Wise Words to Inspire Your Music Career Success

Have you ever read the Tunedly Weekly Top Picks newsletters? They are no ordinary newsletters, they can be rather inspirational. Here are a few of my favorite passages I compiled from issues I received over the past year:

1.About not giving up despite rejections

Absolutely no one likes being told “No!” But you know what, it’s a part of life. And, yeah, it’s an even bigger reality if you happen to be a musician. Odds are extremely high that you’ll be snubbed left, right, and center when you approach the industry’s gatekeepers to pitch your songs or go looking for opportunities to promote your music. Don’t bother expecting anyone to give you a free pass either; it simply won’t happen. The only thing you can do is to keep trying and definitely NOT give up.

Take a close look at the stories of many successful musicians…evidence abounds that most who have achieved something great in their careers had to stare rejection in the face many times while trying to get heard. Take Canadian electronic musician Peaches, for example. A good amount of her earlier years in the music business were fruitless due to constant failures and flops. But she kept it moving until, finally, she got a breakthrough.

One important thing to rivet in your mind when going about your business is that you’re not going to connect with everyone. Some will display arrogance and others simply won’t pay you any mind. Whatever happens, know that it’s not personal. Just keep doing what you do in the best possible way you know how, and before you know it, you’d have built up enough valuable relationships and impacted enough people, who will show up for you when you least expect.

Another thing to not forget is that it’s not about how many friends, connections, or social follows you have managed to amass – it’s really not that difficult to gain a ton of friends on the various social networks. What it’s about is investing time in building those select relationships which are supportive of your goals and will help you endure the bad days. That’s what makes all the difference in the long run. On top of that, don’t neglect to keep working on creating the best you. Sometimes, what’s holding you back could be that you haven’t arrived at the best version of YOU as yet, and you just need to keep going until you get there.

2. About choosing your bedfellows carefully

There are some quotes that are not just good for starting your week off but are words to live by that you should never forget. Here’s one: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

In other words, take care in choosing the people who you hang with and work with, as well as the people who you choose as music buddies :-).

3. About the benefits of trying new things

When was the last time you took on a challenge that was new or different? We live in a world where things can change in a wink, so it’s a good idea to keep grasping new experiences by trying various things with your career, songwriting or otherwise. Becoming a “Jack of all trades and master of none” is actually a good thing, not something to be scared of.

It’s better to invest time in finding your flow, instead of settling for a rhythm that doesn’t quite fit your tune (pardon the pun). You’re certainly not ‘just wasting time’ because every new activity you try that doesn’t work out brings you closer and closer to what your true calling is supposed to be. Even more so when you don’t have a clue what you’re supposed to be doing in life.

You might take up playing the guitar, for instance, only to find out your true talents lie in the drums; or you might experiment with writing in different genres, which leads you to zero in on the one you’re best at. Would you have come to either of those discoveries if you had just stayed in one lane, never trying out new stuff? Probably not!

4. About not forgetting to enjoy the journey

Sometimes, in trying to achieve your goals, you might get caught up with focusing on the destination or outcome, totally ignoring all the important action that will take place on your way there. Of course, meeting all your targets and goals is awesome but when you get there, they won’t mean as much as the people you meet, the lessons you learned, and all the experiences you had on the journey. These are the things that will have the most impact on your life in the grand scheme of things, so don’t forget to enjoy the journey.

5. About what passion is

Do you know what your passion is? What really drives you? You know, that single thing you want to do or become more than anything else. That thing you would give up everything for, without a second thought, if there were no limits to what you could achieve and no reason to fear failure.

Now that you’ve thought about it, how passionate are you on a scale of 1-10, and does that passion burn within you at the same level every single day? Be honest. 

Okay, so maybe you’re like many people who haven’t yet figured out what your passion is as yet. Not to worry, you’ll stumble upon it one day or it will eventually become a part of you as a result of your work.

Whatever the case, having a passion and pursuing it is what often becomes the driving force for the success experienced by, well, successful people. They often succeed because what they are passionate about is in lock-step with their daily actions. Passion, therefore, is the highly sought after ‘special ingredient’ behind the success of people who are considered great – those that seem to have a magic touch and are considered charismatic and likeable. That special ingredient can only be gained when everything you do, personally and professionally, helps to fuel the thing you’re passionate about.

Conclusion…finding success is an ongoing adventure that requires you to keep trying new things (and often), being meticulous about your choices, and constantly working on becoming your best self.