 The best thing about DIY music is we've democratized music so that now many of the best artists rise to the top instead of just the ones that gatekeeper dweebs think are good. But one of the only things I see as a flaw in this democratization of music has been that there's very little mentorship in music now and this leads to a lot of pain in artists' lives. And what I mean by this is so many musicians get depressed over things that are just everyday natural occurrences in the music business. In this video I'm going to discuss how you should view the opportunities that come about for your music, whether you should be bummed out or excited about your progress. Hi, I'm Jesse Kennan and this is Muse Formation. I do a lot of meetings with DIY artists and one of the things they always do is they talk about what's going on with them and what opportunities they've recently had. I see two different things happen. Some artists are so excited that they got an opportunity one time and feel like they're killing it. Other artists get a bunch of opportunities and fixate on the one they lost and are in a bad mental health place over it and totally depressed and devastated that it didn't come through. So I want to impart some wisdom. For every five promises or opportunities you receive usually only one of them is going to come through and actually happen. We all know the famous saying don't put all your eggs in one basket. As well, everyone knows the music business is cutthroat and filled with tons of people who are scheming and lying but there's also a lot of people who are just trying to do good. The business is loaded with ego bruises and disappointment around every turn. When you're a musician that's really starting to pop off you'll be proud of opportunities that will get your hopes up time and time again. Over the years I've watched many close friends get their hearts broken when a powerful member of the music business guaranteed them an opportunity that didn't end up happening. I can tell you one concept that will ring true though whether you're Madonna or a local band whether you have 20 fans or 20 million. For every five opportunities you're offered usually only one will come to fruition. Here's a scenario. It happens all the time. Someone tells you an A&R person is going to listen to your song and you're going to get put on a tour. Maybe some musician is going to do a song with you. The music world abounds with promises that never come true. It's not because everyone is a liar, a fake, or whatever cynical cliche you want to throw around. It's usually good natured and motivated by doing the same thing you're trying to do. Make smart decisions that work for you that help build the fanbase. The usual scenario is someone who likes your music kind of knows an A&R person who's labeled you'd love to be on. The person wants to help you out of the kindness of their heart and the support of your music and odds are they want to be cool just like you. They want to make progress happen for the music they love just like you do. For some reason though it doesn't work out. Maybe the A&R person doesn't think you're the right fit and now you're left disappointed. The person trying to help you had great intentions but like many opportunities in this business it didn't shape out the way you imagined. There's no reason to be mad at the person who was going to try to help you or that A&R person. In fact you should be mad at yourself for putting all your eggs in one basket. What the reality is is you need a deck of cards full of options to make it in this business. If you're waiting on one person to give you a big break you're going to be waiting for a long time. You have to make so many different opportunities happen because most of them are never going to come through. It's so many bands will wear their expectations and bank on this one thing and then they lose momentum to this depression. There are far too many variables that play to guarantee that any signal opportunity will ever pan out. Even if you have a song that would blow away a talent scout at a huge label there's simply no way to know if it's going to connect with that person. There's just too much that can go wrong waiting for one or two opportunities to come through. But what about when someone calls you up and says they can get your band on a cool tour and they end up bailing on you for another act? Just like you this person's acting in their own interests. You can't be angry if someone decides that they may have more success without your band involved at that specific moment. Eventually if you're successful your group will probably disappoint someone the same way when you make a choice about which bands to bring on tour. It's not about how good you are it's about this person trying to do right by the act they represent and make the right decision for themselves. In fact it happens to popular musicians so many times it no longer even phases them. I've been in the dressing room of huge bands like The Killers getting turned down for tours and you know what it just bounces off of them because it's happened so much because that's what you have to do is get hardened to this music business. By the time you're the biggest musician in the world you've been passed over for so many tours, commercials, festivals that will be second nature to doubt every offer you get. Expand your options never wait on anyone to give you a break and you'll be five steps ahead of the rest of the game. You know there's a reason that whenever you listen to managers or A&R types get interviewed they say the hardest part of all of this is managing expectations. You have to manage your own expectations as well especially if you handle your own business. By the way if you want to hear some of those interviews with music business professionals I just launched a new podcast called Landed through Jefferson Studios that you should totally subscribe to. Link below. But as I was saying these expectations often depress people so much and this is why you lose momentum or people leave a project because they didn't have their expectations managed and they should know that they're not going to get every opportunity that comes them and that's okay. That's it am I missing anything? Is there any way you would have done this? I need to know your questions and what no one else is telling you since I want to answer them so leave them in the comments. I hope you liked this video and if you did please like and subscribe and get notified for my future videos since I'm going to be breaking down the concepts in this video along with tons of others on promoting your music and how to make music you're more happy with. As well I have a Facebook group that's linked below that has only helpful information no one tried to sell you anything playlist or con artist only helpful information for musicians looking to be better themselves. If you want to learn more about me make a record with me or check out any of my books podcasts or anything else I do head to jessecanon.com or at jessecanon on any of the socials. Thanks for watching. That's it am I missing anything? Is there any way you would have done this? I need to know your questions and what no one else is telling you since I want to answer them so leave them in the comments. I hope you liked this video and if you did please like and subscribe and get notified for my future videos since I'm going to be breaking down the concepts in this video along with tons of others on promoting your music and how to make music you're more happy with. As well I have a Facebook group that's linked below that has only helpful information no one tried to sell you anything playlist or con artist only helpful information for musicians looking to be better themselves. If you want to learn more about me make a record with me or check out any of my books podcasts or anything else I do head to jessecanon.com or at jessecanon.com on any of the socials. Thanks for watching.