By standard definition, being a professional musician means you get paid to perform music. Amateur musicians fill basements, garages and rented halls every week performing music for free with hopes of becoming a professional some day. Technically, a professional would probably be someone who can earn enough money to survive without another income, but looking solely at the essence of the matter, a professional musician is one who has earned any income from their craft.
Musical artists can earn money in a variety of ways: live performance ticket sales, recorded music sales, merchandise sales, etc. For some artists just starting out, the fastest way to making money is to perform for free, everywhere and anywhere they can until they establish a name for themselves. Once they are locally recognized they can usually start requesting payment for performance. In today’s social networking world, with Internet sites such as MySpace and Facebook, musicians are able to collect a fan base and foster local support, or travelling support for their performances.
Venue managers want to know that the act they are about to hire can fill the seats with paying customers. There are some artists who are able to build a fan base very quickly, but for most it takes some time. E-mail lists, flyers, and web site groups are all effective ways to drum up an audience. It takes work but it is well worth it when the venue managers see your following and offer you a cut of the ticket sales for your performance. Venues want customers, so if you are able to draw customers, venues want you. As live performance experiences can be very rewarding, this is an excellent path toward being a professional musician.
Playing live and building a fan base through social network sites also enables you to sell merchandise. Whether at the performance or via the Internet, you need buyers for your merchandise. When people like your music they will be more likely to buy your wares. They can’t like your music if they don’t hear it, however, so you’ve got to be getting the music to them before they start wearing your shirts. Merchandise can be expensive at the start, but pays off over time, if you have a large enough audience. Web sites such as Custom Ink are a valuable resource.
Not everyone wants to work so hard, however. Some musicians want to be professionals from the start. While there are instances where you can get paid to play rather quickly, unless you are a musical phenom, chances are these opportunities wouldn’t yield long term payoff. The fastest way to earning the title of professional musician is through recorded music sales. Home computers and standalone recording systems make this task easier than ever. With the right tools you could write and record a song and have it uploaded to iTunes or Amazon in a matter of weeks.
Though it does require a little bit of knowledge and skill, the process of recording a song and getting it into a retail format isn’t that hard. Making a product that people will actually want to listen to is a whole other story. Provided you have the talent, but even if you don’t, it doesn’t take long to figure out how to get a basic recording completed and on the “shelves.” With services such as TuneCore, which broker your music files to digital distributors (iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody), it is no hassle to sell your music. Tutorials are available from any number of web sites regarding home recording, mixing, mastering and producing music. Start clicking around and see what you can find.
What has been recorded here might not be an accurate representation of what it takes to become a professional musician. It all depends upon what your definition of professional musician is. The Internet might just be the best thing to happen to aspiring musicians since the home cassette recorder. Anyone with an instrument, a microphone, a computer and an idea can create, share and sell music all from the privacy of their bedroom. To be a professional musician today, you don’t even need to put your shoes on. There are various ways to get paid to play music, find what works for you and make it happen.
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