Comments on: Does it Take Luck to Make it in the Music Business?

By: Scott James

Scott James — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:37:46 +0000

Soojin, you might not be able to leave today, but if you want to make a move then you’re going to have to step up to the plate. Luck won’t do it for you. You may need to make some difficult decisions and some sacrifices and it may take a little time, but if that’s what you want to do then you’re the one who’s going to have to make it happen.

You can go through life with either perspective – that you are capable and you are able to shape your own life or that life is something that happens to you and you are a victim of outside forces like the economy and luck. You can find all the evidence in the world for either case. It’s just two different ways to see the same thing. What you choose to believe will determine the entire experience of your life. So what is it that makes you want to believe that you’re ruled by outside forces?

By: Soojin Yeh

Soojin Yeh — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:45:17 +0000

You do realize that you just kind of affirmed that it IS about luck, right? You tell people to move.

Well…moving costs money, that in this recession, where many people are living in the streets, most people just don’t have. People try and try and try to earn and save money to move, but it’s just so incredibly expensive that some people just can’t do it.

So, yes, it is about luck.

By: Scott James

Scott James — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:07:29 +0000

Charles, Arnold worked his ass off for years. That’s exactly my point. He wasn’t born with those muscles, he earned them. He made himself undeniable.

By: Charles Rocker

Charles Rocker — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:55:27 +0000

Reading this article, is like hearing from Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying “I was lucky,” and, “it was easy…” to become Mister Olympia. Or that “Anyone can make it in politics and be the governor of California.” Yeah, right… just anyone. Scott… You put way too much of a sunny sided slant on the harsh reality, which is something like this – Dear John Q. Public, the music business does NOT want you. We don’t want you to be successful, we don’t want you in the business, we don’t even want you outside of the business, since we don’t want you in our faces clamoring for an autograph, we don’t want you finding a way to “make it” in the industry, because we’re making it, already, ourselves. Why else do you think that there’s not one major label that will accept the music you submit? We put out loads of terrible music everyday already anyhow, why should yours be excluded, right? If you display some great songwriting skills or come up with any unique selling point of your music, then we will still not want you, the unsigned independent “artiste”, to have the success you deserve from that, oh no, instead, we will want to exercise our control, and buy your good idea [for a price far less than what it's worth] and use it for one of our already established artists out there, garnering their market share. We can’t have you taking anything away from our people, you know. Because music isn’t about luck, or who you know, it is not about passion anymore, (didn’t you learn that already in the napster debacle, when we sued so many of you pathetic little people for illegally downloading and stealing our music?) now the music industry is all about money. So John Q. Public, remember…. You’re never going to “make it”, so don’t bother trying. You are looking at an industry that by design, is going to keep you out. You won’t get in here. We don’t want to know you. The music industry is OUR property, and you can see the signs. NO TRESPASSING.
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This, dear constant faithful reader, is why it seems like such a good idea to burn the labels down, and just be an independent artist. And when they come clamoring to you telling you how great your music is, how successful they can make you, and your career can move forward by leaps and bounds… Just tell them, “Good luck.” then walk away.

By: Ross Hamil

Ross Hamil — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:43:43 +0000

Scott,
You hit the nail on the head. I would take the “knowing people” a little farther down the rabbit hole to talk about how you come to know people in conjunction with making your own luck.
I strongly believe that the best way to “good luck” your way into “knowing people” is to be nice to everyone.

I learned through junior high and high school that just because I dont like particular people doesn’t mean that I can’t be nice.
That paid off when, in 2005, i had a job at a call center. I hated the job but got along with everyone. Little did I know that one of the people that I was in close proximity to a local radio dj’s wife. Through a chain of events he got a hold of our demo. He liked it well enough to have his wife give me his phone number while we were at work.
Through developing a positive relationship with her, I developed a relationship with him, who in turn helped me develop a relationship with the program director. It spider-webbed out from there like wildfire. Aside from getting well connected, I ended up getting a job in radio where I saw manifestations of the flip side.
There was a band in town who was getting shows through the station and started showing up too drunk to play. When we stopped booking them, they got pissed and blamed the radio station for their problems.
You are right 100%. You make your own luck.