As the wife of a DJ and a long-time nightlife veteran, music was my life for the longest time. I really, really loved music. I still do, however, I detest going to clubs these days. With that said, my life has given me a unique insight into the music business—insight that few others outside of the industry have.
Oh, it also helps that I’ve seen tons of brilliant artists tank their careers before they even began. Wanna know how I’ve seen it happen? Here are the biggest mistakes I’ve seen people make.
#1: Going right-wing and being vocal about it.
Alright, let’s start off with the (proverbial and literal) elephant in the room, shall we? Music is a left-leaning industry for a reason. Music is a human experience. Everyone should feel welcome. It’s the universal language of humanity for a reason.
A good musician will attract people of all walks of life.
Look at that sentence above again.
When you have political stances that are right-wing, you are going to end up excluding people. In today’s climate, conservatism is linked with white nationalism, sexism, and fascism. You know what that means? It means that anyone who isn’t white, male, and fascist won’t feel comfortable with your music.
I’ve seen several artists with serious potential ruin it by openly supporting Trump or similar policies. Even major label artists like Kanye have managed to make diehard fans run for the hills when they opened their mouths about their political beliefs.
Conservatism is a great way to tank your brand if you want to go mainstream. If you’re conservative, you may want to choose another career or learn to keep your claptrap shut. Don’t like what I say? Okay, don’t worry, you can make this mistake on your own and report back to me.
#2: Starting drama with other DJs.
So I’ll say this much: I’ve seen a lot of back-biting with DJs and the like behind the scenes. My husband had several timeslots stolen by DJs who wanted his space and even had to deal with a former “friend” who badmouthed the shit out of him.
Generally speaking, party promoters and managers do not want to deal with dramatic, angry, hissy musicians. That’s a great way to ruin the vibe of a concert, piss off managers, and also cause a scene that doesn’t need to happen.
They want the musicians to go there, perform, maybe have a photo op with fans, and leave with a smile on their face. Or, if they’re more relaxed about it, they will want you to be friends with the the people throwing the show and just stay in your lane.
If you have an issue with your time slot, ask your manager to do something about it. Or better yet, just don’t do the party. Drama is naturally part of the music industry. If you can’t figure out how to put the kibosh on it, your best bet is to do music as a hobby.
#3: Not posting on social media regularly.
You know how the biggest acts are getting their start these days? Social media. More specifically, they’re getting their followings on TikTok and Instagram. Most major companies won’t book you if you don’t have a lively social media backing.
Being an artist these days means you have to be a content machine. You should be posting reels, clips from your day-to-day life, talking about music, and showing off clips for your fans as often as you can.
Most artists don’t get the time of day if they don’t have at least 10,000 followers on one platform or another. If you’re not there yet, you need to start marking your social media like a pro and you need to consider hiring a publicist to get you airtime on blogs.
A lot of indie artists are not making a dime off their music because they are literally just not on the right platforms. Could they be lucrative? Absolutely. But they won’t ever be, because they don’t want to do the work to get eyes on their music.
How do I know this? Well, someone very close to me is currently in this situation.
He has the talent, but not the social media work ethic. I’ve stopped telling him what to do because it became clear that I could talk myself blue in the face and nothing would change. He still hasn’t gotten where he wants to be. I’ll let him figure out why.
PRO TIP – If you have a blog, you might want to take a crash course in SEO to promote your music services.
#4: Not networking with local bars, club owners, and promoters in your area.
Quick! Can you tell me the names of five different party promoters in your area? You can’t? have you tried to talk to them? Or find people who know people? Have you called them up, messaged them online, anything?
Well, jeez.
How are you supposed to get booked by these people if they don’t know who you are? Or if they don’t know how to get you into their roster? These people don’t need you. You need them. You need to make the first move.
Network, network, network. Go out. Talk to people. Drop names. It works.
#5: Not making your own music.
A million DJs are available right now. Many of them are good, very good, at what they do. If you want to make it big, being a good DJ mix-y person isn’t enough. Playing a good cover is also not enough, though being a good cover band can get you some decent tours.
Wanna know the secret? You need to be able to make your own music and perfect your craft. If you are not releasing music on your own merit, you are going to have a limited ceiling to what you can earn in the music industry.
Making your own music is a part of marketing because it sets you apart from all the DJs and cover bands out there. It makes you have a unique sound that can only come from YOU. So don’t forget that.
#6: Expecting a manager to show up and market you just because.
So, this was an issue that I’ve seen in multiple industries: modeling, adult entertainment, writing, and music as well. In all of these industries, there tends to be a certain type of person who ends up being the bane of a manager’s existence…the Diva.
How do I know this?
Oh, right.
I used to manage models for a living. I’ve also managed magazines, worked on multiple publications, and Divas have driven me into screaming matches more often than I want to admit.
Who is a Diva?
The Diva is the person who has a lot of promise. Divas are the ones who often don’t have much of a following online. In fact, they may not really put in much effort to promote themselves aside from whining online to a limited number of followers on social media while they don’t really promote themselves.
Divas think they’re hot shit. They think their talent or looks will carry them far, so god help you, you better be their personal servant and promo band. They don’t lift a finger to promote themselves and they tend to be the very same people who will flake on a show or show up drunk.
I’ll let you in on a secret: management does not want to deal with a Diva.
If you were hoping to get a band manager or an artist manager right off the bat, you are going to be sorely disappointed in most cases. Most managers worth their salt will not give you the time of day unless they’ve already seen you have a proven track record in the industry of your choice.
Generally speaking, new artists don’t need managers. They need to get their feet wet to figure out whether they even want to be in the industry at all. They need to understand and learn how much work it takes. They need to build up the hype to make them in-demand enough to be worth approaching for management.
Here’s the biggest reason most managers won’t give newsbies the time of day: money.
Managers get paid based on how well their artists do. Managers make anywhere from 5 to 20 percent of what their artists make. If you want an agent, the payouts cap at 15 percent for a licensed agent. That’s the maximum you’re legally allowed to charge as a licensed agent.
This is not a large sum of money when you consider how much a good manager or agent does for their artists. So if they are not 1000 percent sure you’re going to make them a decent living, managers won’t want to deal with you. Period.
And a Diva client? It’s a time and money suck for management agencies. That’s a big ol’ nope. So no, don’t rely on managers to do the lifting and marketing for you. That’s not even their job. Their job is to make sure you get booked on tours, hone your brand, get paid well, and get good contracts.
#7: Angering the wrong person.
While we’re on the topic of marketing, let’s remember that other people can use marketing techniques against you. 70 percent of getting famous is marketing yourself. The other 30 percent is making sure you don’t give reason for others to hate you…and to learn how to deal with people trying to undermine you appropriately.
In the music industry, everyone knows everyone. It’s not an assumption, it’s the law you have to live by. Many, many great artists have watched their careers die overnight because they upset, insulted, or rejected someone with a lot more power and connections than they thought they had.
I don’t like to say this, but there’s some truth to having to sleep your way to the top for many (but not all) of these artists. And it can get dark, depending on the particular industry that you want to get into. Remember, Diddy parties were a “make or break” invite
Women who rejected Diddy and people who tried to warn others were silenced, their careers destroyed overnight. Diddy is not an isolated incident. I’ve heard of issues like this in fashion, modeling, and everything else.
But it’s not just sexual rejection. Calling the wrong person out on their shit (such as drug use or steroid addiction), talking smack about others, being rude to your manager, or even cursing off your own audience can be enough to end your career dead in its tracks.
A good rule of thumb is to assume that you are never the biggest dog in the show. And if you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, don’t do it to them.
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