Home Music Producer

The Ultimate Music Production Resource

Why Do Most Musicians Fail?

The failure rate in the music industry is quite high and this true for all genres.

Any successful person that makes music will have had gone through the various challenges that make success a hard thing to get to.

Most people that take up music, usually look to attain a higher status but the truth is that the majority will not thrive because of a number of reasons.

Some are personal while other reasons are outside of your control,

Therefore knowing things that may get in your way can help you maneuver in this industry with caution in order to be successful.

Let’s get into why most musicians fail.

Not Creating A Brand

Success in the music industry depends on how you develop and nurture your brand.

Those that don’t take the time to clearly build their brand are doomed to fail because your brand depicts your identity.

It is very difficult to be successful as a musician if you don’t have a brand to market because you’re literally competing with other brands that have more resources than you and are in a better position than you.

To avoid failure, invest time into developing your brand and making sure that it represents what you want it to represent.

Minimal Effort

In any field, your success depends on how much effort you put in.

If you put in minimal effort you’ll get below par results.

In the music industry, hard work is everything because it takes a lot for you to succeed. This industry is unlike any other industry and you get zero points for being lazy.

If you wish to succeed you’ll have to put your best foot forward and put in the work.

Most artists, musicians, composers and producers fail because they underestimate what it takes to succeed in this field.

Focusing On The Money

One other factor that makes musicians fail is them being too focused on the money.

When it comes to art, money is simply a by product of creating great content. If you focus all your efforts on the money, you’re bound to fail.

Focusing entirely on the money will make your art suffer because you’ll be too busy on bending your art for commercial gain,

instead of putting in the work to actually create content that people will pay for willingly.

Your unique approach as an individual is your greatest selling point, when you compromise your unique identity solely for commercial intent, you end up losing authenticity.

Being Surrounded By The Wrong People

The people that you surround yourself have a great impact on how you turn out to be.

If you spend time with average people, you’ll end up an average person aswell.

Musicians who fail are the ones that surround themselves with the wrong crowd that ends up compromising their mindset.

In any field, success will depend upon the people you consider as your circle.

You have to separate yourself from the average Joe’s and align yourself with people that have seen the success that you wish to attain.

This will keep you inspired and motivated to keep going.

Not Building A Fanbase

One of the biggest mistakes I see independent musicians make is not spending the time to build a fanbase.

The fact of the matter is that you need people that will become your fans.

Your fans support your music, your fans will buy your music.

Musicians that don’t take the time to create and nurture a fan base always fail because their music never reaches anybody.

An audience is absolutely necessary if you intend to succeed in this business.

Failure to Network

The music industry is an industry where you cannot be an island as a person.

You’ll need to get out of your comfort zone and actually meet new people, create connections and introduce yourself.

Knowing people and having connections is very important and has a huge impact on the success of a musician.

Musicians with no industry connections and acquaintances will have a hard time breaking through.

You’ll need people that can work with you and help the word spread about you.

Through networking; collaboration can easily happen which can is very vital in the music industry.

The “I Need A Label” Mentality

People that always assume they can’t have a successful career in music without being signed to a record label are bound to fail.

The reality is that, even getting signed to a label doesn’t guarantee ones success.

If you don’t put in the work and push your art, a label may help to the best of its abilities, but you’ll have to do your part aswell.

Relying on a record label to be the key to your success is one of the reasons why most musicians fail or find it hard to break into the industry to have a career.

You don’t need a record label nowadays, you can do almost everything independently.

Read more about being an independent artist

Not Understanding The Industry

Most musicians careers fail before they even begin because of the lack of knowledge.

Without the proper music industry knowledge it is very difficult to have a successful music career because you won’t know what it actually takes to be successful.

You need the necessary knowledge on how things work and the do’s and don’ts of the industry.

To separate yourself from everybody else you have to be knowledgeable and good at making decisions based on the knowledge you have.

Not Understanding Your Intentions

Goal setting and knowing what you actually want to do with your music is very key to your success as a musician.

Most musicians fail because they have no goals and are not intentional about their music.

Failing to Market

If you can’t market your product nobody will know about it and nobody will buy it.

Most musicians fail because they fail to market their music to the world.

Not having a manager

Having a manger is very crucial to your success especially when you begin to gain traction in this business.

People fail fo succeed in the music industry because they don’t have people to manage their affairs.

Having a manager is a good way to delegate responsibility so you can focus your energy on making music.

Learn the difference between an artist manager and a business manager.

Not growing as a musician

If you don’t evolve or grow as a musician, you’re doomed to fail.

most musicians end up staying the same especially when they see a little success,

this ends up in a failed music career because fans eventually get bored of their music.

Sources & Related Articles

The reason musicians fail – Disc Makers Blog

Why Musicians Fail, Top 7 Controllable Reasons – Music Industry How to

How To Find Investors For Your Music

What Is The Business Model Of The Music Industry?

Why Do Most Musicians Fail?
Scroll to top