Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music

The history of the arts, after all, is a testament to the human drive to create. Musicians compose new works, invent new instruments, and develop music software. They launch new ensembles and performance series, and, in the process, they build audiences and transform communities.

As a music career counselor, my job is to help people articulate their dreams, clarify their goals, and determine their next steps. Long-term career goals are realized through everyday choices about the use of time, energy, and money.

Career Forward Working through these questions will help you move ahead. Writing out your answers will help with thinking through and committing to your goals. 1. How do you define success? 2. What specifically do you love about music? 3. What specifically do you love about being a musician? (This is not the same as question 2.) 4. What is your lon

this early 21st century trend of the musician as entrepreneur, the artist as the producer. Although it might be too early to make this prediction, it is my hope that this spirit of entrepreneurship in the arts will be one of the defining characteristics and contributions of my generation of artists.2

www.joshuaroman.com.

If you have an elevator speech at the ready, it makes it much easier to meet people. It should be short: about 30 seconds and no more than four sentences. It should be conversational and personal, not a sales pitch. And it should give your conversation partner something to talk with you about—it should have conversation “openings.” To break it down

Networking is investing in our own artistic community. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to build a music career. Nobody does it alone.

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

Musicians create their own start-up projects for a variety of reasons. They may catch the entrepreneurial bug because of frustration with limited traditional opportunities or because they seek the satisfaction of being in charge of their own project. They may want additional income or the opportunity to perform certain repertoire with particular co