Ed Sheeran | Courtesy of Billboard
Whether you’re a musician, a company’s CEO, or a plumber, losing your sense of purpose happens to everyone. But how do you get back on track and get yourself motivated again? These successful musicians have some advice for you:
1. Take your time and focus on yourself – Hozier
“It’s not that I was trying to write [Take Me to Church] for a year, but sometimes you just kind of collect lyrical and musical ideas and don’t actually complete the song until you feel like they work together and have a home,” he said.
The Grammy nominee also told aspiring musicians to spend time by themselves – if they want to make the big time. “People come and go in life, so musicians should focus their attention on bettering themselves.”
2. Know when it’s time to stop playing free shows – Kellee Maize
“I love to perform and connect with people – I’ve probably done around 150 free shows over the years. It’s amazing practice, but once you get to a point where you feel like you have confidence in creating an engaging live show, I suggest not continuing to do it without some compensation. Unless, of course, it’s for a cause you care about, it can be a lot of effort and time that does not amount to very much tangible support. ”
3. Don’t wait for your big break – Ben Folds
“I realize the big question for most aspiring musical artists is how to get your break. There isn’t really a break. It’s a lot of different breaks, some good and some bad.”
4. Push yourself – Ed Sheeran
“It’s like, if you want something so badly, go out there and grab it, just keep on doing it – because there are people out there who do want it just as much as you do, and there are people out there if given the opportunity to take my place will, so it’s just as important to keep pushing yourself and working at it.”
5. Play live as much as you can – Dave Grohl
“I really believe that going out and playing good songs live as a great live band will make you successful. I really think it will. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the shithole down the street or you’re on the side stage at Bonnaroo or you’re headlining at Lollapalooza. If you’re a great band with great songs, people will notice it. That’s it, that’s all it is. It’s that simple.”
6. Diversify – Moby
“Musicians are making money in wildly different ways than they did 15 years ago, and it’s more important than ever that artists have a number of different music-related skills so they’ll have an easier time piecing together a good living. Here’s the reasoning: if you do something you hate and have success, you’ll still hate it. If you do something you hate and fail, all the worse. If you do something you love and fail, at least you did something you loved. If you do something you love and succeed, double win.”
7. Have clear goals – Lorde
“If you want your music to be heard…you can just put stuff on the internet and people can love it, and that’s cool. I think the industry is much less scary than people think it is. You have to go into it with an idea of who you are and what you want to do, and you have to have an idea of the things that you won’t do an the things that you want to aspire to because if you have clear goals and absolute no’s for yourself, then people can figure it out, and then you won’t be left like, ‘Oh, shit, why did I do that juice commercial?'”
8. Do it yourself – Thom Yorke
“Release music yourself without the help of a major record label. It is only a matter of time, months rather than years, before the music business establishment completely folds. Don’t sign a major label contract; instead, venture out on your own. I guess I would say don’t tie yourself to the sinking ship because, believe me, it’s sinking.”
9. Connect with your fans – Karmin
“Work really, really hard. Be consistent. It’s also important to be connect with your fans on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, as these are great avenues to help promote any band.”
10. Learn how to market yourself – Dick Dale
“Don’t sign with a label, don’t sign with a record company ’cause the minute you sign your name, you’ll lose all the rights to your music, and you’ll never see a dime. So what you should do is build up your following by continuously playing, save up your money and record your own stuff and your own CDs, then learn to market yourself.”
