The Musician's Career Guide: Turning Your Talent into Sustained Success

by Ulysses Owens Jr, Arlen Gargagliano, Alexander Smalls (Afterword)

Overview

An Engaging and Accessible Guide to Achieving Sustained Access in the Music Industry 

As a musician, how can you blend art and survival and still keep loving the business? The Musician’s Career Guide, written from the perspective of someone who has engaged in the daily struggle that all artists encounter, provides clear strategic support and advice in a knowledgeable, reader-friendly voice.

From preparing for an audition to business planning to protecting one’s mental and emotional well-being, The Musician’s Career Guide marries practical tips with in-depth resources, anecdotes and stories to learn from, and comments for consideration and self-reflection. This book is a tool musicians can use to develop a realistic roadmap for success in the careers they desire. Part textbook, part self-directed learning tool, and full mentor, this information-packed text speaks with the voice of experience in a way that is realistic and attainable. The authors address topics including the following fundamental areas: 

• Career development 
• Touring 
• Roles within the music industry 
• Recording deals and industry 
• PR and marketing for artists 
• Keys to community engagement 
• The mental side of being a musician
• The path and commitment to mastery as professional musician  

The Musician's Career Guide offers a foundation for both new and experienced musicians who yearn to clarify and achieve their individual goals of personal success and fulfillment through their craft. It's essential reading for any musician. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621537762
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	06/08/2021
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	1,082,372
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Heralded as a “powerhouse of a showman” (Glide Magazine), a “legitimate jazz triple threat” (Critical Jazz) and a drummer who “take[s] a back seat to no one” (New York Times), performer, author, and educator Ulysses Owens Jr. goes the limit in the jazz world and beyond. His passion for career development and creative entrepreneurship has taken him around the world as a lecturer helping students identify their purpose, and how to navigate this ever-changing terrain entrepreneurially as a creative. Ulysses's first published book, The Musician's Career Guide: Turning Your Talent into Sustained Success, will be published in June 2021 by Skyhorse Publishing, and distributed by Simon & Schuster. This book will serve as a textbook for various Music Business and Career Development programs around the world. 

Cookbook, textbook author, and food writer Arlen Gargagliano is passionate about her family, friends, food, students, writing, reading, running, traveling, music, and dancing. Arlen is an ESL teacher and teacher trainer, and former restaurateur, who frequently travels abroad for writing and training projects. She’s currently working on her first novel.

Table of Contents

Letter to the Students vii

Introduction xi

Part I You Are A Business 1

Chapter 1 Maximize Your Environments 3

Chapter 2 Career Profile 17

Chapter 3 What Musicians Need to Know about Business 24

Chapter 4 Business Planning and Navigation for Musicians 35

Part II The Music Industry 53

Chapter 5 The Roles Within the Music Industry 55

Chapter 6 The Deal with Deals 65

Part A History of the Music Recording Industry-and the Effect on Today's Recording Deals 66

Part B Today's Recording Deals: What Are Your Crucial Considerations? 70

Chapter 7 Endorsements 92

Chapter 8 Public Relations 97

Chapter 9 Touring 108

Part III Entrepreneurship and Branding 117

Chapter 10 The Laws of Entrepreneurship 119

Chapter 11 Learning to Sell Yourself: Public Speaking, Writing, and Meetings 124

Chapter 12 Marketing: Branding, Communication, and Social Media 136

Part IV Art & Survival 153

Chapter 13 Protection of Yourself and Your Art 155

Chapter 14 Financial Management and Funding an Idea 165

Chapter 15 Keys to Community Engagement as an Artist 190

Chapter 16 The Mental Side of Being a Musician 196

Chapter 17 The Emotional Side of Being a Musician 210

Chapter 18 A Musician's Mastery 222

Afterword: Alexander Smalls 226

Epilogue 230

Acknowledgments 234

Acknowledgments from Arlen Gargagliano 238