Start a new life in music

[J.B.]

Hello,

First of all, I would like to thank MJ. I read The Millionaire Fastlane ! It is very interesting!
I am French so please forgive me if I make some mistakes in English
Here is my request.
I am a 32 year-old man. I work as an employee with a long-term contract. I am fed up with this lack of freedom as an employee and I really want to be successfull in music. During my free time, I play guitar, the piano and I sing. I write songs and make music. Time to time I work on it with a friend. Our goal is to record an EP or album.
But, I feel that I have been waiting too long. When I go back home from work, most of the time I do not work on it. I am striving to do it during my free time.
What decisions should I take in order to make it faster and successfull ? Should I stay as an employee and continue working on my music project during my free time ?
Should I leave my work, get grants (in France, you can get grants for the unemployed from Pôle Emploi - labor agency- ) and enjoy more time working on my music project ?

Thank you in advance!


Jérôme

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Boy Muhammad]

What works for me when I have multiple choices to make is to do both and see where I gravitate towards.

You have to engage yourself to know where your strengths and weaknesses are, we can't actually decide for you because our circumstances and personalities are different.

 

[StrikingViper69]

There are a few threads by musicians on here. It's probably worth having a search and looking through those.

Making original music work is difficult, takes money to invest in, and a huge amount of luck. By all means pursue your own music, but don't expect it to be Fastlane.

Teaching music and providing services to musicians/aspiring musicians can be fastlane. Get 10 people in a room all paying 25€/45mins to be there? Have a couple of classes like that a day and you're making money.

Distrokid was started by a musician who wanted a cheap and easy way to get music onto streaming platforms (I think). Patreon was started by a musician. These are both Fastlane ventures.

 

[J.B.]

Good luck with the business! I always wanted to be a musician too, but unfortunately i have a bad hearing

Thank you!

I do not think it is a big issue.
This can be solved thanks to coaches, singing teachers, others (nice ) musicians, ... As for me, I have been improving my voice for about 3-4 years thanks to my singing teacher, a friend (who is also a musician), ... It requires self-confidence (possible to work on it), discipline, passion, a lot a practice (of course),...
If you have a keyboard, you can start hearing the notes and identify them. As you wish...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[J.B.]

What works for me when I have multiple choices to make is to do both and see where I gravitate towards.

You have to engage yourself to know where your strengths and weaknesses are, we can't actually decide for you because our circumstances and personalities are different.

Hi !

Ok, I take note. THANKS

 

[J.B.]

There are a few threads by musicians on here. It's probably worth having a search and looking through those.

Making original music work is difficult, takes money to invest in, and a huge amount of luck. By all means pursue your own music, but don't expect it to be Fastlane.

Teaching music and providing services to musicians/aspiring musicians can be fastlane. Get 10 people in a room all paying 25€/45mins to be there? Have a couple of classes like that a day and you're making money.

Distrokid was started by a musician who wanted a cheap and easy way to get music onto streaming platforms (I think). Patreon was started by a musician. These are both Fastlane ventures.

Hi !

Ok, I take note. THANKS

 

[Nazca]

Hello,

First of all, I would like to thank MJ. I read The Millionaire Fastlane ! It is very interesting!
I am French so please forgive me if I make some mistakes in English
Here is my request.
I am a 32 year-old man. I work as an employee with a long-term contract. I am fed up with this lack of freedom as an employee and I really want to be successfull in music. During my free time, I play guitar, the piano and I sing. I write songs and make music. Time to time I work on it with a friend. Our goal is to record an EP or album.
But, I feel that I have been waiting too long. When I go back home from work, most of the time I do not work on it. I am striving to do it during my free time.
What decisions should I take in order to make it faster and successfull ? Should I stay as an employee and continue working on my music project during my free time ?
Should I leave my work, get grants (in France, you can get grants for the unemployed from Pôle Emploi - labor agency- ) and enjoy more time working on my music project ?

Thank you in advance!


Jérôme

Hello Jerôme. I am a French musician as well and I would recommand you to:

1. Be obsessed with success or/and learning. This is how you will find motivation even after work. Dedicate 1 hour or 30 minutes to work on your project everyday. If you do not know where to start - sum up what your goals are and do not be afraid to dream big.

2. Use the money of your job as a leverage for your music projects. I do not know what is your lifestyle, but if you spend your money in non-productive things mostly, this may slow down your progress. I advice you to invest your money in things that make your project happen.

I did the choice of not having a full-time job because I wanted to focus on music after my studies and now I find myself stuck because I earn between 200-300 € / months and this prevents me to do many things, and I feel it slows me down. (investing in a better gear, sample packs, courses, etc...). also I used all my grants. Now I try to find some side missions (interim).

I would advice you to stay in your job for starting your activity and when it starts to take off and when you start making money from it, maybe you can get grant as a safety. If you've been working long enough, you may benefit it for 2 years, which is nice.

For your "bad ear". Get 'perfect ear' app to train recognizing intervals. Also learn about music theory! This is fascinating in my opinion.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[J.B.]

Hello Jerôme. I am a French musician as well and I would recommand you to:

1. Be obsessed with success or/and learning. This is how you will find motivation even after work. Dedicate 1 hour or 30 minutes to work on your project everyday. If you do not know where to start - sum up what your goals are and do not be afraid to dream big.

2. Use the money of your job as a leverage for your music projects. I do not know what is your lifestyle, but if you spend your money in non-productive things mostly, this may slow down your progress. I advice you to invest your money in things that make your project happen.

I did the choice of not having a full-time job because I wanted to focus on music after my studies and now I find myself stuck because I earn between 200-300 € / months and this prevents me to do many things, and I feel it slows me down. (investing in a better gear, sample packs, courses, etc...). also I used all my grants. Now I try to find some side missions (interim).

I would advice you to stay in your job for starting your activity and when it starts to take off and when you start making money from it, maybe you can get grant as a safety. If you've been working long enough, you may benefit it for 2 years, which is nice.

For your "bad ear". Get 'perfect ear' app to train recognizing intervals. Also learn about music theory! This is fascinating in my opinion.

Hello (salut ^^) Nazca!

I am going to continue in English for those who do not understand French.

You are right about these 2 points.

For the first one, I am obsessed with success/learning even despite my doubts (am I really ready to live this new life, as an artist ?)
I strive to work on my music even after work.
My goals are pretty clear : continue to work my friend (a musician), then record a few songs in order to attract those who want to join our band, repeat together, then record a EP/album, ...

Yep, I continue working as an employee.

As for you, you can monetize your music on SoundCloud or on other platforms. If you want your projects be financed, you can use KICKSTARTER.

Thanks for your message

 

[Nazca]

Hello (salut ^^) Nazca!

I am going to continue in English for those who do not understand French.

You are right about these 2 points.

For the first one, I am obsessed with success/learning even despite my doubts (am I really ready to live this new life, as an artist ?)
I strive to work on my music even after work.
My goals are pretty clear : continue to work my friend (a musician), then record a few songs in order to attract those who want to join our band, repeat together, then record a EP/album, ...

Yep, I continue working as an employee.

As for you, you can monetize your music on SoundCloud or on other platforms. If you want your projects be financed, you can use KICKSTARTER.

Thanks for your message

Have you considered sub-dividing your long-terms goals into daily actions? If yes, tell us more!

I didn't know about Kickstarter, I'll read about it, thanks!

To get the projects financed, wouldn't I need a relatively "big enough" audience for that? My soundcloud is pretty much inactive. My biggest audience is IG with 1k followers and YT with 520 subscribers.

I need to learn how to grow an audience on Soundcloud

EDIT: Feel free to talk in DM so we can help mutually! I would be glad to know more about you