Good Business or Selling Out?

This is a problem that all musicians seem to face at one point or another. If you are currently facing a financial crisis as a songwriter, it's time to get out pen and paper and make a few lists and see what we can do to change this. Sometimes we have to make decisions based on bottom-line financial thinking and not on our passion for our music. If you are lucky enough to have parents, a spouse or a day job to help you make ends meet, great, but for the rest of us, it's decision time.

ARE YOU SELLING ANYTHING?

If you are making some money, off your music, write down what is working for you at the moment. Are you winning contests, getting paid gigs or teaching assignments, or actually gotten money from a cut or royalties? If not, where have you made some inroads? Surely, you have won a minor prize, gotten some tips from performance, gotten some free coffee or a meal for playing a set? Even if you just were given some studio time in exchange for performing on someone's track or got into a convention by doing some office work or whatever, write that down, too. Note where you do have some music writing income coming in, or where you are getting demos picked up at least, or at least getting some radio airplay. These may be areas where you need to put more emphasis, since they are working for you, at least at the moment.

WHAT DO OTHERS SUGGEST?

Sure, sometimes criticism is just not worth paying attention to, but if you are not having any luck doing things your way, perhaps it is time to try something different. Have others suggested you try a different genre? Have you won awards for your production or arranging but not for your musicianship? Do people think you have misdirected talents? Write down all the well-intentioned suggestions, and see if any are ones you actually know how to do or have in the past. What did you get good grades for in school? Any good marks you got for anything musical should be noted, here, too.

HAVE YOU TRIED ANYTHING ELSE? WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

If you have tried other things in the past, what were they? List these and write down as well what your results were. Were you doing as well or better than you are now? Be honest, here-we are trying to come up with some good new ideas for you to try to make you a successful songwriter, and, if there was something you have had success at in the past, perhaps that is something you could springboard from again. If you got really good grades playing classical music in college, perhaps you could go back to that for a while just to make some cash to help fund your songwriting-at least you will be making music, and doing something you are good at-both very validating and positive steps forward. If you were doing well in song contests, and decided to go into performance instead with mixed results, perhaps you should reconsider and try just pitching material again-you can always just play charity or small gigs if the money or cause is right. It's more important that you keep doing your music and seeing positive results for your efforts.

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