Question: My band has been together for over 5 years and still nothing…Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Answer: 5 years…..That’s it? Your considering throwing the towel in that soon?
Well if you think you’ve been waiting long enough then maybe this industry isn’t for you. But if you start to think about it rationally and logically you might start to realize that now might be the very point that your band keeps steamrolling forward because a home run might just be around the corner.
Take The Offspring for example, from what I believe they were a live touring band for over 10 years before their first break through Album S.M.A.S.H turned them into rock stars.
That’s right, 10 years of slogging away, playing room after room, not getting very far. A lot of them were married, some had kids, but they still kept going and going until eventually, they got signed by Sony and the rest is history.
Another example is Dido. Ok, she did have an unfair headstart because she was signed by a major label before anyone even knew of her, however she was buried away in arists development for 4-5 years before she hit the market and there was no telling before that time if anything would even happen for her either.
So if a major label was prepared to keep someone in development for a good 4 years, then how much more so, an unsigned band who are still trying to find their way.
The point I’m trying to make is that if your serious about your music and your serious about trying to pave a long term career for yourself in music, five years isn’t really such a long period of time.
Most record deals today are like 5 album deals which last much longer than 5 years usually. It normally takes a good year to 18 months to promote one album before you move onto the next one (provided that there is some traction and radio play).
I just finished reading a book by Seth Godin called The Dip . It’s a great little book that taught me a lot and it seems like all bands out there who think five years is along time to wait for something that still hasn’t happened yet, is actually a long time.
My advice – stick it out. Keep going. Set yourself another five year plan and don’t stop moving until you really can.
If your stuck on ideas on how to get the movemet in motion, check out my tool kit – I assure you that there are things in there that you wouldn’t of thought about or considered in the past five years.
Keep truckin and come back to me in another five years if still nothing!
What do you think?
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