Independent Country Artist Builds Multi-Million Dollar Music Career!

Without Radio airplay, Nashville, Label Backing of any sort, any unfair advantages or complicated marketing tactics - Corey Smith has built a very successful business creating and performing his music, and manages to pack venues typically reserved for those with chart topping hits.

How he has been able to build a successful and lucrative music career without the help of a major label, an arena tour, or a #1 hit?

Willing to do the stuff that most won't - he managed to build his career by playing ANYWHERE he could, and making honest assertive connections with his steadily growing audience. In five years, he has gone from a teacher-to a touring, hard-working musician.

Corey started similar to most, picking up a few gigs here and there while still working his day job as a high school teacher. His goal was to “make some extra cash while doing something he loved and writing songs for people.” His ambitions grew as he began to imagine the possibility of “wow, maybe I could make a living doing this, a good living. Maybe even $100,000 a year playing at bars within a 3-hour radius of my house.”

As his audience and fan-base grew, the need for a manager and booking agent became apparent, and after finding the right ones, he was able to focus on only a necessary handful of the business tasks and mostly on making the music.

So what can you learn from Corey Smith's path? What are some of the strategies and mindsets that made him a great living doing what he loves - without any lucky breaks or big budget backing?

Four Keys that Corey Used to Set Himself Up for Long-Term Success:

1) He skillfully and consciously embraced the business decisions he's responsible for.

Corey understand that to manage a successful career in the modern music business, he had to treat it like a business, and he had to do more than just worry about and handle the songwriting and performance of his music.

2) He built a passionate team and solid infrastructure needed to grow, once that became a necessity, and allowed each person to focus on their strong-suit.

“Do as much as you can for as long as you can, until there's something to manage. Don't put to many hands in the pot, until there is a pot.”

3) Grass roots market development through touring.

He's built his fan-base and career without traditional promotional campaigns or radio. His goal, although modest has remained the same from the beginning, “my goal is to reach as many people as possible without sacrificing the integrity of my art.”

4) Sharing our music as many potential fans as possible, paid or not.

“One idea Marty (booking agent) and I had in common was that because no one was buying a record that only cost me a few hundred dollars to make, or a few thousand to make, why not give it away? Otherwise it’s worthless. There’s no real value so why not use that as my promotion? I knew there was no chance of getting on the radio or getting in the mainstream media so we advocated file sharing. And that was one important piece of the puzzle.

People will read this and say, “Oh, you’re an advocate of giving music away.” And that’s not necessarily the case. I think artists deserve to be paid for their music and, at a larger level, you can’t be an advocate of just giving albums away. Now that we’ve moved up the ladder, the audiences are larger and the stakes are higher. The albums are more expensive. They’re more complete expressions of what I want. But now I know I have people who will buy the album.

But when you don’t have an audience, why not give it away? I look at it as a stepping stone. It’s a perfect tool for a developing artist. Now you can’t go online and get my album for free. We want them in Walmart. We want to sell them. That’s the goal. But not in the beginning.”

What Inspiration and Final Takeaways Can You Learn From Corey Smith's Success, and What Does His Success Attest To?

• Well, yet again... YOU CAN succeed in this day and age without being a traditional “celebrity,” or getting commercial radio play...! Don't listen to the doom and gloom naysayers, there are plenty of bands and artists right now who are making a good living doing what they love to do every day, who have carved out a niche and are taking care of their music business.

• You can, and must define success for YOU! Success in today's music business must be understood as a subjective measurement. Remember that your music is your art, it should be driven by passion and a message. The business end is what keeps your lights on and gives you the ability to pursue your passion. Get clear about what you are really in this for, what you want to be doing, and figure out how to make that happen!

• Despite offers and pitches from labels and interest from A&R's, what's interesting, and particularly inspiring is that not only has Corey stayed true to his organic - DIY roots, but that as an artist in regards to a career path - it also makes business sense.

• His lack of flashy or superficially attractive characteristics and demeanor-which may appeal to the image a major corporation could project, brand and sell-may be part of what works with attracting the kind of fan he'd like to speak to and engage with anyway... This is great news!

“I can say what I want to say... I'm not tied to a corporation, I am not worried about an image that I must maintain... It just wouldn't give me the freedom to do what I want..” Corey Smith is an empowered independent artist in the new music business who gradually followed his music and took care of business and now lives his dreams.

So Keep Going and Keep Believing!

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