The Mythology Of The Full-Time Musician

The Mythology Of The Full-Time Musician
By Normandie Wilson - August 11th 2012
Here's another thing I'm really tired of: the mythology of the full-
time musician.
I hear it all the time.
"If only I could spend all my time making music..."
"I really wish I could do nothing but my music..."
"All this social media / promoting / fill in the blank stuff that I
have to do in order to have successful shows just takes away
from my music"
MY MUSIC, MY MUSIC, MY MUSIC. If I had a dime for every time
I've heard a fellow musician say those words as if their music
was God's only golden gift to the world, I would be relaxing on a
private island in Tahiti right now.
This is an incredibly destructive thought pattern that a lot of
musicians are stuck in. Allow me to show you why:
Even Your Idols Don't Get To Spend All Their Time Making
Music
I am a huge Beach Boys fan. I might be at the top of the list. I
have Beach Boys music tattooed on my arm. I adore and worship
at the altar of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. A couple of years
ago, there was a new album coming out, and I got word that
Brian Wilson was doing a signing at Amoeba Music in Hollywood.
Naturally, I went to Amoeba with my bandmate early in the
morning to stand in line to buy the new record and have Brian
Wilson sign our stuff.
I was SO excited. So excited. I wondered if he'd ask about the
music on my arm, and maybe if I'd get to tell him that it was his
music I had tattooed, permanently, on my body. I was also really
young.
After waiting for over an hour, it was finally my turn to get my CD
signed. I finally got to look at one of my major musical idols in
the flesh, from arm's length. I looked him in the eyes. I smiled.
He looked me in the eyes, signed my CD, and threw it across the
table at me.
I can't tell you how disappointed I was. It really hurt. Even a
small smile would have made it all worthwhile for me. But I got
nothing. What I saw was a shell of a man sitting at a table across
from me. I saw nothing but annoyance on Brian Wilson's face. I
looked at him and all I saw was an old musician, a married guy, a
grandpa who didn't want to be signing CDs. I saw a man who
would literally rather be doing anything else other than signing
CDs at Amoeba that day.
Brian Wilson is the lead songwriter for one of the most successful
American music groups to ever have existed. He has to do things
all the time that he doesn't want to do. He has to do things all
the time that his record label forces him to do. He has to give
interviews that he doesn't want to do. If HE has to spend time
doing things that he doesn't want to, things other than "making
music," what makes YOU think that you will somehow be immune
from that? Give me a break. It doesn't matter who your idols are.
You could substitute any name for Brian Wilson's and the story
would be the same.
I Don't Think That "Making Music" Is Really What You Mean
When You Say That's What You Want To Do All Day
If you're reading this, you're probably a musician. If you're a
musician, you probably know that musicians can be among the
most narcissistic and self-involved people on the planet. If you
don't know this, I can speak from my varied experience that this
is an inalienable fact. It is not up for discussion. (It's okay, I still
love you)
I don't think that most musicians who say they only want to
spend their days making music really mean that. I don't think it's
actually what they want to do. Because, if you really wanted to
just make music all day, what would stop you from doing that?
Probably nothing. If you had a calling, a fire deep inside of you
that only wanted to make music, I think that is what you would
do. I think people have the capacity to pack it all up, grab their
guitar and leave. If you only wanted to make music, you'd already
be doing that. You would be living in a cabin somewhere doing
nothing but playing. You'd be on a street corner making music all
day long just for people to enjoy that. But let's be honest here -
that's not really what you want, is it?
What I think most musicians want is to spend all their days being
recognized, appreciated, and admired for the music that they've
created. This is a very, very, very different desire than "I just want
to focus on my music." No. That's not what you want. You want
the spoils; the victory of focusing on your music, winning people
over, and having them recognize and honor you for what you do.
All the time.
I have more bad news for you: this isn't going to happen. It
doesn't happen for Brian Wilson, it doesn't happen for Lady
GaGa, it doesn't happen for Rihanna and it doesn't happen for
Jay-Z. This is just not how it goes.
If what you are craving is fulfillment, I recommend throwing
yourself wholeheartedly into your work. The quickest way to get
validation is to stop looking for it from other people. The easiest
and best path to the warm and fuzzy feelings of validation is to
give them to yourself. To give yourself tons and tons of self-love
and self-care. To make sure you pat yourself on the back every
chance you get. If you make sure your fulfillment is coming from
yourself, you will never be disappointed. I don't know who this
quote comes from, but it's genius: "If you're going to believe all
the good things people say about your music, you have to believe
all the bad things too." Other people, whether fans or enemies,
are always fickle. Put yourself at the center of your musical
universe and you'll never come up feeling empty.
Even if all you want is to make music and spend all your time
SHARING it, there are still soooooooooooooo many other steps
that go into that! You have to write songs, yes, but then you have
to practice them. You might have to teach them to other people.
You either have to arrange a venue yourself, or get your booking
agent to do it. And then you have to let people know about it, so
that they can be there. No major recording artist is immune from
most of these steps. Don't look at all these steps as distractions;
it's much better to view them as vital and necessary parts of the
process.
Your Most Likely Path To Full-Time Musicianship Is Almost
Probably 100% Not As Glamourous As You Think
So let's say you do make it as a full-time musician. It's going to
mean national tours, a bus with lots of free booze on it, and tons
of adoring fans, right? It's going to mean an interview with Oprah
one week and being on Conan O'Brien the next, right? Wrong.
I know lots of people who make their living through music. Let
me tell you about some of them.
Pedro is the father of one of my dear friends. He is an incredible
guitarist and plays everything from mariachi to classical guitar to
jazz standards, very well, I might add. He's graced the stage with
many famous mariachi musicians and at many festivals. He has a
trio he performs with, Trio Casablanca, and when they're not
playing weddings, they're most likely playing at one of their
regular restaurant gigs or recording an album of original music.
Abi is a music educator in Denver, CO. She teaches guitar lessons
to kids, and she just landed a job with Imagination Makers, a
company that gets professional theater to kids. She's the
musician for all their performances. She does all of this while
running a record label, Morning Bird Records, and working on
her own music.
Jack is a session guitarist in Los Angeles, CA. He's one of the best
guitarists I know personally. His days consist of playing on
recording after recording after recording, sometimes with little to
no practice.
If you've heard of any of these people, I would be very, very
surprised.
A lot of musicians turn down good quality, paying work for any
one of many very shitty reasons. Shitty reasons like:
It's Not My Original Music:
A friend of mine has repeatedly turned down restaurant work
because he wouldn't get to sing, and he wouldn't get to play his
original music.
My Response:
Just do it! Take the money and put it to work. Run some ads for
your original music while you're earning your keep.
It's Beneath The Level Of My Talent:
I know A LOT of musicians who refuse to play weddings because
they indeed, feel it's beneath them. They feel it's "beneath them,"
even though this can often be a gig that guarantees you upwards
of $1000.
My Response:
If you're stupid enough to turn down money because you feel it's
"beneath you," then please keep it up. More money for me.
It's A Compromise Of My (Artistic) Integrity:
Sometimes this can have some merit. Say, if a white supremacist
group offers you a grand to play some songs at a Nazi rally, I
would encourage you to turn that down. I know if I found out
that an artist I liked was doing things like that, I would
immediately disconnect and I would definitely refuse to buy
anymore of their music.
Other times, it's a bit more of a gray area. For instance, Feist's
famous refusal to let McDonald's use one of her songs in a
commercial. It was instead used by Apple, a company who has
been accused of many different labor disputes, including worker
suicides in factories where things like iPods and iPads are made.
Six in one, half dozen in the other.
In my opinion, when it comes to corporations, there's often no
way you can win. In the rare event that a company you really
disagree with offers you a million dollars to use your song, you
could take the money and donate half of it to a cause that you
feel is more in alignment with your beliefs. But most of us aren't
on that level yet. Most musicians I know have issues like; "They
asked me to make my songs family-friendly," or "There's a
business in town that wants to have me perform at their annual
Christmas dinner but I don't believe in corporate American blah
blah blah" and I think that's just stupid.
My Response:
My mom always pulls this gem out on me: "Don't cut your nose
off despite your face." I'm sure your beliefs are great and noble.
But the reality is, unless you already have a certain amount of
leverage (fame), no one really gives a shit about your beliefs. So
don't let that be the thing that keeps you from taking a good
opportunity. ESPECIALLY if it involves kids. A lot of musicians
seem to have big problems with toning down their lyrics or
editing their shows for children and families, and this is a huge
mistake. The kids' music market can be a BIG money maker for
you if you play your cards right. And think about it - how
awesome would it be to be one of the first musical artists a kid
listens to? You could end up with families of fans for life. Don't
throw this away because of your "image" or some other equally
lame concept.
I Just Don't Want To
This is a common response when there are large amounts of
work involved for making money, or getting publicity, or
whatever.
My Response:
If you don't want to do (fill in the blank), someone else will.
Trust me. It's your call. If someone is looking to hire a musician
for whatever reason, and you don't want to do it, they'll find
someone else to do the job. The world will never stop for you.
Full-time working musicians are not mythical creatures. They're
not like unicorns, or pegasus(es)?. They are hard-working people
who, JUST LIKE ALL OF US, often have to spend large portions of
time doing things that they don't necessarily want to be doing.
They are people who have to put 100% of their effort and time in
to have success. They are people who spend a lot of time working
when they'd maybe rather be somewhere else, or doing
something else. Being a full-time musician doesn't automatically
mean all your hard work stops! In fact, I'd say (at least for me),
it's been the beginning of much, much more work. Is it
rewarding? Absolutely. Is it anything but utterly fabulous to be
able to share your music with the world? No. It is literally the
greatest. But please - do me, and all the other working musicians
a favor - stop mythologizing what it is that we do. It's harmful to
you and insulting to us. Just DO it! You can join us if you're
willing to work! It's really not some unattainable goal. You just
have to make sure you're striving for what it is REALLY LIKE to be
a full-time musician, and not your glamorized version of what it
means. If your goal is an imaginary place, you'll never get there.
You have to be real.
Hang in there, and keep working hard. You'll get there! Until next
time, keep working. And then work some more.

The Mythology Of The Full-Time Musician

The Mythology Of The Full-Time Musician
By Normandie Wilson - August 11th 2012
Here's another thing I'm really tired of: the mythology of the full-
time musician.
I hear it all the time.
"If only I could spend all my time making music..."
"I really wish I could do nothing but my music..."
"All this social media / promoting / fill in the blank stuff that I
have to do in order to have successful shows just takes away
from my music"
MY MUSIC, MY MUSIC, MY MUSIC. If I had a dime for every time
I've heard a fellow musician say those words as if their music
was God's only golden gift to the world, I would be relaxing on a
private island in Tahiti right now.
This is an incredibly destructive thought pattern that a lot of
musicians are stuck in. Allow me to show you why:
Even Your Idols Don't Get To Spend All Their Time Making
Music
I am a huge Beach Boys fan. I might be at the top of the list. I
have Beach Boys music tattooed on my arm. I adore and worship
at the altar of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. A couple of years
ago, there was a new album coming out, and I got word that
Brian Wilson was doing a signing at Amoeba Music in Hollywood.
Naturally, I went to Amoeba with my bandmate early in the
morning to stand in line to buy the new record and have Brian
Wilson sign our stuff.
I was SO excited. So excited. I wondered if he'd ask about the
music on my arm, and maybe if I'd get to tell him that it was his
music I had tattooed, permanently, on my body. I was also really
young.
After waiting for over an hour, it was finally my turn to get my CD
signed. I finally got to look at one of my major musical idols in
the flesh, from arm's length. I looked him in the eyes. I smiled.
He looked me in the eyes, signed my CD, and threw it across the
table at me.
I can't tell you how disappointed I was. It really hurt. Even a
small smile would have made it all worthwhile for me. But I got
nothing. What I saw was a shell of a man sitting at a table across
from me. I saw nothing but annoyance on Brian Wilson's face. I
looked at him and all I saw was an old musician, a married guy, a
grandpa who didn't want to be signing CDs. I saw a man who
would literally rather be doing anything else other than signing
CDs at Amoeba that day.
Brian Wilson is the lead songwriter for one of the most successful
American music groups to ever have existed. He has to do things
all the time that he doesn't want to do. He has to do things all
the time that his record label forces him to do. He has to give
interviews that he doesn't want to do. If HE has to spend time
doing things that he doesn't want to, things other than "making
music," what makes YOU think that you will somehow be immune
from that? Give me a break. It doesn't matter who your idols are.
You could substitute any name for Brian Wilson's and the story
would be the same.
I Don't Think That "Making Music" Is Really What You Mean
When You Say That's What You Want To Do All Day
If you're reading this, you're probably a musician. If you're a
musician, you probably know that musicians can be among the
most narcissistic and self-involved people on the planet. If you
don't know this, I can speak from my varied experience that this
is an inalienable fact. It is not up for discussion. (It's okay, I still
love you)
I don't think that most musicians who say they only want to
spend their days making music really mean that. I don't think it's
actually what they want to do. Because, if you really wanted to
just make music all day, what would stop you from doing that?
Probably nothing. If you had a calling, a fire deep inside of you
that only wanted to make music, I think that is what you would
do. I think people have the capacity to pack it all up, grab their
guitar and leave. If you only wanted to make music, you'd already
be doing that. You would be living in a cabin somewhere doing
nothing but playing. You'd be on a street corner making music all
day long just for people to enjoy that. But let's be honest here -
that's not really what you want, is it?
What I think most musicians want is to spend all their days being
recognized, appreciated, and admired for the music that they've
created. This is a very, very, very different desire than "I just want
to focus on my music." No. That's not what you want. You want
the spoils; the victory of focusing on your music, winning people
over, and having them recognize and honor you for what you do.
All the time.
I have more bad news for you: this isn't going to happen. It
doesn't happen for Brian Wilson, it doesn't happen for Lady
GaGa, it doesn't happen for Rihanna and it doesn't happen for
Jay-Z. This is just not how it goes.
If what you are craving is fulfillment, I recommend throwing
yourself wholeheartedly into your work. The quickest way to get
validation is to stop looking for it from other people. The easiest
and best path to the warm and fuzzy feelings of validation is to
give them to yourself. To give yourself tons and tons of self-love
and self-care. To make sure you pat yourself on the back every
chance you get. If you make sure your fulfillment is coming from
yourself, you will never be disappointed. I don't know who this
quote comes from, but it's genius: "If you're going to believe all
the good things people say about your music, you have to believe
all the bad things too." Other people, whether fans or enemies,
are always fickle. Put yourself at the center of your musical
universe and you'll never come up feeling empty.
Even if all you want is to make music and spend all your time
SHARING it, there are still soooooooooooooo many other steps
that go into that! You have to write songs, yes, but then you have
to practice them. You might have to teach them to other people.
You either have to arrange a venue yourself, or get your booking
agent to do it. And then you have to let people know about it, so
that they can be there. No major recording artist is immune from
most of these steps. Don't look at all these steps as distractions;
it's much better to view them as vital and necessary parts of the
process.
Your Most Likely Path To Full-Time Musicianship Is Almost
Probably 100% Not As Glamourous As You Think
So let's say you do make it as a full-time musician. It's going to
mean national tours, a bus with lots of free booze on it, and tons
of adoring fans, right? It's going to mean an interview with Oprah
one week and being on Conan O'Brien the next, right? Wrong.
I know lots of people who make their living through music. Let
me tell you about some of them.
Pedro is the father of one of my dear friends. He is an incredible
guitarist and plays everything from mariachi to classical guitar to
jazz standards, very well, I might add. He's graced the stage with
many famous mariachi musicians and at many festivals. He has a
trio he performs with, Trio Casablanca, and when they're not
playing weddings, they're most likely playing at one of their
regular restaurant gigs or recording an album of original music.
Abi is a music educator in Denver, CO. She teaches guitar lessons
to kids, and she just landed a job with Imagination Makers, a
company that gets professional theater to kids. She's the
musician for all their performances. She does all of this while
running a record label, Morning Bird Records, and working on
her own music.
Jack is a session guitarist in Los Angeles, CA. He's one of the best
guitarists I know personally. His days consist of playing on
recording after recording after recording, sometimes with little to
no practice.
If you've heard of any of these people, I would be very, very
surprised.
A lot of musicians turn down good quality, paying work for any
one of many very shitty reasons. Shitty reasons like:
It's Not My Original Music:
A friend of mine has repeatedly turned down restaurant work
because he wouldn't get to sing, and he wouldn't get to play his
original music.
My Response:
Just do it! Take the money and put it to work. Run some ads for
your original music while you're earning your keep.
It's Beneath The Level Of My Talent:
I know A LOT of musicians who refuse to play weddings because
they indeed, feel it's beneath them. They feel it's "beneath them,"
even though this can often be a gig that guarantees you upwards
of $1000.
My Response:
If you're stupid enough to turn down money because you feel it's
"beneath you," then please keep it up. More money for me.
It's A Compromise Of My (Artistic) Integrity:
Sometimes this can have some merit. Say, if a white supremacist
group offers you a grand to play some songs at a Nazi rally, I
would encourage you to turn that down. I know if I found out
that an artist I liked was doing things like that, I would
immediately disconnect and I would definitely refuse to buy
anymore of their music.
Other times, it's a bit more of a gray area. For instance, Feist's
famous refusal to let McDonald's use one of her songs in a
commercial. It was instead used by Apple, a company who has
been accused of many different labor disputes, including worker
suicides in factories where things like iPods and iPads are made.
Six in one, half dozen in the other.
In my opinion, when it comes to corporations, there's often no
way you can win. In the rare event that a company you really
disagree with offers you a million dollars to use your song, you
could take the money and donate half of it to a cause that you
feel is more in alignment with your beliefs. But most of us aren't
on that level yet. Most musicians I know have issues like; "They
asked me to make my songs family-friendly," or "There's a
business in town that wants to have me perform at their annual
Christmas dinner but I don't believe in corporate American blah
blah blah" and I think that's just stupid.
My Response:
My mom always pulls this gem out on me: "Don't cut your nose
off despite your face." I'm sure your beliefs are great and noble.
But the reality is, unless you already have a certain amount of
leverage (fame), no one really gives a shit about your beliefs. So
don't let that be the thing that keeps you from taking a good
opportunity. ESPECIALLY if it involves kids. A lot of musicians
seem to have big problems with toning down their lyrics or
editing their shows for children and families, and this is a huge
mistake. The kids' music market can be a BIG money maker for
you if you play your cards right. And think about it - how
awesome would it be to be one of the first musical artists a kid
listens to? You could end up with families of fans for life. Don't
throw this away because of your "image" or some other equally
lame concept.
I Just Don't Want To
This is a common response when there are large amounts of
work involved for making money, or getting publicity, or
whatever.
My Response:
If you don't want to do (fill in the blank), someone else will.
Trust me. It's your call. If someone is looking to hire a musician
for whatever reason, and you don't want to do it, they'll find
someone else to do the job. The world will never stop for you.
Full-time working musicians are not mythical creatures. They're
not like unicorns, or pegasus(es)?. They are hard-working people
who, JUST LIKE ALL OF US, often have to spend large portions of
time doing things that they don't necessarily want to be doing.
They are people who have to put 100% of their effort and time in
to have success. They are people who spend a lot of time working
when they'd maybe rather be somewhere else, or doing
something else. Being a full-time musician doesn't automatically
mean all your hard work stops! In fact, I'd say (at least for me),
it's been the beginning of much, much more work. Is it
rewarding? Absolutely. Is it anything but utterly fabulous to be
able to share your music with the world? No. It is literally the
greatest. But please - do me, and all the other working musicians
a favor - stop mythologizing what it is that we do. It's harmful to
you and insulting to us. Just DO it! You can join us if you're
willing to work! It's really not some unattainable goal. You just
have to make sure you're striving for what it is REALLY LIKE to be
a full-time musician, and not your glamorized version of what it
means. If your goal is an imaginary place, you'll never get there.
You have to be real.
Hang in there, and keep working hard. You'll get there! Until next
time, keep working. And then work some more.

Tips for a career in music.

Why You Need A Mentor To Start A Career In Music And How
To Find One
By Tom Hess

Do you have a strong desire to become a professional musician,
but are unsure about how to start a career in music? If so, you
are not alone. Every day there are thousands of musicians just
like you who are jumping head first into the music industry with
high levels of enthusiasm but very little experience.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of these musicians do not end up
with a career in music because they either do not know how the
music industry works or do not know how to use the information
they learn to quickly advance their music career.
In order to build and sustain a career in music it is important to
seek out the training of a mentor who has already achieved a
high level of success in the music industry. By finding someone
who has already accomplished what you want to achieve in music
(and is willing to guide you along), you will drastically increase
your chances for success.
To illustrate this point, think about the legendary basketball star
Michael Jordan. Considered by many to be one of the greatest
athletes ever, Jordan won many championships and awards
throughout his career while making millions of dollars in the
process. Although he certainly had talent on his own, he did not
accomplish all of these things alone. Throughout Jordan’s career
there was not a single moment where he did not have the
guidance and training of a personal coach or mentor. By having
access to people who had already achieved the things he wanted
to achieve in basketball, Jordan was able to use his natural
playing abilities to their full potential and reach truly legendary
success in the sport. It would be unthinkable that any world-
class athlete would proceed without a coach even after winning
championships, MVP awards or Olympic gold medals.
Like Michael Jordan, if you are serious about pursuing a career in
music, you can benefit greatly by finding a mentor who can show
you how to utilize your natural talent to achieve truly great things
in your music career. In order to help you find your own mentor,
I have created a list of the 3 main characteristics that a mentor
must have in order to help you successfully build a career in
music:
1. Has already achieved a high level of success and can help
you find solutions to the unique challenges you face in your
music career.
When you start a career in music, it can be very overwhelming.
Fact is, there exists a nearly endless amount of information on
the music industry through various forms of media (such as
internet, books, etc.). The problem is, these sources usually offer
generalized advice that is intended to appeal to musicians as a
whole. This can be confusing for you as you are just starting a
career in music, because you are not yet able to distinguish the
valuable information that you can actually use from clutter that is
totally irrelevant to your musical goals. That said, it is very
important that you find a music career mentor who has already
achieved a high level of success in the same area of the music
business that you are looking to pursue (for example, recording
successful albums, touring nationally or internationally, etc.).
By finding a mentor like this, you will be able to get personalized
advice that is 100% relevant to your specific goals in music. This
person will not simply provide you with generalized advice.
Instead, they will be able to answer your specific questions in
order to help you overcome the challenges that are unique to
your own music career. This will enable you to approach a career
in music with a clear and focused understanding of the actions
you need to take on a continual basis.
2. Understands how to guide you while keeping your biggest
music goals in mind.
One of the most common reasons why musicians fail to sustain a
long term career in the music industry is that they do not keep
their ultimate music goals in mind with each action they take –
they easily become distracted and stray off course. These
musicians start a career in music and go through the motions of
practicing their instruments and writing music, but ultimately lose
direction because they never really established a solid strategy
for reaching their musical goals and then stick to that strategy
with pig-headed discipline. This frustrating process can go on for
years until finally the musician gives up entirely on a career in
music and settles for an unsatisfying job outside of the music
industry.
A good music career mentor will be able to evaluate your goals
and help you identify various strategies that you can use to reach
them quickly and effectively. That said, even with all the right
strategies in place, many musicians tend to slowly get off track
from their goals due to lack of motivation, distractions or
procrastination. When this happens, it can often lead to a career
in music that slowly declines and fades away. Your mentor
should also be able to quickly spot when you are heading down
the wrong path, and will know how to guide you back on track
toward your ultimate goals.
If you have not yet decided on your specific goals for a career in
music, it is crucial that you figure them out as soon as possible.
Read this music career goals page and learn how to dig deep and
identify your biggest goals for music.
3. Has already helped many others achieve success in their
music careers (and can prove it!).
Unlike with many other industries, building a successful career in
music does not require special certifications, college degrees or
standardized testing of any kind. That said, anyone can easily
‘claim’ to be an expert in the music industry, when in fact they
have done very little in their own career. As you are looking for a
mentor to help you build a career in music, it is very important
that you avoid following the advice of people who do not TRULY
understand how the music business works and what will make
you valuable to it.
One of the best ways to identify a mentor who CAN help you in
your music career is to look at success of the musicians he is
currently training (or has worked with in the past). If the mentor
you seek is truly worth investing in, he will not spend a lot of
time trying to ‘convince’ you of his musical skills, music business
understanding or strong industry connections. Instead, he will let
his reputation do all the talking for him. A great music career
mentor has already helped many musicians reach their own
success. As a result, these musicians have a lot of gratitude and
volunteer to provide testimonials of their achievements. You
should be able to easily find testimonials like this all over the
website (or elsewhere) of the mentor you are considering.
After mentoring and training musicians around the world to
achieve high levels of success, I can tell you from experience that
finding a mentor will make a MASSIVE difference in your music
career. Whether you are just starting a career in music or have
already worked in the music business for some time, it is
absolutely essential that you find a great mentor who can help
you reach your full potential as a professional musician.
Get started building a highly successful career by reading the
information on this music career mentor page.
Still not sure about working together with a mentor? Take this
free music career analysis to learn the details of your current
strengths and weaknesses as a musician, and see if working with
a mentor is right for you.

Music in Nigeria_Transformation

Looking back a couple of years now we've seen a great influx of people coming unto the scene in the circle of music in Nigeria. But has it really changed the out look of the way the music scene ought to be?

Many have come in, not to create a better or make impact but to just add to the numbers and disturb our tv screen.

I wonder why it is so hard for us to just tell ourselves the truth "that song sucks".   Well if you care to know most of the songs on rotation are just nothing to write home about. they lack content, music and lyric wise. 

I also find it hard to see creativity and innovation in the music being but out by the so called artist in Nigeria. I am tired of sound alike and same beat syndrome. 

I believe we are yet to hear the best that Nigeria has to offer, i Believe we are yet to see an industry because right now all we have is a circle. You either belong to one or you are in another.

I am looking forward to a day when all the arms of a label will be in place to run a proper Record Label and it will not just be a family or friends affair. Looking forwards to the time when proper censorship will be in place to monitor sound quality, musical contents and also protect Intellectual Property.

If you are into music in Nigeria, it is time to change, it is time to shape up, it is time to retool, it is time to innovate. We can not  continue with "music as usual". We have to bring in professionalism and also treat the business like one that must bring back ROI. 

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Smartphones

Quick question, how smart is your mobile phone?
Do you know that your mobile phone speaks alot about who you are, what you do, and your level of connectivity.

What is really a smartphone?
A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a feature phone
One of the most critical factor that people consider when choosing a smartphone is the (OS) that the smartphone is running on. Check shop.chithub.com for a variety of smartphones.

The most common mobile operating systems (OS) used by modern smartphones include Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Phone, Nokia's Symbian, RIM's BlackBerry OS, and embedded Linux distributions such as Maemo and MeeGo. Such operating systems can be installed on many different phone models, and typically each device can receive multiple OS software updates over its lifetime.
Another big factor in the choice of smartphones is the Features.
Case study is the new Samsung Galaxy III, which is  ‘’designed for humans’’ in other words the user interface and features on the phone better meet what people really want to do.
Apart from the social component, since one of the main things we do with smartphones is make and maintain connections with others, below are some of the New Features of the Samsung Galaxy III.


1. S Voice: This is Samsung’s Siri clone, letting you control the phone with your voice. It’s unclear what the limits of S Voice are (Siri has been infamously criticized for not working as advertised), but Samsung has chosen to emphasize just a few simple tasks users can peform with voice: unlocking the phone, hitting snooze on an alarm, playing songs, sending texts and scheduling events.


2. Smart Stay: Tapping your screen to stop it from timing out before you’re done reading will never happen on the Galaxy S III, according to Samsung. Smart Stay uses the phone’s front-facing camera to monitor your eyes, so it knows when you’re reading, watching video or doing anything where your attention is on the screen but not actively doing anything with it.
3. Face Recognition With Auto Tagging: If your cellphone camera can recognize faces, why not let it assign names to them and automatically tag your photos? The Galaxy S III does this, letting you quickly share (via email or picture message) to all the people in the photo with just a couple of taps — assuming their faces are already associated with your contacts. It’s not clear how this would translate to tagging on Facebook, but it seems like a no-brainer.
4. S Beam: No need for the cloud if you want to share files on the Galaxy S III. You can transfer files up to 1GB to another person’s phone just by tapping them together. The connection is made via short-range near-field communication (NFC) and the files are delivered over Wi-Fi Direct. The feature is limited, though: Both phones have to be Samsung Galaxy S IIIs.
5. Direct Call: This is a simple change, but probably a welcome one for many. If you’re texting someone and decide you want to call them instead, just hold the phone up to your ear. The phone automatically places a call to the person with whom you were just texting.
6. AllShare Cast: The link between phones and TVs is getting stronger with features like AllShare Cast. With just a few screen swipes, the phone easily lets you mirror what’s on your device (photos, videos and the web) to the bigger screen. It’s a great idea — and where the world is going — but like S Beam, it has a similar limitation of needing Samsung equipment to work — either a TV or a special dongle.


Do keep in touch with ww.chithub.com on the date of release and price of the Samsung Galaxy S III soon.
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