WHAT'S NEXT?
A huge part of what I do is INJECT REALITY INTO DREAMS. It's not pleasant, but it is nessasary.
This is a VERY TOUGH BUSINESS and there is a limitless supply of tremendously excited 15 year olds and their mothers, 21 year old fresh out of college hot shot guitar players and hot female singers, middle aged "BIG FISH IN THEIR LOCAL PONDS" and over 40 career people, housewives, and professional lawyers, doctors, scientists, that just KNOW they can apply certain rules and money and they are going to figure out HOW TO BEAT THE SYSTEM AND WIN THE MUSIC BUSINESS LOTTERY!!!!

HOLD ON THERE TEX!!!! MIGHT NEED TO APPROACH CAUTIOUSLY. The music business is a BUSINESS OF DREAMS. And like other parts of the body, everybody has those.
And sometimes our dreams can get in our way and lead to LOSING A LOT OF MONEY, EXTREME DEPRESSION, AND LOSING FAMILY FORTUNES, INHERITANCES, 401 K'S and a lot of sanity.
There is ALWAYS someone out there willing to separate you from your money, and in this, the ERA OF FREE MUSIC, there are a lot of "NIGERIAN GENERALS, promising immediate success, because they have the SECRET WAY!
Does that mean you QUIT? Of course not. It just means, that like anything you approach it CAUTIOUSLY. First of all, there ARE NO SECRETS:

#1. CREATE GREAT PRODUCT.
#2. PRESENT GREAT PRODUCT. LIVE AND RECORDED.
#3. DEVELOP A MARKET AND PEOPLE FOR THAT PRODUCT.
#4. REPEAT THE PROCESS, ENDLESSLY.

It is really about that simple. The people you see at the top of the charts, TAYLOR SWIFT, KATY PERRY, KEITH URBAN .THE WEEKEND, JAY Z, BEYONCE, you name it, CREATED A PRODUCT THE PUBLIC DESIRED. They presented it, they found their audience. Along the way, they picked up a LOT OF ALLIES, They found money, labels, managers, agents, endorsements, etc, BUT MOSTLY THEY FOUND AUDIENCE.

IF you are trying to be a writer or artist or whatever, YOU HAVE TO DO THE SAME THING. And at a BILLION SONGS A MONTH going out there, songs getting HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS A STREAM and not paying as much as you would make at McDonalds, you have to have a realistic attitude.
"BEFORE YOU GET A ROYALTY CHECK,
YOU MUST FIRST GET A REALITY CHECK!"
-Art Wassem
I love that. If you are CREATIVE, CREATE. Learn what you are doing. Write with OTHER PEOPLE. Share experiences. Get around your local scene. Make trips to a music center. Be on your game.

Everything revolves around 4 DISTINCT AREAS:
#1. CREATION OF THE SONG.
Make sure you write well. Make every line, every note work.
#2. PRESENTATION OF THE SONG.
Every time you or your material is performed, live or recorded
Make sure it makes you look and sound great!
#3. NETWORKING.
Meet as many people as you can. Have your social media. Make friends and fans with everything you can do. HELP OTHER PEOPLE in their goals. It comes back ten times.
#4 BUSINESS.
Sometimes business can be building your fan base Sometimes personal satisfaction, and of course, the obvious, making money, or a living. Takes a lot of forms in this day and age.

Stay at it. Don't suck. If you really want to up your game, contact me. I'll help you. It's what I do. Just like Gieco Insurance.
I help people.

Marc Alan Barnette
https://www.marcalanbarnette.com/