“There are no rules.
That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or
ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.” - Helen Frankenthaler
It used to be easy to become rich and famous as a music
artist. You played in front of that one guy, who realized your genius and
signed you on the spot so nobody else could get you. Sure it took the alignment
of the stars, an unlikely sequence of events, and the luck of the Irish, but it
happened.
They spent lots of money on you, recorded that gold record,
and off you went, riding the waves of the music business. Development,
marketing, publicity, radio, touring, distribution, and then repeat the whole
process. It was a set plan that had been perfected over 100 years.
Well, then physical product (CDs) stopped selling. Downloads
and now streaming have changed the landscape of the music industry. A&R
guys are now signing artists very few and far between, or, never. Even the
major labels will tell you the landscape is more unpredictable on how they do
things now.
In fact, the more I have meetings with producer, artists,
A&R, publishers, and other various industry folks, the more I know one
thing – nobody knows anything!
There just aren’t any hard and fast rules anymore on how to
find success for your music and ministry.
