By Mike Skelton

Recently, Bob Baker wrote a satirical article called “How to RUIN Your Music Career In 7 Easy Steps“, where he lists steps an artist can take if they would like to effectively demote themselves rather than promote themselves. The list includes such advice as:

1. Give Away Your Personal Power
2. Turn Marketing, Promotion and Sales Into a Huge Burden
3. Be Fearful of Being Perceived as a Greedy, Capitalist Pig
4. Use a Lack of Time, Money and Connections as Your Biggest Excuse
5. Market Yourself to the Faceless Masses Using Traditional Big Media
6. Promote Yourself Sporadically and Only When It’s Urgent
7. Know That Everyone Owes You Something Simply Because You Exist

Bob goes into detail about each point and I suggest you read his post (especially if you are an artist who may be making some of these mistakes). Here are some other things artists should not do if they want to have successful careers.

1. Talk badly about other bands and people in the industry
I saw an episode of disBAND where a band claimed they were better than Stereos and Dean Lickyer. First of all, the band that said this couldn’t back up their claim as their performance was sloppy and secondly, no matter what you think of Stereos and Dean Lickyer, it’s probably not a good idea to say this in front of Mark Spicoluk, the person who signed these bands, when your trying to get his support. I’m not saying to always keep your mouth shut, but why burn bridges as you never know who might be able to help you out in the future?

2. Show up late for shows or not show up to at all
When playing shows, show some professionalism. If you show up 20 minutes before your band is supposed to go on, bookers, promoters, and club owners aren’t going to be too quick to book your band again. Also, if you’re supposed to play a show that probably isn’t going to have a good turnout for whatever reason (lack of promotion, etc.), don’t bail on the show because it’s not worth your time. Maybe the next show the promoter puts on will be a huge success but they won’t have you play because who know if you’ll show up or not? Maybe one of the few people in the audience that night could have helped your career in some way.

3. Sell everything; don’t give anything away for free
This is exactly what you should not do especially if you’re band that is just starting out. You don’t have to give away everything but have some free downloads, more than one or two songs for streaming (not just 30 second samples for everything either), free videos, etc. Most people don’t want to pay for something they’re not sure they will like and the goal is to create awareness through word-of-mouth not remain in obscurity.

4. Don’t bother trying to get grants because the odds are against you
Most artists starting out have trouble financing their projects. Although you may or may not receive the grants you’re after, you certainly won’t get it if you don’t apply. There is money up for grabs (in Canada for example) from FACTOR, Radio Starmaker Fund, Canadian Council for the Arts, Ontario Council for the Arts, and other grant organizations. Learn how to properly write grant applications, write marketing plans, and other documents that
these organizations require. Also if you don’t receive grant money, don’t lash out at these organizations as that will definitely deter them from wanting to supply you with any funding in the future.

5. Book a national tour and hope for the best
A band at the very early stages of its career should not be too eager to embark on a lengthy tour. Of course playing live and touring is very important, but it is best to start out with mini-tours that consist of a few dates. Touring is tiring and a lot of work and it is important to make sure everyone in the band has what it takes to make it on the road. Getting a taste of touring will give people the experience necessary to really make a decision if that lifestyle is right for them.

Have other suggestions of things bands shouldn’t do and common mistakes artists make? Please post a comment and let us know.

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Music Business, Music Culture, Wisdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.