It’s no big secret that playing and recording original music for a living is an incredibly sexy notion - a thought that provokes a mental orgasm at any given moment! It’s the building block in which this very blog was created. But is it possible? Can you really play original music and pay the bills at the same time? The answer to that, is yes - of course. People are doing it all the time. But there are four things to keep in mind if you wan...

John Mays is one of the most respected executives in Christian music having discovered and signed Matt Redman, Point of Grace, Nicole Nordeman, Warren Barfield, Cindy Morgan, Scott Krippayne and the Passion worship recordings. He worked in A&R at Word, Sparrow and Star Song Records, and sat at the helm of Benson Records as president of the legendary label. Mays co-founded Centricty Music in 2003. Their current roster includes Aaron Shust, Dow...

Technology is a wonderful thing but I cringe whenever someone tells me how much it has “leveled" the playing field” for an artist (I mean, how easy is it to distribute your music worldwide compared to 10 years ago. Anyone can do it.). Nevertheless, the impact that technology has in getting exposure for an artist is substantial. Just look at all those incredible websites out there ready to make you the next Rihanna. The volume of them is mi...

Finally, Making It In Music’s first podcast covering the topic of getting your mind right for success….appropriately titled: Mind on Music. Making It In Music firmly believes that you can search for all the strategies on the planet to help you get ahead, but if you’re mind isn’t right, they won’t do a thing. It takes the combination of planning, people and ultimately, action to make a strategy work for you. More importantly, you hav...

I often get asked to critique bands and sound. Admittingly, this is probably one of my least favorite requests; not because I can’t do it, but rather how delicate this matter is. As musicians (and I include myself), we all come off as tough - wrapping the  layers of skin around our offense detectors to ward off any unpleasant discourse.  As a result, we have the propensity (yes, our word of the day is propensity-lol) to lose objectivity an...

Lately, I’ve been caught up in an online music industry group regarding when the best time is for an act to join forces with a manager to further their career opportunities. There were a multitude of opinions about this topic from a variety of industry managers and marketing people. It’s a great topic, worthy of discussion. Something to think about when you read further, is the level and type of management. Management companies have explo...

About a month ago, I downloaded the Russell Simmons audio book Do You: The 12 Laws To Access The Power in You To Achieve Happiness and Success.  I’m not crazy about some of his personal and political beliefs, however I will say this: when it comes to music - and particularly merchandising and branding (end result: making money), Russell Simmons knows how to DO YOU. The competition is fierce, no doubt. “Being you” is often a contradictio...

As a musician, it can take years to build a solid fan base that will support your music and take you to the next level. There is no one that knows better than you, how much perseverance and motivation it takes to maximize CD and digital download sales, landing bigger gigs and positioning yourself for that big break. It's an unyielding process to shine above all the talent and get noticed. Sadly, the reality is that many bands get blind sighted...