Why Music Career Success Is Rarely Fast

We all hear about the overnight success stories in the music industry. The people who get scouted one second and have a number one single the next. The artists who explode onto the scene with a signature sound already in their pocket. 

And often enough, it’s hard to get away from these kinds of success stories – despite how rare they actually are. 

Indeed, it’s incredibly difficult to see success in a music career, and very few people actually experience soaring fame from the get go. It takes years of careful practice, and a lot of demos, EPs, and LPs, before most people start to get any level of notoriety. 

That’s the main thing to keep in mind, if you’re someone who wants to become a musician. Music career success is rarely fast, and there’s a multitude of reasons behind that. 

Streaming Platforms Don’t Tend to Pay Much

It’s an unfortunate truth, but it’s one you should be aware of. When you put your music out on streaming platforms, you’re not going to make a lot of money. 

Big names like Spotify pay less than a penny per stream of a song, and even then the song needs to play for at least 30 seconds. If someone is just flicking through your song list and seeing what they like the sound of, you’re not going to make anything off of their interest. 

You Can’t Be Sure if the Right Eyes are Seeing You

You can grow yourself a sizable audience, and you can build a good profile in the local scene too, but you can’t be sure if the right eyes and ears are picking up on that. That’s the kind of thing that makes music a bit of a gamble, in the end. 

You could be enjoying moderate success when you’re a few years in, but you’re unlikely to know when the spotlight of record execs like Clive Davis will finally fall on you. 

And if you’re dreaming about reaching these kinds of musical heights, this is the main thing to keep in mind. The road you’re on could be a very long one, with no clear signposts for you to follow. 

It’s Hard to Market Yourself

And that’s what you’ll be doing for at least the first couple of years of making music. There won’t be anyone else you can turn to to take care of the marketing for you. It’s entirely up to you to get your music out there, come up with campaign ideas, and pay for advertising spots. 

That’s a lot of work for one human being to do. But seeing as you’ve got a lot of music to make, mix, and refine, it’s going to leave you with very little time at all. Many artists in this position have to space things out carefully, and that can delay how fast success comes your way. 

99% of the time, music career success is slow. Remember that if you’re getting into professional music.