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In the music business, there are certain myths that continue to get perpetuated. They call forth a false sense of hope and fill us with frustration, disappointment, and resentment.
That’s what we’re going to be looking at in this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast.
Podcast Highlights:
- 00:31 – Hope is not a strategy
- 00:45 – The greatest myth in music
- 01:07 – The exceptional few
- 01:50 – Winning the lottery
- 02:36 – Betting on yourself
- 03:27 – Taking ownership
- 04:05 – Connecting with your heart
- 04:52 – Question everything
- 05:30 – The miracle of taking responsibility
- 05:51 – Unlock your true potential
Transcription:
Hey, it’s David Andrew Wiebe.
So, I’m sure you’ve heard before that hope is not a strategy.
Whether it’s sitting around and waiting for something to happen or refusing to take ownership of some aspect of your music career, there are approaches to music that just won’t work.
One of the biggest myths in music ever told is prevalent and alluring.
And that myth is that someone is going to come to save you.
We’ve seen the movies and TV shows. We’ve read the stories of our favorite artists. And it seems like, in many cases, somehow, someway, they just met the right person at the right time to take their music career forward.
Right off the bat, what many artists don’t recognize is that they’re only looking at the lives of the exceptional few who were discovered by an A&R rep or made it by some fateful aligning of the stars.
If you know an artist’s name, in large part, it’s by design. It’s the design of the record labels and the media who report on what they’re told to, and paid to, report on.
This may seem like a controversial statement, but once you unplug from The Matrix, you won’t be able to unsee it. Payola is still real, and it hasn’t gone anywhere.
There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to be like the exceptional few. But trying to replicate their story or journey is a fruitless pursuit.
There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to be like the exceptional few. But trying to replicate their story or journey is a fruitless pursuit. Click To TweetRecently I talked about the fact that the average Spotify royalty rate is $0.00331 per stream. So far as I’m concerned, that’s not even a real amount of money.
What’s interesting about this number is that it probably represents your chances of being saved or discovered by an A&R rep.
Your chances of winning the lottery are quite slim, depending on the lottery. With Lotto 6/49, you have a 1 in 14 million chance. With Lotto Max, your chances are even worse, at 1 in 28.6 million.
But everyone still thinks they’re going to win the lottery, just as artists believe they’re going to snag that elusive, lucrative record contract.
I talked to some of my friends who basically said their only backup plan was to win the lottery. I was horrified.
All things being equal, I will bet on myself rather than gambling on the lottery or on a record contract.
I will make music, write books, build communities, websites, and businesses. I will invest. I will grow. I will become smarter and wiser, I will persevere through criticism, defeat, embarrassment, and failure. I will keep taking a chance on myself no matter what.
I don’t care what has or hasn’t happened to this point. The world cannot stop the unrelenting force of David Andrew Wiebe. I’m going to keep pounding on your door until you give me a chance. I don’t care how long it takes or how hard that path might be.
I can get what I want. I will not be denied.
What about you? Do you have that conviction about yourself? Do you believe in you? Will you take a chance on yourself, something you can control, versus taking a chance on the lottery, something that’s completely outside of your control?
This episode is about inspiration. It’s about empowerment. It’s about taking control of your tools and resources. It’s about taking ownership.
What part of your music career are you refusing to take ownership over? That’s the part that’s in need of serious evaluation because some part of you still believes your savior is coming.
What part of your music career are you refusing to take ownership over? That’s the part that’s in need of serious evaluation. Click To TweetThat was Musician Monster’s Greg Wilnau’s story as well. It took him a long time to realize it, but when he finally accepted that his destiny was in his own hands, things started to change for him and his career.
No doubt, things have been complicated here in 2020. They’ve been difficult. They’ve been weird.
But if you don’t believe in yourself, it’s because you’re still plugged into the media. You’re still believing what you’re being told. You’re under their control. You have no power over yourself whatsoever.
Turn off the TV. Turn off Netflix. Turn off your smartphone. And just sit with yourself. Understand who you are. What you were made for. Become present to your desires. You were made for the very things you desire. What you want, wants you!
What you want, wants you! Click To TweetYou will never become conscious to any of that without listening to your heart. You will never know what you know deep down without opening your heart again.
Being vulnerable is scary but it’s a gift. It’s a realization of your true potential. Not just your desires, which were always written on your heart. It’s a realization of what you’re capable of.
Learn to question everything. It’s healthy to do.
Learn to question everything. It’s healthy to do. Click To TweetBecause otherwise you’re in danger of believing everything. Accepting that things just are the way they are. Accepting that you have no power, and there’s nothing you can do about anything.
Do you want to know what that experience is like? Hell. Because hell has been defined as going through day after day with no change whatsoever.
So, what sustains the rut? What keeps the rut alive? It’s ourselves. It can’t be anything else. Because at any moment, we could choose to rise and face the music.
I know what I’m asking is hard. It’s not easy at all.
But it’s empowerment. A miracle happens when you can accept that everything that has happened to this point in your life is because of you.
That’s true empowerment, and I hate to be the messenger, but I haven’t found it anywhere else. Empowerment for me came from accepting that everything I’ve gotten and haven’t gotten to this point is because of me.
So, are you ready to unlock your true potential? Because that’s what we’re talking about here.
If so, we’ll welcome you to the community with open arms. And I’ve always got lots of free stuff to give away. All you’ve got to do is go to MusicEntrepreneurHQ.com/Join and choose whatever is there. Something will speak to you. Join the email list, where we reveal tips and strategies we don’t even reveal on our blog, and our blog is pretty stacked if I must say so myself.
This has been episode 212 of The New Music Industry Podcast. I look forward to seeing you on the stages of the world.
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