In Mario Bros the video game, you wouldn't start on level 10 would you?

If you did, you might hear that unpleasant jingle of death much sooner than you'd like.

You don't start out running a full marathon.

Of course, their is a progressive level of experience, skill, and difficulty to getting through level 10 without dying...

Most of us have to work our way up. We go from the bottom to the top. Not the other way around.

In this lesson you are going to be learning the most effective path we've found to building a full time living as a musician/artist in our modern music biz. For building your music career from the ground up, and then taking it to the next level.

Grassroots Music Career Development

There is no fail proof formula for a thriving, long term music career is but the what we teach is the strategy we call Grassroots Career Development.

In todays lesson we will first lay the foundation, while our next session will introduce you to the rules of the new game, the music business growth strategy for how to grow your career better than a major label could or would in the modern world.

If you and I have yet to meet, let me introduce myself here.

If you are new to this series go ahead and catch up with part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 here.

As you've begun to learn by now in this training series, the fact is that the traditional music industry as we knew it was simply unsustainable for the large majority of artists, and even the select few that were selected didn't get quite what they bargained for.

In many respects, Artists, on their own-were essentially thrown into the Game at level 10.

See, now instead of a natural, gradual, progressive development pathway as they grew their music career and brand identity… as they developed their talents and skills, learned and understood their business, embraced the roles and responsibilities, developed the relationships with their fan base... as they naturally came into their own as well rounded artists in control of their music businesses-who were on top of all the facets required to own and operate it profitably, sustainably, for the long term, with true freedom and fulfillment…

Instead of that incredibly long run on sentence of things, the few that were "selected," were in many cases thrust into a large network of people and processes with conflicting agendas, unclear expectations, and a substantial amount of elements vital to them and their brand (their long term mark on this planet) that remained outside of their control.

The fact is that the old music industry wasn't controlled by Artists and Music Makers, and it wasn't even controlled by their fans… It was owned and operated by a cluster of larger than life corporations, business entities with very little accountability-who governed the scarce resources, controlling access to limited supply and distribution networks, and chose who and what passed through them… Or not.

Ultimately, Since there were so many limitations in this access and to these resources, which were run by big businesses, often times men who had very little interest in the deeper function of this unique little marketplace, the traditional music industry became a big budget, largely political back-room affair. (Now to be fair, many of the record label and corporate executives were indeed music lovers, and music makers, but we'll save how that ended up for a little later)

Of course that's not to say there weren't or aren't still good people at labels, within the industry, and on executive boards… I've come to learn that it's not about an us vs. them, fuck the gatekeepers mantra, it's about a fundamental understanding of what happened, and how we can do better… Fortunately, this time, we're in control. The Artists, the music makers and our fans are the majority share stakeholders and investors in this enterprise called the modern music business.

Luckily for music makers and their fans, the game has changed.

Music, newspapers, books... most forms of media were exciting, high-pressure hothouses, environments with hits and winners and action and impact.

Many players in these industries are now trying to figure out where all the zing went. The mattering seems to have left. Where did it go?

It turns out that the air didn't get let out, the balloon disappeared.

Balloons have pressure because there's only one tiny opening. Scarce shelf space. Only room for one newspaper. Only forty titles on the Billboard chart. It's that opening that creates the environment that allows pressure to exist, that pulls the rest of the balloon taut.

But the opening is wide open now. The market has been offered infinity. Instead of a narrow, scarce selection of hits, those that consume media can have all of it, all the time. The long tail plus bite-sized pieces plus constant snacking.

A few generations ago, Gone With The Wind played at the only movie theater in town--every night for a year. Forty years ago, books stayed on the bestseller list for a year or more. Fifteen years ago, the front page ad on Yahoo was sold out for years in advance. Buying the one and only ad on the 'front page of the internet' was a no-brainer, a bargain at any price. Today, of course, there isn't a front page you can buy an ad on. No spot next to the cash register at the biggest chain of bookstores, either.

The abundance of choice feels like a good thing for those that want a choice. But yes, someone got rid of the balloon. All the economics are changing, as are consumption patterns, and they're shifting faster that the mindsets of those that create and publish.

Stop looking for the balloon. It's gone.

  Seth Godin

Many of us have been preparing or have been prepared for a future that is different from the reality we live in now and for the rest of our careers. Success for Artists in the new music business, and in our new economy-will be a combined development of one’s Artistic talents and craft, as well as their entrepreneurial savvy and overall creative integration with the modern toolset. There are more resources available than ever before, but it's always going to come down to the content, AND your resourcefulness.

Let's go back all the way to the start: You are the LEADER OF YOUR TRIBE!

In the beginning of tribal and societal culture-artists and musicians were a rare breed who possessed a unique skill and were a valued part of a tribal/locally connected community and culture.

They were transient in the lives of communities, they had influence, and were both loved and respected.

They were the storytellers, the truth speakers, they reflected and represented the heart and soul for their tribes.

In the 1900's lots of technological advances were made, and we suddenly grew out of the notation/sheet music industry through the invention of audio recording technology, as well as the ability to broadcast recorded audio to a mass culture of listeners.

The traditional music industry also known as the record industry, was born.

Then around the start of the next century, well basically the internet happened and we evolved into the modern music industry.

Now, we own our own labels, choose ourselves, and make our own luck.

The traditional music business employed what we referred to as a top down music marketing and career development strategy.

The modern music business is built on different fundamental values and principles, thus a different approach to growing a music career is not only proven more effective-but is most definitely something we advise our clients and students do-for many reasons. (For more on that be sure to checkout why you don't need a major label.)

Instead of an expensive, time consuming, largely inefficient educational program where you'd learn a ton of formalized, generalized material, (some useful some not so much) we can now dive directly into a progressive career development pathway that is as unique and specialized as we are, and that provides us with those irreplaceable two ingredients required for long term success in anything we pursue... Skills and Experience.

This approach is what we call Grassroots Career Development.

It is simply developing and building your career from the ground up, progressively, precisely, through actually doing the work-shooting for clear and realistic targets and continually building momentum until the tipping point.

Grassroots Career Development is artist centric career development as it is focused on empowering, educating, and enlightening artists and content creators, building teams and support systems around them and their art as the nucleus of the career, and doing so without giving up creative or financial control.

GCD is the development pathway to Music Business Liberation.

Career Development Pathways

What is a Music Career Development Pathway?

Nothing too obscure or hard to understand here. It's simply the "development pathway" for equipping an artist with the skills and experience needed to grow their career progressively, with control and enjoyment, through consistently doing certain things and hitting specified targets.

It's weird that in school we don't spend a substantial amount of time building, modifying, refining, seeking council on and thinking about the practical career development pathways we are traveling on and aiming for in terms of real world placement and application.

Sometimes these are referred to as career tracks, and although they are well intentioned, they are typically not as ground level detailed oriented as they could be. After all, skills and experience are the only real assets that are going to translate into getting the job or not... Not withstanding secondary factors such as looks, connections, personality, etc.

Become a gold miner in the modern world, without getting your hands dirty.

For the last three years, I've become addicted to a television show on the Discovery Channel called GOLD Rush. (One of the two TV shows I turn that thing on for)

I’ve watched it since the very beginning and i’ve been able to see the progression of these regular blue collar workers, each with their own specialized skills and expertise, work to put all of the pieces together and learn how to dig, process, and filter dirt from the gold rich ground of Alaska and South America.

The entire time i've been watching this show, i've drawn and continuously found eerily similar parallels between what you and I do, and what they do as gold miners.

As Artists and Content Creators in the modern world - we are essentially going through an incredibly similar process, using a set of tools for digging, sorting, sifting, extracting, measuring, and producing new value into the economy.

We are simply working with intangible assets, and mining intangible things. Although at first they are things you cannot see or hold, these things are arguably the most valuable assets on earth...

We are Idea Miners.

We are storytellers, we are solution finders, and value creators...

We tear up the seemingly ordinary - everyday ground around us and meticulously sift and drill down to harvest those golden nuggets.

And for any musician willing to do the work, the gold bearing ground is literally infinite. It is abundant-rather than scarce. And it starts on the inside instead of on the outside. It requires time, effort, commitment, as well as specific tools and skills-but provided these ingredients, you have what you need to produce and harvest your own gold deposits. To build a fan base and sustainable career around creating and sharing your content.

As corny as it sounds, it's absolutely true. Even worse, it is a custom key only you can claim, that opens a unique door that only you can access.

Fully making the shift in mindset, and understanding what's possible now, is unlike any other opportunity in history…

Again, almost such an epic statement that it sounds corny...

When i think about the shift my mind has been able to make over the last 10 years from what i used to think "work" actually was, what a career actually entails, to what I am fortunate to see, understand, and experience what it actually is now - has been nothing short of extreme.

The stark contrast in perspective now vs. just 5-10 years ago in terms of growing up, being a professional, working and playing, and just what the definition of work really means is truly transformative.

It's such a monumental shift in what i now see is not only possible, but now repeatedly proven, realistic and practical.

Though this lesson is not going to be focused on the mindset stuff, I cannot emphasize the importance of looking at what's really going on with you, your thinking patterns and belief systems, your habits and your conditioned behaviors… Though, just saying that doesn't really do it-sort of the same way that you mentally noting to yourself-ok yea do that at some point, does…

I covered the main issues were seeing in the Artists State of the Union 2015, but there is a reason the first AND last Rule of the GAME is about your mindset. We will be going over the rules of the game though in our next lesson of the music business blueprint.

Becoming the master and commander of your music career

The first crossroad you get to as an emerging artist is where you'll come to the decision to either take responsibility and claim control of and for the growth of your career, your livelihood doing what you dearly love and feel called to do…

To realize that there is work to do, and that it's time to get resourceful, to stop wishing on a magic carpet ride from some gatekeeper or major label, and embrace what we call a ground up approach, a grassroots career development strategy.

OR, you can sort of remain reliant on external sources, at the whims of the gods for favoring or blessing you with a unique opportunity that  transforms you from where you are at into a star with the career you've dreamt of….

Please don't believe in the magic carpet myth. Realize that you have what you need to make progress now. You don't need to feel trapped between where you are now and where you want to be.

From traditional musician mentality, to modern musician mindset.

From co-dependent and reliant on outside forces, playing by the old rules, to declaring your independence and living by the new rules as creator of your own economy.

From looking for a deal or approval from a gatekeeper, to building your career and fanbase using what you've got going already.

From victimized, helpless, apathetic, depressed, hopeless… to renewed, in control, re-energized, taking responsibility, being accountable.

From primitive thinking, old world, luddite, you do the marketing and all that stuff, to integrating tech + the toolset of modern artists into the creative process + expression of your art/brand. Leverage is the key to taking things to the next level.

The journey begins with clarity and focus

As you'll often hear around here, a thing is good when it has all the properties needed to fulfill it’s purpose. Success then is simply the predetermination and actualization of all required properties needed to fulfill the goal, intention, or purpose…  You can choose what that is. Success is not money or fame or record sales… UNLESS that is the goal or a required property to consider yourself successful.

You need to get to the heart and soul of who you are as an artist and help to develop an understanding of the vision and purpose to fully realize it, and then build a lifestyle that enables the freedom to create your content, and do what you love, with clarity, direction, and without friction or overloaded circuits.

Making the case for grassroots career development: Developing a unique combination of skills, interest and expertise.

In 2003 after getting evicted from our apartment complex, I sat on the concrete porch steps, homeless, thinking about how things had gotten to here…

I'd always felt like i was full of potential, talent, gifts, and an exceptional ability to solve problems. I was the kind of person who was able to understand and empathize and really listen to people in a way that it sometimes felt few were able to reciprocate.

New and old friends often told me they appreciated the fresh perspective and insight i'd offer, they'd say the ideas, advice, or point i'd make with the story i told them-wouldn't have crossed their mind.

I was the perceptive little kid in class with ADD whose best subjects were recess and daydreaming.

But let me tell you…

I was very good at them!

I owned recess. That was my office. Unstoppable on the blacktop, or the soccer field, and instead of listening to the science teacher drone on and on about rocks and cells, I was typically putting my incredibly active cartoon mind to good use elsewhere… Practicing new soccer moves in my head, replaying the victorious tetherball match play by play, and scheming new ways to end up somewhere next to the same girl i tried to make mine, hopelessly, for 5 straight years… I'd like to say at least one of my many talented attempts worked… Unfortunately, it just wasn't in the cards for me.

I was musical, rhythmic, perceptive, and was blessed with a precocious intuition.

The traditional school system didn't quite cater to my natural areas of intelligence.

I was emotionally intelligent, socially aware and in tune, insightful, witty, compassionate, and yes of course, gifted with a fairly wild imagination.

When i went to high school i suddenly found myself in a big, uncomfortable new world with about 4 friends joining me from our tiny little elementary school, (of which I shared zero classes with) in a litter of about 1000 freshman that all apparently grew up together, carpooled together and lived next to each other…

Terrible positioning. I was a nobody in a flourishing social mecca… I was horribly out of place, and I soon realized what this place I found myself in was exactly…

Somewhere I needed to get away from!

Seriously, it was draining… I could barely pay attention in class, the soccer coach for the school soccer team I tried out for somehow figured he'd lessen the blow by saying, and i quote… "Jamie, look you have all the talent in the world… You're just too small."

I was crushed. I tried another school next year, and unfortunately, they couldn't take the "school" out of school, and that was the only real problem i had with it, so as you might imagine-we still couldn't quite get along!

My GPA took a nap and crashed like me in biology class, with that awful whole arm numbing, drool pool inducing sleep.

I couldn't pay attention, I could barely keep myself awake… What had happened to me-i pondered with pity over my poor little plight. It didn't help that i was still too small for the basketball team that i wanted to join to at least get access to the weight room and hopefully have someone show me how to use them. To tell me to start taking some creatine, some protein, eat lots of eggs and find something that you enjoy doing…

Anyway-to make a long story short, i ended up dropping out of school, getting a job, an apartment, and a GED. I started writing songs and meeting lots of new people. A couple years later I joined the army, when i graduated bootcamp and jump school, I found my first love...

I paid for her with the signing bonus I received.

She had 61 keys and her name was Roland.

Long story short, I set out on my non-traditional career path pretty much starting then… I was hooked, and i realized that i actually loved to learn. A hybrid mix of skills i wanted to acquire, knowledge i actually wanted to learn about and then go home and directly apply. I was completely immersed and driven by my love for music production and songwriting.

I was completely in love. I was voracious and devoured the information, applied it, connected with and found relief and endless enjoyment plucking away at those keys. I found myself knowing all the answers and excitedly paying attention in class, while at home learning how to sequence on my first keyboard workstation.

I loved it so much I wanted to share it with others. I had a vision for a community gathered around this passion for making music, learning how to use the tools, and develop the skills to make your own music from your home recording studio. The rest is pretty much history and things continued to grow from there.

My content business was born.

Learn what skills you need to develop to build the lifestyle and career of your dreams.

Whereas millions of eager, talented, dedicated young adults graduate from degree programs each year-only to find themselves equipped with outdated, or indirectly beneficial knowledge-and a hefty hunk of debt… Fortunately, in the modern world-their is a better way.

I honestly don't think it does anyone any good to bash schools or professors, expensive elitist universities, or the traditional school system… There are plenty of great exceptions, and in general I sincerely love teachers… However, in my experience, for the two main occupational specialties that i spend my life immersed in, Grassroots Music Career Development is hands down the most effective path to the career and the lifestyle you really want.

I'm talking about Musical Artistry & Entrepreneurship of course.

And, because i'm sure you are eager for me to spill the beans about what GCD is all about i'll just cut right into it. The secret sauce, the way to advance your music career is to… Drum roll please…..

Learn new skills.

But not just any old skills…

You need to learn the right skills.

This requires precision.

Precision skills development is the path to the specific skills that you must develop, to learn the tools you need to learn how to use.

The other major component, although silent and often overlooked is as I mentioned earlier-mindset. There are probably some limiting beliefs lurking just below the surface that could be tricking you or holding you back in some way.

How do you acquire the right skills?

That's what we'll be going over in the next couple lessons.

Let me turn the mic over to you. What skills do you believe you may need but do not have, or may need to further develop?