Music Millionaire In Training

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be rich and famous, but the key question must be "Why" you want to achieve this goal. If you believe that it will fill a void in your life, then you may be chasing an empty goal.

Money, Fame, Groupies - None of these things will fill you. The core of who you are and what you are is the only thing that will. Your desire to be a Super Star should at least be wrapped around the love of music. The Magic that it brings in your life when you create it and the joy that you feel when your creativity touches the lives of other. Mike Jordan best described it as "For the love of the Game."

When you keep it simple and consistent with having your priorities straight in this business the rewards will be endless. Keep the love of music first and we will be singing your songs for several years to come.

Early in my career I had the opportunity to be around some soon to be "Really Big People" in the Music/Entertainment industry. I could drop some "WOW" names, but I wont. You have to read the book for that : ). The two things that they all had in common was Passion and Drive.

You cannot purchase those qualities, it cannot be given to you and you can't inherit it. There has to be an innate factor in who you are that propels you to success.

Trust Me on This - The worst thing that successful music people care about is who you are related to and what names you can drop. Highly successful professionals in this indutry only care about "What you bring to the table" via your talents, your established network or your strategic mind and how it benefits their company.

So the next time you are in a room trying to further your career and Johnny I can do anything is name dropping and letting everybody know who he's related to, more times than not working with him will be a waste of your time!

Mastering the art of Networking is so, so important in your career. It's funny how we are masterful networkers in most areas, but when it pertains to our careers we sometimes do not tap into this source.

How many times have you inquired about a great sushi restaurant or networked to get tickets to your favorite band or rapper performing at a sold out venue. You might have even built relationships with the friend of your cousins friend's painter to get free passes to the hot new club in town.

The point is we often do a lot to get the things that we deem important. Your Career should be no different. Everyone and I do mean everyone can be reached. We all have to maintain relationships with people to function in this world.

When you Network with passion you will amaze yourself as to the doors that will open for you and on the relationship that you develop will be from a "Warm" referral source. The gates that once challenged your success will open and you will begin to see your dreams materialize.

Often as creative people we do not understand that at the core of every Record Label, including the Indpendents, there is a coordinated marketing strategy to ensure the label's success. A&R's and Marketing Execs must be "Team Players" to support the company's overall vision.

Quite often, if your material is really good, you may win the attention of one of those execs. Although he or she may not be in position to go on and offer you a Recording Contract, they may be able to assist you in many productive ways.

Insiders generally have access to the best music producers, artists managers, entertainment attorneys, songwriters and recording studios. They also have close relationships with their peers at other Record Labels. If you are fortunate enough to develop a relationship with an insider, do your best to nuture the relationship positively because you may have earned and invaluable ally in your quest.

Now that you've sifted through the "Wanna-B" producers and managers, gotten past the Gate Keepers at the Record Company and made a key alliance with an Executive that truly believes in you.

You are now privy to information that many other people in your position would die to have. Your Industry Advocate arranges a meeting for you and Super Hot Hit Making Producer who will be in a studio session around the corner from your house and he's looking to work with a fresh new artist.

We all agree that you can now see your life starting to change and your goals very attainable. You call up your best friend and ask them to take a trip with you to meet the Super Hot Hit Making Producer. Once you get there although he's very cool and cordial, Super Hot Hit Making Producer is so tired from a rough all night session that he invites you back in a week to sing for him when he's more attentive. You leave feeling overjoyed and your best friend can't believe what just happened.

The next day another friend calls you because they are upset that you did not take them with you to meet Super Hot Hit Making Producer. Soon after your cousin's, neighbor's sister calls because she is a big fan of Super Hot Hit Making Producer and wants to know if you can get an autograph for her.

At that point you realized too many people know your business - BIG MISTAKE! When you are fortunate to gain insider knowledge it should be kept confidential.

Understand that there are a lot of other mice hunting for the same cheese and the more you place critical career building information in the hands of people that do not share the same passion as you for a career in music, the more you lessen the chance of your career finally getting off the ground.

Back to the story - You are watching your favorite music program on TV when a news flash comes on and its Super Hot Hit Making Producer talking about this new act that he adores and wants to sign instantly. When asked how did they know he was in town and how did they find him he said that they were your cousins, neighbor's sister's "friend."

Exactly - Keep Your Cards Close To You!!!

Since I know that contracts are the area that makes a lot of us creative people squeamish I'll keep it short and simple.

I once knew a phenomenal artist that we'll call "Z" for reference purposes. Turns out that every Major label was aggressively trying to sign Z because the boy was HOT!!! One particular Music Exec. got to him first and offered him a contract guaranteeing unlimited hits, groupies, fan and riches. Now because this Exec was with a Major Label Z signed the contract on the spot. Two Weeks later the Exec was fired for serious "Ethics" violations. If no one ever told you this before pay close attention - The "Professional" Music Industry World is Very, Very Small. Everybody knows Everybody!

The Exec had burned so many bridges that no other company would take a chance on him and much to Z's peril he didn't sign a contract with the Major Label, but to the Exec's personal Production Company. Because of the Exec's selfish nature he did not release Z from the contract until 3 years later and by that time he was no longer "Hot" according to the industry.

Had Z just taken the contract to an attorney to look over he would have had a stellar career in music.

The importance of reading every word on an agreement cannot be emphasized enough or you may find yourself becoming another Z.

Now you've got everything in place and it looks like you're on the path to selling Millions and Millions of Records. The greatest joy that you may find in your career is the practice of helping others.

When you do so you touch countless lives positively and you enrich your spirit as well. I firmly believe that Giving Back has played such a reciprocal role in my consistent success and I highly recommend this practice to others.

Writing this book has been such a spiritual blessing. It has allowed me to share my experiences with thousands of readers in a manner in which they can grow in their career and in their personal lives.

Every music book that I have ever written would always give me complex definitions of Industry Terms, but would never show me how those terms applied to what I was doing in my career path. I decided to define the book by two distinctive sections - The Technical and The Practical.

The Technical covers all the "Terms" thrown around in this industry, but the Practical breaks life down on a more personal level filled with networking and motivational secrets to accelerate obtaining your career goals astronomically.

I am very pleased with what was created with The Music Millionaire In Training and honored that thousands of readers have found inspiration after reading the book.