1. Because you don’t have to do what everyone tells you to do. 

You are an individual with unique values, goals, passions, and interests. As an artist, you may have broad and often conflicting interests while simultaneously you are deliciously engrossed in the minutia of a singular niche. For the entrepreneur, there are no rules that say you must give up any of your interests or passions for a career. If someone says you can’t make a living pursuing multiple passions, then you need to run the other direction.

 2. It’s a dumb idea to say that a music career can be defined by any one kind of job.

Yep, I said it.  That’s dumb.  The truth is there are as many kinds of music careers as there are genres of music—literally thousands.  When you consider the how many possible combinations of music careers there could be, the options are seemingly endless.

 3. Creative people need freedom to create—and it’s okay to honor that need.

Musicians can be wonderfully creative, frenetic, sporadic, and illustrious people. When we have our freedom to create and experiment, we can accomplish truly unbelievable feats.  But what happens when you clip a bird’s wings? It can’t fly.  The same is true for the musician. When our “jobs” take over we can forget or ignore or suppress our spontaneous creative urges. The creative flame grows dull.  This feeling does not just express itself in the lives of many musicians who have taken on the thankless “day job”. It can also be expressed in the lives of performing musicians whose orchestra or ensemble has become more a prison than a blank canvas for their art.  Music entrepreneurship is built on the idea that the job/income is built around accommodating your individual artist needs.

 4. There is a difference between owning your life’s work, and wishing you did.

That’s a bold statement, but it’s true. When you pursue entrepreneurial projects, you undergo a dramatic mental shift.  You realize that your success is now in your own hands. This knowledge will give you incredible energy to pursue the path(s) you love.  No doubt, you will face struggles and obstacles between you and your goals. However,  you will own that struggle and it will only serve to temper your resolve to see your goal to its realization. Entrepreneurs make their own decisions and for better or worse.

 5. Entrepreneurs aren’t victims.

No longer are you the victim in a world where (shudder) “the arts are dying.” Rather, you view yourself as part of the solution the arts need. You will view yourself as a positive force that fixes problems or addresses conflict in the arts world. By setting your own course, you are free to be flexible and agile when making career choices. When you experience a setback, you can change directions in a second and minimize or avoid the setback altogether. You have complete control over your entrepreneurial enterprises and can be free to take the action you feel is best for you. In short, you don’t allow yourself to be the victim of someone else’s circumstances.

Though this list is far from comprehensive, I hope that it showcases some of the benefits that an entrepreneurial career has to offer. It takes bravery to be a music entrepreneur as you may find yourself breaking from your comfort zone.  Just remember, there is no feeling like owning your own successes, taking charge of your life, and putting your creativity first.  There’s nothing like it in the entire world.

Stay tuned,

John-Morgan