The REAL Reason Why Most Artists Fail

I told y'all I was gonna do this. I wanted to take to our IG Live and I wanted to do what I'm calling music business therapy. Okay. How do you really feel? This kind of feels like a therapy session if we were using the uh love seat over there. Um, just because I I feel like the thing that we love doing most here is like trying to figure out this chaos that is the music business. I feel like the conversations that we've had with the people that operated, you know, at the highest level in this shit, will be the first to admit that they really don't actually know what's going on. Nobody does. It's that's kind of scary, right? That's like a doctor who's about to do surgery on you, being like, I mean, like, we've done this before, but it works, but but like we don't really know what's happening here. It's a mess for sure. I think even more so as time goes on, it gets even messier. It used to be, you know, you had talent, someone discovers you and they market you, and you, you know, it was it was a little more formulaic. Yeah, I would say so.

It's it's changing so rapidly. Yeah. Um it's more abstract for sure. So that's like the biggest part of it. But but but yeah, so I digress. So basically, the point of it is to like get our audience members onto a live stream with me. I want them to kind of like ask a question that's maybe been bothering them or something that they've been struggling with, or some just observation that they've noticed in the past, you know. Um, you know, you know, in their experience as as a person in the music business, and then I wanted to talk about it. So if y'all are listening, please tune into our live streams when we're doing this because I had so much fun. We had so many people tap into the live and they had some amazing comments, like some amazing commentary, some amazing questions. Like we covered everything from publishing to um, you know, content marketing to um authenticity, right? Like, you know, how authentic do you need to be when you're building an artist brand, for example. But the one thing that I I really wanted to get your opinion on as like a debrief from this live that was last night is we started talking about like why most artists fail. Like, where do most artists fall short, right?

Because there's not, you know, uh uh, you know, deficit of talent out there. Like there's some good music that I know is being made. I mean, even people that I know in our circle just here in Atlanta that haven't quote unquote made it, I think they're making some awesome music, right? So the point of the the comment, the conversation that I had with this one person on the live was really about that that you know question around like, well, where are most artists like not hitting the mark? Like where are they falling short? So, like just initial thoughts, and then I'll kind of share some of the the key takeaways from that specific conversation. Because people were also all up in the comments, which was great, It's like they were commenting their own opinions. But like when you hear that question, what what's kind of your initial thought? I definitely immediately go to drive. I immediately go to how many artists are treating their music career like they would a full-time job. And I think that not only are almost no artists treating it like a full-time job, I think the ones that are winning are working overtime and even treating it more than a full-time job, like after hours, overtime type of work, bro. drop a fucking bomb,

Shit don't stop at 5 p.m. You know what I mean? So the hours, yes, putting in the work, the research to learn the new things that you gotta do. Um, hopefully you're having fun making music. Hopefully your music is at least kind of good. Cause that that is gonna have to be a thing, but it's just so much of a minimum these days. This that's definitely, I don't think that's where most people fail. Oh my god, I'm so happy that you like we didn't talk about this at all. I swear to God, people, we did not talk about this at all. I showed up to the studio today, you know. We just shoot these internal pods. Ben told me to say that. No, come on. It's not that's not true. That's literally not true at all. It's not true. Literally, I walked in the studio. We were planning to just hop on another live stream and review music. You wouldn't even tell me what we were talking about. Yeah, I actually I literally was just like, yo, I got some shit to talk about on an internal podcast. And for me, any chance to hear my own voice. So I said, sure, let's do it. No, you were you don't even like doing these. Let's just be I love these. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, so I'm I'm really glad you said that because the most common theme from everyone in the comments, as well as the you know, person that I was talking to, was just that. It was the work ethic, man.

Yeah. Um, people don't really they say they want this shit, they say they want it, they talk a lot, you know, like, oh, like working, you know, let's work, work, work. But like to your point, if you were to ask them how many hours this week did you actually actually actually put in to furthering your music career. Yeah. And what did you do? Because that was the big thing too, is a lot of artists that claim that they're working, um, really are only putting in the work, quote unquote, in the studio. Mm-hmm. And that's like that's scratching the surface. That's the fucking tip of the iceberg when it comes to like the drive you're talking about, right? Because with the, you know, the one person I was talking to, really what uh where I think he at least has a good head on his shoulders was him understanding kind of all the different things that need to be being done, right? Like the the actual landscape of work that comes along with being an artist, right?

So that's coordinating photo shoots, coordinating video shoots, brainstorming content ideas, shooting those content ideas, editing those content ideas, posting those content ideas, getting on live streams, um, collaborating with people as far as you know, the actual making of the music side of things, uh research, you know, you mentioned something about like that willingness to learn, that curiosity. Like, do you actually give a fuck enough about like figuring this out to go and research it? Like there's people on the internet, way smarter than either of us talking about their experiences and like how artists can build, you know, brands and build businesses and producers and and engineers, even, you know, all the different people that are in the music business, there's content out there for you to consume to further your like knowledge of this shit. And you know what I partially think it is? I think that the creative types, I think it was Cato who said people that are naturally very creative aren't always the most business savvy, which is fine, you know, if you're great at creating and being artistic, that's awesome. But you need someone on your team that can specialize using that other part, that left brain, right brain kind of thing, you know what I mean?

Because so there's there's a few people that are that have both that can do it, but not you know, 90% of you listening are not that, and you need to be real with yourselves and decide what your strengths are. And if you just like being the creative person, but you want to make a business out of your creativity, it's the music business. You got the music covered, but that other half needs being covered. You know what's so interesting though is that in my mind, someone who's creative, right? Like, let's take the business side of this out of the fucking equation altogether. Let's even just think about the creativity, right? Like the creative aspects of building an artist brand. It's it's odd to me that they can be so creative when it comes to the making of the music. I know where you're going. But they no, I don't know if you do, but they can't even be creative enough to come up with content ideas. So you were gonna say creative with the business. Which is kind of the same thing. Which exactly, because we're in a content, we're in a content consumption business.

You need people to consume what you're putting out. That's the music. Posting free content is the ultimate way to promote a business right now, whether you like it or not. If your business is music, then that's what what it is. Literally, we were considering doing ads for like the brand that we launched, and I was like, yo, guys, we haven't even done, we haven't even scratched the surface of what we can do organically, right? Because you can build such big businesses off pure organic reach from you know content marketing. So for me, I think it's interesting that like that conversation comes up of like, oh well, creatives just don't like the business shit. And like I get that, honestly. I really do understand the like the operations and like them needing to sign up for royalties and PROs and pub admins and all the like business shit and negotiating agreements and splits and blah blah blah and brand deals if they ever come up and getting booked for shows and you know, inventory for all the things that you're basically getting at that is they just want to be in front of a keyboard, man. Exactly.

But Fuck all that. but something that I think should go hand in hand with being a creative music maker. I don't know why. I just I just kind of look at them, you know, content marketing and content creation and music making. I just would think that that like side of the brain would be similar. Do you am I wrong? No, no, I don't think you're wrong. I think uh it it's it's kind of like telling a piano player to you know start painting, maybe. Which which I don't know if that I can drop a bar on that one. Or like play the guitar, bitch. Yeah, you know, what I mean it's a different why can't you drum. Sure. But people that are naturally creative, you know, I think it it, you know, what's the harm in like trip trying a new avenue? I think it doesn't seem as sexy as something like playing an instrument, you know, being creative with content, because so much content is so lame and it's so monotonous, and you get 200 views and nothing happens and it brings you down. You know, I mean imagine like posting a song twice a day and no one listens and being like, well, keep doing that for two years, and then maybe it's like I'd get sad.

Well, you know, you know how that's gonna happen, right? Right. How is if you don't post content twice a day, you're gonna post songs that only get 200 fucking listens. Yeah. I mean, sadly, that's just yeah, but it's just damaging to like, you know, I would say the ego, maybe, which which is a big part of creative people, I think, as well, myself included. Yeah, man, it's just so interesting, like just having that conversation with our audience about because they're all going through it, right? So they're almost looking in inward, being like, why am I failing so far, maybe, right? If they if they don't think that they're succeeding to the level that they want, right? And that's very that's very like personal. Everyone has their own journey and like definition of success. So like people can be hard on themselves. But it was just cool to hear like that work ethic thing, man, was like, and that's what I love about our audience. I fuck with you guys for real because the type of people that are consuming our content, they want to learn, bro. They want to do this. Like the people I talked to, it was so cool. Like, I'll have to show you this one girl.

Um, I am Chanel Drip. Go follow her because she's a bundle of energy, true entrepreneur, boss bitch. I mean, she's an artist. She like invested in herself to become like a better singer. So she was taking it. Did she say you can call her a bitch? Uh she said, call her boss bitch. Okay, good. Yeah, she actually mandated it. That's how much of a boss bitch she is. I love that. She was like, Ben, you better call me boss bitch. Um, and no, it was just it was amazing hearing her story. You know, she's she's um doing artist development where she's helping like other artists because like even though she's not at this high, high level, she's at least learned enough to once again like fifth grader can teach a fourth grader type of deal. So she's helping artists in her community. She's from Houston. She's uh she's like launched a uh like cosmetics business. So it was just like real entrepreneur shit of like this girl's got her hands and so much shit. She's working a regular degular job too, and all of this is like after hours to your point. Like, if you do got to work a regular job, it's no fucking shade to that.

Like, you gotta put food on the table, you gotta pay bills, like we fucking get it, all right. But you don't you can't use that as an excuse to not put in the work or to like complain if you're not at a certain level, right? Like the the big gist that we that we kind of arrived at, and this was across multiple people that joined the live, was like music business people are like big complainers too, bro. People be complaining, like, man, like no one, like no one gives me the opportunities. Like, if I only had this, if I only had that, like, you know, like I think I think people don't like the way it is now, which I kind of don't even like the way it is now either. What do you mean by that? What well, how is it? We've talked the way it is. Let's go back to the Adam Iovine interview. Um, we said, you know, this guy's the ultimate music marketer. He's got like a music marketing.com. He just sells masterclasses. And he straight up sat on this love seat and said, you know, what we said, what does it take to make it? And he said, You have to be a content machine.

Yeah. You have to absolutely be a content machine. And I remember someone in a comment on a post we made recently was like, so basically it's more like a popularity contest than a talent contest. And my first reaction was like, Yeah, kind of. Yeah. Like it kind of is. Damn. This is the game that you're signing up for. You have to be able to build community, build a fan base that can support you, whether it's through the music, through your merch, through your events, through other ventures that hopefully you should be exploring outside of the music, because you need people to like, you know, more than just the music, hopefully, they need to buy into you as a whole. And if you're not prepared for that, like you need to be okay with music just being a hobby. Yeah. Because that is the unfortunate reality of today's music industry. I'm not saying I love it. I don't think either one of us prefer it. I think everyone would prefer that the most talented artists were the biggest artists. And the music was that's that's out is just the best music possible. But that is not the world that we're living in. And I think that gets a lot of people down, and I understand that, but I don't want it to let I don't want to let it get any of y'all down, but you do need to understand that at least so you can make a decision on how to move forward.

And and don't be afraid of like, like you said, you can be creative with the content. You can use those, you know, that creative juice that you love using so much. If you could channel it this way outside of the studio, then you can reap the benefits of it, you know. But that is how it is now. Unfortunately. Yeah, it was interesting. You know, one person I talked to last night was about um the fact that a lot of artists don't understand that we are just in the in the business of attention. Yes. That's it. That's it. That's literally your only job. Find eyeballs. Find attention and keep the attention. And it just so happens in 2023, the majority of people's attention are on social media apps. Yeah. The benefit of that is these apps are free. You can make a free account and you can post for free. Which a lot of people forget about that too. They want to blame the algorithms and shit. And it's like, what are you paying Instagram? Unless you're paying for a blue check, then like maybe you can complain a little bit. You tried to get us to pay for the blue check.

Oh, we we will eventually. No, we won't. I'm sure we will eventually. Bro, no, we won't, guys. If you want to take this serious, I mean we won't do it. First, I'm so against it. I don't even know why. I don't actually care, but I'm like, Yeah, I care. Yeah, you don't even know why. That's that's stupid. The dumbest reason. No, but I think you bring up a good point. Uh in just you know, comparing kind of like times past versus where we're at now. The attention before, think about it. The attention before was like TV radio. Exactly. TV radio. Um, just friends literally coming over to each other's house to spin vinyls because that was like a thing. Like, when's the last time you listened to an album with someone? Yeah, front to back. Have you ever listened to an album with your friend anymore? Like That's not how it goes. I mean, maybe I'm just a loner smoke a doobie and huddle around the fucking vinyl machine and you're like, this solo is so fucking gnarly, man. No one does that.

No one fucking does that. You know what they are doing though? Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll. Yo, Check out this TikTok I saved. Shared a friend, shared her, shared a group chat, shared a group chat. And 10 years from now, maybe it's like we're all in the fucking the the virtual reality, the metaverse. Like we're buying, you know, we're playing our songs in VR. It's it's just where the attention of the modern people are. You need to get people's attention so they can become fans so they can support you monetarily. And that's how you make a business out of this shit. And you know what that attention requires? Work ethic, bro. Putting in the fucking hours. Like, don't even talk to someone about why you're not succeeding, why you're failing, whatever, unless you take a hard look at the mirror and be like, yo, we're putting like I'm putting in the most hours possible. I'm putting in every minute that I can outside of family time, outside of like the day job that's maybe paying the bills. Like, whatever you have to work with. By the way, I've always hated how you say mirror.

Mirror? That was better, but you all. Do I say mirror? Like Mary had a little lamb. All the time, I feel like. Oh my god. Look in the mirror. Yeah, yeah. Look in the mirror. If you guys are listening, run this back 15 seconds. Tell me how we pronounce the mirror. Yeah, yeah. Damn, I'm gonna have to run this back. Yeah, I'll show you. No, man. I just think um, you know, just to wrap up, I do think that really being honest with yourself is the biggest uh point as well, right? It's like uh that self-awareness is something that anyone that comes on the show who's gotten to a certain level in this music shit, like they're very self aware as to what it is that they're good at, what it is that it takes to get to the next level, um, you know, what what their weaknesses are, um, who they need on their team, uh, you know, the the state of the music business, right? Like that they're aware that that the things that we're saying are the reality, and they're just willing to put in all their fucking effort into that, those constructs, right? And I'm not saying like don't try and break down barriers and you know, change things if we need to, whatever, but at the end of the day, like you gotta play the game like by the rules that exist right now, right?

Until they start to change. Um, so like please, please, like just look at people that are doing it correctly, research this shit, learn as much as you can, like be a sponge, soak this shit up because like there are people out there that are giving game. Like, there's so many platforms that are super dope. There's that one more time podcast, they do interviews. Uh, yeah, I mean, we definitely have a lot of people on here that are giving you games. So, like, tune into the interviews, but also just check out other platforms too. Like, there's so many fucking dope people out there. You know what else there is too? Uh really good um place for gems, one more time podcast. They do interviews with people that are constantly dropping gems. So, yeah, no, for sure. But like I said, I just want to get that, you know, uh off my chest because it was an amazing live stream with the community. Uh, I wanted to let you know like what we talked about and get your perspective. So appreciate you uh indulging me, even though I, you know, we had other plans. So we have to go do those now.

Let's get into that. Yeah, exactly. But uh, this was really awesome, man. Appreciate you. Hey, appreciate you. Yep, like, comment, and subscribe. I just noticed that on Spotify we had people review the podcast uh and gave us five stars. So we only have five star ratings so far. So far. So don't fuck that up. Uh, if you don't want to give us a five-star review, don't leave a review. Uh because I I want to preserve our perfect review. But yeah, no, it was like, I was like, oh damn, we've never even asked people to do that. So if you're listening on audio, which is actually this is the only place it's gonna be. Only audio. This is for y'all. We love you guys. Yeah, these are the audio listeners only. Drop a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever it is that you listen, and we'll be back when we have some shit to talk about.