opening, for those who can see the underlying opportunity. If what appeared to be a local problem were actually global, there could be a way to provide a collective and smart solution in a large scale.

But first, let’s define the real problem.

The Problems Musicians Face and How To Solve Them:
Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6a ~ Part 6b ~ Part 7

[Photo credit: Studio68.]

Tommy Darker is the writing alter ego of an imaginative independent musician and thinker about the future of the music industry. His vision is to simplify scalable concepts and make them work for independent musicians.

He is a writer about the movement of the #Musicpreneur and founder of Darker Music Talks, a global series of discussions between experts and musicians. He and his work have been featured in Berklee, TEDx, Berlin Music Week, Midem, SAE Institute, Hypebot and Topspin Media. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

This research and essay is proudly patronized by its readers.