The Realities of Trying to Make It in Music with Josh Logan

May 19, 2021

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In a world obsessed with fame, fortune, and “making it,” the path to becoming a successful musician can feel daunting. But there are ways to realistically forge a career as a musical creator, and no one knows that journey better than Josh Logan.

Josh always knew music was his destiny. But he wasn’t ready to jump head-first into life as a full-time performer. So he went to business school and landed a job in music management. As his career grew, he expanded into other areas, writing for professional musicians and even writing his own work. Eventually, Josh left life as a manager behind and began his career as a full-time musician.

In this episode, Charli, Haley, Miguel, talk with Josh about the steps you can take to monetize your passion, how to handle the inevitable hardships, and why connecting with fans is the ultimate end goal.

“I think art is the hardest when you have all these pressures. If I didn’t have another job and I had to go to a writing session every week, knowing in the back of my head that if I didn’t write something special enough to make money, that I would have to quit this — one, that would be horrible, and two, I don’t think the art would be as good because you have some insane pressure on you all the time. And when you can create an environment for your art to grow under a little less pressure, that’s when you’re going to find the most success.” ~ @Josh_Logan

Main takeaways

[05:44] Try having multiple things going at once in a way that’s manageable. Generating multiple streams of income or multiple outlets for creativity gives certain aspects of your career the financial means (and time) to grow.
[12:30] Our culture is terrible at celebrating the small wins. If you’re ever going to feel satisfaction as a musician (or creator of any kind) you have to learn to celebrate the successes rather than always looking for the next big thing. Sometimes that means detaching the sentimental wins from the financial.
[17:46] Diversifying your income takes away this pressure to become a perfect and successful creator as fast as possible.
[24:26] Having a side hustle is nothing to be ashamed of. Letting your career fund your creativity is what allows you to take that side hustle to the next level.
[26:22] Patreon is one of the best revenue generators for upcoming musicians.
[32:58] Having 1,000 true fans is difficult but possible if you put in the time.

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