Are You Entrepreneurial?

The final chapter of our book, What You Learn Learning Music, to be released November 3 by Histria Books for distribution by Simon & Schuster, is titled “The Business of Music vs. the Music Business.” In that chapter, Kevin and I talk about the difference between “making it” as a pop star and doing what it takes to make a living in music. I like the way Kevin introduces the topic:

“My whole career as a musician—and most of my musician friends have the same experience—you're confronted by people who are astonished that you can make a living as a musician. The standard joke is: You're at the block party meeting your new neighbors, and they asked you what you do for a living, and you tell them you're a musician. They say, 'So what's your day job?' And when you answer, “I don't have a day job,” they ask, 'So what's your wife do?'

The fact is that there are many jobs in the field of music. Think about all the people who, say, write music for TV commercials, or run a recording studio, or teach other people how to play, as well as those who perform for a living. There are countless jobs and careers; music is one of the world's most important commodities.

However, if you are or want to be a musician for your job, your career, you have to understand that most often you're going to be self-employed—unless you get a salaried position with an orchestra or another job as an employee. Most often as a performer, you are self-employed, which means you need to look at yourself as an entrepreneur. So what does that mean? A Harvard Business School Online article listed characteristics commonly exhibited by entrepreneurs, including curiosity, a willingness to experiment, adaptability, self-awareness, a willingness to take risks, comfort with failure, and persistence. All those characteristics are consistent with what it takes to be successful as a performing musician.

As an entrepreneur you have to spend a lot of time on the business end of your career. Kevin has his university students interview musicians they admire and ask them a list of questions, his favorite being, “How much of your time do you spend working on the business of music versus creating or performing music?” The students come back surprised because almost everyone they interview answers 80/20, or 65/35, or even 90/10 in favor of working on the business.

“The person they interview will invariably explain that spending most of their time on the business helps their creativity,” Kevin says. “It's an unusual perspective but I don't think many musicians starting out get it that you need to be an entrepreneur to be a successful musician.”