“Music isn't just an art. It's the most important lesson we teach ourselves, a class we never graduate from.” - McKayla Maroney. This quote from the Olympic gymnast and musician explains the special bond between music and life lessons like perseverance and leadership. It takes a lot to become a music artist, but the challenges along the way come with lifelong skills that can be applied to any path in life.
For starters, anyone who’s ever attempted to create music knows that there is something special that comes with every mistake and failure. Whether it’s a missed note, a poorly produced track, or a sour performance, these mistakes and challenges teach you about yourself and how to grow as an artist.
But, more importantly, music teaches you about leading yourself and leading others. In the music industry, self-leadership is key to surviving the cutthroat nature of the biz. It’s real out here, and you either learn how to do it yourself, or you don't.
When you're an independent artist, every decision you make will have a direct impact on your career. These decisions include when and how often to release your music, what type of promotion to use, and what avenues to take to get your music to the world. All these decisions require leadership skills. To lead yourself, you need to be confident, self-aware, and aware of the industry.
The music industry is one of the toughest industries to break into, and with it comes an immense amount of pressure to deliver.
Being a music artist is an incredibly rewarding experience. However, it’s also a journey that requires perseverance through daily challenges and a strong sense of leadership—not just for yourself, but for your team and community as well. Let’s explore how music and being a music artist teach you how to be a leader and preserve through challenges.
1. Practice Makes Perfect:
How many times have you fallen before you could ride a bike on your own? Based on this analogy, the same can be said about getting your art out there. Music artists must constantly practice singing, playing various instruments, producing music, and stage performance to get better. The end results are resilience and perseverance to hone their crafts. Every little failure is a lesson that takes practice, determination, grit, and resilience.
2. Leading Yourself:
Self-leadership is key in the music industry, especially as an independent artist. When you’re the one running the show, it all comes down to you, and the decisions you make have a direct impact on your career. Key decisions such as when to release music, how often to release music, how to promote yourself, and how to generate an income from that music need an efficient leadership skill set. Everything falls on artists, so they are required to be self-aware and informed.
3. Leading Your Team:
As a music artist, you’ll come across a time when you need a team to get your music out there. This might include the efforts to book a venue, sell merch, and manage social media accounts. Collaboration comes down to leading your team in the right direction and keeping everybody on the same page. Great leaders will lift their teams instead of taking credit for their accomplishments. Knowing who is good at what and how to delegate responsibilities to the right person is a key aspect of leadership.
The skills that come with persevering through daily struggles and effectively leading a music team are priceless. It is no wonder why so many successful music artists go on to become CEOs, executives, and great leaders in other industries. To survive the cutthroat music industry and grow as an artist, you need to develop these crucial skills that will not only help you excel as a music artist but in any industry.
As a Speaker Musician, Jastin Artis helps corporate companies, associations, and academic audiences become better leaders and how to persevere through challenges. He uses his life stories through music to inspire, motivate, and lead. Book Jastin Artis for your next event today here.