Why Haven't You Reached Your Music Career Goals?

Seems like a simple enough question, but can you answer it?

I have read and been involved in discussions on various musicians' forums on the Internet and there are a lot of different opinions regarding this.

Here are a few common reasons people give for not becoming a pro musician:

Illegal music downloading

Fickleness of the music business

Lack of connections - not knowing the right people

No record deal

While on the surface many of these may seem like valid points, I do not agree with them. Rather than debunking each of these reasons (which would take up way too much time), I prefer to get to my point.

I think there is something even bigger than any of these reasons for you not reaching your music career goals.

What is the biggest thing standing between most of you and your music career goals?

Can you handle the truth?! Sorry, I got carried away for a second there.

Here it goes. It Is You!

Now I am sure that right now a lot of you are either thinking "What the heck?" or "This is a load of bull!"

This is an understandable reaction and I would have felt the same way had I read this a few years ago. But rather than just clicking away from this article please read on and give me a chance to explain - you may just learn something.

Here are two big reasons why many musicians fail to reach their goals:

01. Lack of consistent action
02. Lack of knowledge as to what to do

Let’s take a look at these two points one at a time.

Lack of consistent action - many musicians (myself included) do not always take consistent action to move their music careers forward.

Think about it for a second: where you are at right now in your career (and your life) is a direct consequence or result of your actions (or lack thereof). You control you life and your destiny, and it is only through sustained forward moving action that you will get what you want in both your life and your music career.

Picture in your mind a ship at sea being tossed about on the waves with no one steering. What are the chances that it will reach its desired destination? Take control of your life and career and guide yourself to where you want to be.

Lack of knowledge as to what to do - many musicians do not know exactly how to reach their goals. I personally spent many years like this, basically just floating along and thinking that I was going to work a "normal" day job until I died.

So what did I do? I found myself a mentor, (Tom Hess) to coach and guide me towards my goals; someone who had experience and had already done the things I wanted to do.

If you would like to test your knowledge and readiness for a music career I highly recommend checking out the free assessment at Tom's web site.

I know that much of this may seem like common sense, but ask yourself honestly if you are actually doing these things before you judge it. Even if I am not teaching you anything you haven't heard before, I hope that this article makes you think and better yet, take action towards achieving your personal music career goals.

Take Care and Much Success To You,

2008 © Paul Tauterouff

About the author: Paul Tauterouff is a professional musician and teacher in upstate New York. Paul is helping others to reach their career goals through his role as co-manager of the Music Careers Mentoring Program.

Comments

[mattvh93]

cos im 15 and dont hav a career

[CrowLord]

the column section of this site is becoming a lot like a Tom Hess advertisement to me

[Regression]

Wait, what?

That didn't answer anything.

[2mins2midnite]

Cos im 17 and i cant find any thrash metal drummers
in my town/or near
and we already knew this stuff

[FretboardToAsh]

Ohhhh nooooo not tom hess again, is he getting his pupils to advertise for him on UG now too?

[Echoplex]

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career

me too

[bluesplayer9]

makes sense...

get off your ass and do something.

[fagelamusgtr]

Why haven't I reached my musical goals. I'm 15, I can't find a singer and my drummer is bipolar...
I have an interesting band.....

[jhawk182]

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career
me too

Same here.....

[Fargalas]

Of course. Tom Hess is involved. I think that's why we never get any information.

[-Saxon-]

I haven't achieved my music career goals because Tom Hess is a *****.

[Auals]

So what did I do? I found myself a mentor, (Tom Hess)

and THAT is where I stopped reading.

[GustavLW]

jhawk182 wrote:

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career
me too

Same here.....

Well, I'm 16... But yeah, same here.

[Gambiit]

Because I'm 17, have not been playing guitar for very long, and my area is not a suitable region for the Metal genre.

[SpockTheRock]

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career

me too

lol me as well

[urik]

Jesus. More Tom Hess? Dude, we'd like you if you didn't resort to this shitty way to earn money.
Cheating = Hate.
Writing good articles = Love.

[osXtiger]

^
+100,000,000!

Geeze, I remember the days when there were quite a lot of good articles coming in every few days. Now all I have to look forward to is Guitargasm and the odd (very rare) lesson.

[MrReMo]

Oh my...

Please, stop feeding capitalism dream of happiness.

[TheBurningFish]

SpockTheRock wrote:

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career

me too


lol me as well

Get moving then :P Start getting your shit together at an early age, and you'll accomplish great things later in life.

[RiotStartsHere]

I agree in a way...I'm stuck in the Navy though...about to get out! Woo! Only 21! And hopefully I'll be able to do everything myself.

[MrReMo]

Because music is more than just a "carrer", music is life, music is energy, music is a powerfull bond between harmony and yourself, music is balance, music is more than a hit in MTV or money. Music is a path, it's not a road or a highway, music gives you and you give music. It's more than money, more than love, more than fire or ice, more than "a goal", it's more than 1.000.000.000 notes per second, more than good looking singers, more than a fashionable product of the decade.

It's more, and i'm afraid that we just can't see the hole thing but little dots on the sky. And they are getting dimmer and dimmer with time...

[FullTank]

"carrer"...hehe...BRAHGAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

[FullTank]

"powerful"...."hole"...

not that i don't agree with you...somewhat

[Riot Act]

I....what?

Oh, Tom Hess
*walks off*

[libertineste808]

has anyone here actually used tom hess's mentoring or teaching apart from his paid 'pupils'? It would be interesting if someone genuine could write a review on him. He seems like a schyster to me.....

[CoreysMonster]

oh no not this guy again...

[TasianSensation]

Article wrote:
free assessment at Tom's wed site.

what's a WED site?

[rickdimsey cs]

I'm still confused as to whether Tom Hess is a guitar teacher or a marketing director...
Don't these people know that any time you mention Tom Hess in your article, it automatically looses validity?
I'd like to give Tom Hess a free assessment of my fist. FILL OUT THAT SURVEY, B*TCH.

[rickdimsey cs]

I'm still confused as to whether Tom Hess is a guitar teacher or a marketing director...

[rickdimsey cs]

This dude is a scumbag

[rickdimsey cs]

Great article

[shreddyboy]

TheBurningFish
Get moving then :P Start getting your shit together at an early age, and you'll accomplish great things later in life.

I agree with Burning Fish and I think this is a cool article and true. I see people all the time saying they need a record deal or making other excuses.

[Mike Breen]

Good article. Very true.

[Chris Martins]

Cool article... I know for a fact that this article speaks the truth... And the truth is the truth, no matter what... It doesn't matter where it comes from or what form it takes.

I was stuck in a rut for years in my career before I met Tom and the people I'm currently working with, and I've made so much improvement in the last year on this whole thing that it's actually scary, and this is just the beginning. If things were as simple as "get off your ass and do it", many more people would be successful... But they're not. Why is that ? Could something that most people don't even think about be involved ? Maybe... Could things the folks inside the industry know but the general public has no clue about be relevant ? Could be...

When the wise points a finger at the moon, the fool looks at the finger...

[tommaso.zillio]

This article says precisely what I think, and precisely in the way I would have said it. Some people will accept that, some people won't believe that. I fully believe that, and what Paul (the author) accomplished in the last years is proof for me that these things work. (no, I'm not writing here what Paul did. Do your research. Email him. If writing an email it's too much work for you, then don't bother )

If you commented "I can do that because...", reconsider what you're saying. If our music heroes thought like you're thinking now, we'll never have heard of them.

[tommaso.zillio]

Correction. I meant to say:
If you commented "I CAN'T do that because...", etc

[Nick Layton]

Good stuff Paul...thanks!

[Jose Daniel]

Excellent article!!! I agree! It's the lack of consistency in taking the "right" actions that makes up the obstacles in any business. The Japanese calls this, "Kaizen." A constant improvement.

For you negative skeptics out here, you will probably not learn any value from this article. Why? Because you're wearing the red lenses. How will you be able to see the other colors other than red if you keep on wearing those lenses? Think about it. It's all about keeping an open mind, and questioning your assumptions.

[JackMonty]

GustavLW wrote:

jhawk182 wrote:

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career
me too

Same here.....

Well, I'm 16... But yeah, same here.

Well, I'm 44... But yeah, same here.

[lestat1836]

thanks for the insightful column Paul. I await your next one!

[rich420]

Auals wrote:

So what did I do? I found myself a mentor, (Tom Hess)

and THAT is where I stopped reading.

Hahaha, me too buddy, me too.

[A6StringWorld]

i play triangle and can't get signed

[vortexpassion]

liked your essay Paul

[Paul Tauterouff]

Thank you Vortex and also to the kind folks who left postive comments.

You younger guys - you can do anything you want, but the time to start thinking about it is now, not later! I lost a lot of my life ro 9 to 5 job. Don't you do the same.... My friend Zack Uidl is only 21 and is a full time teacher and musician.

[Heinrichl]

my personal experience is just utter laziness. i know the music that i write ain't that bad and it can take me somewhere. but im just too lazy to go find people to play with and i guess another reason is im trying to play it safe in life, financially etc. good article i like it!

[Jonny_V]

Great article Paul. It amazes me how many people bitch about not getting anywhere with music. If you want to get ahead you'll get help from wherever you can.

[Stephen Lewis]

I have to ask everyone who is saying that you did not get any information from the article this one question.

What do you want? Someone to say, "Take step 1. Now do Step 2. Proceed to step 3..."? The fact that you all are forgetting is that while the articles do seem vague, the most important aspect to take away from it are the mental lessons.

To quote Joan of Arc, "Battles are first won or lost in the mind." That means, specifically, that if you have the right mindset and you set proper goals, you will be able to achieve whatever you want.

To all the kids that are commenting on this or to the adults that are criticizing it, I have one last set of questions. Have you actually toured around the world playing to thousands of people? Have you got a record contract? Are you making a living by playing music?

If you answered no to these questions, then maybe you should shut your mouth and take advice from the people that are actually living your dreams and trying to tell you how to do it.

[MarkCourt]

Great article!

Don't let the "OPINIONS" of 15 year old kids sway your decision to take consistent forward moving action towards your goals as this article suggests. Consider this... Everyone who bashes Tom Hess and his articles here on UG are only people who have never even TRIED the course. Everyone who posts positive comments about Tom and what he does, are people who are students of his. We know what he is all about, and his guidance as a mentor has been life changing and a crucial element to revealing a bigger picture about being a musician that a person would not find anywhere else... If you are serious about becoming a professional musician, do not listen to the negative comments on here. make the small investment and try it out for yourself. We support Tom and suggest his program because we know it works and can help you!

[justinb904]

Regression wrote:

Wait, what?

That didn't answer anything.

because he is just advertising for tom hess

[vortexpassion]

You are welcome Paul.

Hey Paul, I agree with MarkCourt, do not let opinions of children influence your future contributions here at UG. We need more stuff like this from you.

[ChadCrawford]

Great article. While I am not an aspiring pro musician, what you are saying applies in other endeavors as well. People say this sort of stuff is common sense, but then they don't do it. Great info.

I'm also thankful we have some wise cracker kids on the thread to share the contents of their diapers with us. I hope they at least wash their hands after they finish slinging their filth. Probably not though.

[Freak"O"Nature]

fagelamusgtr wrote:

Why haven't I reached my musical goals. I'm 15, I can't find a singer and my drummer is bipolar...
I have an interesting band.....

same singer problem here bro, and my solution was to learn to sing and play at the same time, sure you sacrifice playing time, but you give alittle, take alittle. btw im 16. hope this helps

[Chris Martins]

Yeah... the singer problem... It took me 3 years to find mine... But did I sit on my butt in the meantime ? No way... I tried to find other ways to reach my goals... Like you just said, learning to sing and play at the same time. Paul is a genuine good person, and he is very honnest. He wouldn't endorse something just to please someone else, whoever that may be. But for you people who do not know either Paul or Tom and still bash their names, maybe a little introspection on you life prorities is in order...

The "I'm 15, that's why" doesn't hold a candle... Jason Becker worked his ass off and was in the David Lee Roth band by the time he was 19. At 17 he was in Cacophony touring extensively with Marty Friedman... In classical music some kids are at the virtuoso level and recognized as such as young as 10 or 11...

Sometimes finding excuses only shows two things
- fear
- lack of education

One of the two you can easily fix by actually listening to people who know better... If you can stop the bashing for more than 5 minutes.

[Paul Tauterouff]

Thanks for the kind words. People continuously make excuses for why they can't do something, such as have a music career. The main points of this article are: 1. Take Action and 2. Seek Guidance. Stop making excuses. You can do it if you try!

Look up Zack Uidl, Dave Cardwell and Mike Philippov. These are young guys who have accomplished a lot, even compared to musicians my age. Don't let being young be your excuse. It is harder to do when you you have a wife and children, mortgage, etc. It can still be done then, but it is much easier to start early.

[me504]

wow
i love the "ive found jesus, but he changed name to Tom Hess" line.
hero worship is bad for your social life.


on a more serious note, most times bands get famous because they have been around for a while and built up a following. my point, dont give up.

[Michael McGee]

To those who disregard this competent and factual advise:
Here is something you can't argue. How many professional,semi-professional,working or studying musicians do you know? Who of you actually know somebody who is making a real living with music? Somebody whose day job is recording albums and touring the world? My bet would be very few if any.Paul and others here,including myself, that promote Tom Hess and his Music Careers Mentoring Program are genuine people who do not get paid to say these things.We sincerely care about the dreams and desires of those who truly want to have a successful career in the music business.Those of you that are wanting a life making music could greatly benefit from the knowledge of real musicians.And trust me,I can talk to hundreds of pro and semi pro musicians every day. Can you say that?Bash away if it helps you justify the fact that you don't really know what it takes to make your dreams come true.Don't worry though,your not alone.The world is full of people that have lived and died and never fully realized their dreams.The sooner you realize that making it on your own is a nice fantasy but that's it, A FANTASY, the sooner you can be on your way to greatness.Tom Hess has changed my life,and Paul knows what he is talking about because he's living it.I am not yet professional, but I will be because I have a great mentor,teacher and massive community to draw from.What do you have?

[Keith P. Boruff]

Good one Paul. Very good points. I especially liked the topic of "consistent action".

[Randy Johnson]

MarkCourt wrote:

Great article!

Don't let the "OPINIONS" of 15 year old kids sway your decision to take consistent forward moving action towards your goals as this article suggests. Consider this... Everyone who bashes Tom Hess and his articles here on UG are only people who have never even TRIED the course. Everyone who posts positive comments about Tom and what he does, are people who are students of his. We know what he is all about, and his guidance as a mentor has been life changing and a crucial element to revealing a bigger picture about being a musician that a person would not find anywhere else... If you are serious about becoming a professional musician, do not listen to the negative comments on here. make the small investment and try it out for yourself. We support Tom and suggest his program because we know it works and can help you!

Very nicely stated Mark. +1

[Marcus Carlzon]

Great article, everything you do or not do is because of YOU, noone else.

[diabloinferno]

Viva la revolution lets get the kids together and make some bands that make something worth listening to not that popular shit everyones making these days and kill the fat kids and use their fat to insulate sound booths wooooo Imso****ingtough

[Sudaka]

get psychoanalized people!


that's the only way it is!

[kennyvspenny]

good stuff. if you wanna make it you gotta get off your ass

[Royalsrok]

JackMonty wrote:

GustavLW wrote:

jhawk182 wrote:

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career
me too

Same here.....

Well, I'm 16... But yeah, same here.

Well, I'm 44... But yeah, same here.

16 and music should never be viewed as a career, its a love, you dont do it to make money, you do it to make others happy and compliment what music can do. You make it all sound so business like, let loose, you need to understand what music does for the person before you tell that person how to approach music.

Thats from a 16 year old

[Simonseville90]

Because i'm 17 with no job, sucky guitar skills, no girlfriend, going to school at SSS high, and psychotic all rolled together into the sushi roll that is Simon Seville!!!!

[shreddymurphy]

Once music become a career, it goes stale. think about it, 90% of the time, the best albums bands/artists write are allways the first ones. Once they start making money, they're tunes get stale. Some artists pull it off, but not most. If you want a good career in music, start making beats and rapping. There is no career in rock or metal today.

[Soadfan8]

Simonseville90 wrote:

Because i'm 17 with no job, sucky guitar skills, no girlfriend, going to school at SSS high, and psychotic all rolled together into the sushi roll that is Simon Seville!!!!

sounds like you have the background to be a great musician if you were motivated to plya more guitar.

[A Bad Guitarist]

If you're having trouble reaching your goals, lower your standards. Think about it, if you have no hope, your hopes can't get crushed!

[T3H BLASIAN]

cuz im 14 and cant get a job to pay for gear is my reason

[morebass]

my music career is doing fine my grandpa has his own studio my band is good [playing since 4th grade]so im fine

[Fender1424]

jhawk182 wrote:

Echoplex wrote:

mattvh93 wrote:

cos im 15 and dont hav a career
me too

Same here.....

And same here...

[cyborg_monkey]

only 16, but still..

its a hobby, a passion even, doesnt have to be a career

[lincjones]

lol all the people saying about how tom hess has changed his life sound a lot like the people on tv saying how they were in trouble then suddenly change and found jesus.

i don't disagree with all that is being said but sometimes it is just not possible for a person to reach there goals due to a number of possible reasons

my band has gone nowhere cause we all are focussing on doing well at school and the fact that it only consistof me and a drummer at the moment

[tom1thomas1]

Oh good, now I've got no reason at all not to be a pro rockstar, thank god he posted this adver-- i meant article

[DonJulio]

wow that was short xD

[jamie_hough]

The ONLY thing stopping me getting a band together and doing something is not knowing the right people. Im not gonna form a band with people I dont click with musically, it would (and has) been a waste of time, despite my best efforts to 'advertise'.Crap article, seemed just an excuse to write something rather than the writer actually believeing what he wrote.

[StrongBa(n)d]

To quote Joan of Arc, "Battles are first won or lost in the mind." That means, specifically, that if you have the right mindset and you set proper goals, you will be able to achieve whatever you want.

Joan of Arc was a schizophrenic, and would know little concerning a musical career, seeing as she lived in the middle ages...