Before we get started, if you’re interested in starting a career as a singer/songwriter, check out our Free Guide – 8 Steps to Become a Successful Full-Time Singer/Songwriter. Download it here.
My plan in life was never to be a musician. It was a dream I always carried around hidden under the surface. Growing up any career aspirations in the arts were discouraged. Instead, you were encouraged to go into industries like medicine or law or business. Ironically, I studied neither one of those professions in college. Instead, I studied Public Relations and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts. I’m still not sure what that means, but given my career goals, I was told Public Relations was where I needed to focus my collegiate efforts and PR was under the Liberal Arts umbrella. I had this idea that someday I’d be a Communications Director of some hospital. I thought I’d get to write speeches for hospital executives, interface with the media, plan galas, and help design masterful brochures and marketing pieces to shape the hospital’s reputation in the local community. I never got to do those things for a hospital, but as a full-time singer/songwriter, I’m pretty much doing everything on that list, but with a lot more heart and soul.
I’m an acoustic soul singer/songwriter. I do music full-time along with my husband who performs with me on percussion. Our music is about following your dreams and overcoming challenges in life to be at peace and enjoy the beauty it has to offer. My first album entitled ‘Keep The Faith’ is about having faith in who and what you were created to be and not giving up when confronted with struggle. After going to college for four years, earning a degree, and getting what some people call a ‘real job,’ I was laid off during an economic depression, and the stability I thought I had was pulled right out from under me. I went through a catharsis where I started to put more stock in my suppressed dreams of a career in music. I figured since I did the things I was “supposed to do,” and still failed, why not just do what I really want to do? It can’t be any worse.
Related: My response when someone told me to get a real job
So I took out my guitar and started strumming. I didn’t get too far with that because my guitar was being a torture device instead of an instrument. So, I enrolled in music lessons which gave me the skill to work my way around a guitar and the confidence to write my own music. All that repressed creativity started to bubble up and before I knew it, I had enough material to record an album. So I began working on that.
Related: 8 Steps to Become a Full-Time Singer/Songwriter
By now you’re probably asking what I did for money since I told you I’d gotten laid off. At this time, I’d like to re-introduce the rich uncle concept, but in a different way. The truth is, we all have a rich uncle. We just have to know where to look for him. A rich uncle is simply an unfair advantage. Whether it’s an actual uncle with cash to burn, or a network of highly connected individuals, or an angelic singing voice, everybody can find their secret advantage if they look hard enough. As for me, I did not have a rich uncle but I did have a side job as an event planner that paid me in free rent which allowed me to accumulate sizable savings while still working. So after losing my job, I was able to stay afloat using my savings. I spent that time focusing on earning an income with music.
During that time, I also built my mailing list, created a website, released an album, and started doing shows. I also experienced a few life events like getting married, moving, and buying a house. Obviously, our finances changed during that time as well. But this time, Rob worked a corporate job while I continued to work the music angle.
Even though music hadn’t started paying any bills yet, I considered my work a full-time job. I had a home office. I worked a full day. I got up early in the mornings and worked, took a lunch break, and worked until evening every day. My days consisted of booking shows, marketing and promotions, social media, networking, recording music, making videos, and practicing. Ironically, I was more busy doing music stuff than I ever was working a corporate job. Most of my time was spent on getting paid gigs which wasn’t easy being a newbie. I did a handful of free shows during that time to gain the experience. I had to get a bunch of equipment as well in order to put on a decent live show. My Shure Beta Vocal Mic was and still is a biggie for helping my live vocals sound amazing! Check out my recommended gear list for beginner singer/songwriters here.
In addition, my city didn’t have a lot of opportunities for singer-songwriters. As a result, I started an artists in the round series in order to create paid opportunities and exposure for myself as well as others like me in my community. I also started working with a booking agent which got us even more paid shows. Eventually, paid gigs became more frequent and we started to actually earn a monthly income.
Related:
How to get the most out of free shows
Double your income with merch
Meanwhile, we decided that Rob would quit his corporate job and we’d do music full-time together. Now we do a lot more traveling throughout the country doing shows at colleges and universities, bars, churches, lounges, cafes, coffee shops, and more. We sold our house and built a tiny house which has been a big help with keeping overhead costs down. It also allows us to be a bit more mobile and flexible in where we live! After a while, we ventured off into other business ideas relating to music such as music booking, blogging, and other services for artists in addition to doing music. I’m still writing music and I’m currently working on an album called ‘Work in Progress.’
If I had to pinpoint how I became a full-time Singer/Songwriter I’d say three things:
- A financial plan and strategy
- A good team
- Marketing and Promotions knowledge
These are the three things that were instrumental in making music an actual career for me.
A Financial Plan and Strategy
You need a financial plan to get you through those times of doing unpaid gigs for the first year or so. Whether you’ll be living with a relative, or using money you saved up, or working a job to pay for necessary expenses, you’ll need to have something in place to take care of you financially while you’re pursuing music in the beginning. My strategy was to utilize my savings to cover living expenses and after getting married, my husband’s job supported us during those first few years.
You will also need a financial strategy to help you identify where to focus your efforts in order to make actual money. If you don’t have a financial strategy, you’ll be spinning your wheels and going nowhere. Looking back on my journey, I’ve realized that I spent a good bit of time doing meaningless tasks that weren’t connected to actual financial goals. In hindsight, I recommend figuring out how you will monetize your music ahead of time. That way, your time will be spent on targeted activities rather than random ones. Click here to get my free Business Model Worksheet that helps you a) brainstorm ways to earn money and b) identify specific tasks that align with your financial goals.
Download the Worksheet
Turn your interests into revenue-generating strategies and start earning more income with your music.
A Good Team
You also need people on your side helping you reach your career goals. In my case, I hired a booking agent. Also, when Rob quit his job, he started doing a lot of the behind the scenes work alongside me such as booking, social media, calendar upkeep, and graphic design tasks. That’s what our set-up looked like, but for others, it may be different. A team can also consist of a manager, a street team, a virtual assistant, an enthusiastic cousin, etc.
Marketing and Promotions Knowledge
And finally, you need some knowledge in marketing and promoting yourself. You might be the best musician on the planet, but if nobody knows who you are, you might as well be invisible. Having a degree in Public Relations and having work experience in marketing provided a skillset in my music career pursuits that not many musicians have. I created marketing campaigns, wrote press releases, wrote engaging marketing copy for my website, implemented calls-to-action everywhere, and wrote tons of inquiries to get featured on blogs. These tactics opened many doors for me.
I also put a considerable amount of focus and energy into building my mailing list. I’d collect emails at shows religiously. I received a ton of emails just by doing audience giveaways where each person had to fill out a postcard similar to this one in order to join the giveaway. I’d promote my mailing list on my social media, and I would add people to my mailing list in-person. In addition, I have a very informal tone and write to my audience about meaningful things. This helped me build a list of loyal supporters. For help with developing a loyal email list check out my Email Marketing for Musicians Series here.
If I didn’t have these three pillars in place, I don’t think I would have ever gotten this far.
Most of all, I learned to take care of myself. In this job, you need to be flexible with yourself and give yourself permission to fail and get rejected. Sometimes plans don’t always work at first. You have to be willing to try new things or at least modify your methods in order to accomplish your goals. Throughout the entire process, I always had my goals at the forefront of my mind. I even printed them out and would read them every week. This helped me to remain focused.
I’ll be honest, it was tough! There were times I questioned whether I had made the right decision. For that first year or so, many times I felt depressed because I was working so hard and wasn’t making a profit to show for it. It’s during these times that you remind yourself of your purpose and mission as an artist. That way you know that whatever happens, whatever someone else says or does, you and your music is enough. Regardless!
If music is truly at the heart of your purpose and vice versa, whatever you put into it, it will give back to you. If you’re interested in learning more about my music, please check out my website, or I’d love it if you joined my mailing list or follow me on social. You can find me on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
Plus, if you are looking to earn more profit from your music and don’t know where to start, check out the following resources.
- How to Book Profitable Gigs
- The Musician’s Guide to Booking a Profitable Tour
- Give Yourself a Raise with This Income Boosting Spreadsheet
- 5 Passive Income Strategies for Musicians
- Earn More Money with Merchandise
- Finding Your Musical Purpose
- Creating Your Mission Statement
- Create Your Music Business Model
I’d love to hear your story! Are you a singer/songwriter, band, or musician? How did you get to where you are? What lessons did you learn along the way? Share your story down in the comments section. Let’s keep this conversation going. We’d love to hear from you!
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The Musician’s Guide to Selling Merchandise With No Inventory
The Best Way to Generate Your Own Leads for Private Music Gigs | How to Get More Private Gigs
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How to Book Paid Gigs
Thank you for sharing your story Anitra! This is really encouraging and inspiring!
Thanks Rob. My hope is to inspire others in their own career. I believe that if we all follow our passion and purpose we can help make the world a better place.
Just wanted to add that music freelance sites are a great way to earn income! Websites like https://www.melodynest.com/ and https://www.airgigs.com/ can really make a big difference in becoming a full-time singer and songwriter!
Hi Jason, I haven’t heard of these and will check them out. Thanks for your input.
Hello Anitra and Rob,
I hope all is well with you both. My name is Ed Davis and my wife Monica is a new recording artist and songwriter. Monica’s story images your in many regards. She and I are new at this and I am her Rob, but she is still working. I hope Ms. Anitra that you can speak to her soon perhaps over a phone call when you are not on tour. She’s an inspirational singer with a feel for gospel. Just want to pick your brain as I believe you and my wife would share mutually beneficial intel with each other. We hope to hear back from you. God bless you and Rob. Ed & Monica
Hello Ed. Thanks for visiting The Crafty Musician Blog! I’m delighted you’ve found my little corner on the net. Congrats on moving forward in music and the style you described sounds moving! I’d be happy to chat. You can schedule a call here. Good luck and hopefully we can talk soon. -Anitra