Three BIG Reasons Musicians Should NOT Go Full Time.
From a guy who accumulated 50k in debt, lived paycheque to paycheque for 4 years and nearly ended up on the street more than once...
Okay… sound the alarm! 🚨
Schwartz has lost his mind. Musicians should NOT make their music a full time endeavour, say WHAAAAATTTTT?? 🤔
That’s right, Schwartz here. And here’s my argument… musicians are not cut out for business. Out of the gate they lack the tools, they lack the grit and they lack the resiliency that it takes to be business owners. Many try, fail and become resentful… but really, they just took a few missteps.
Why am I qualified to speak to this? Well truthfully, I royally fucked up my own Personal Training business for the first 4 years of trying to “go full time” as a freelance trainer (circa 2013-2017), accumulating more than 50k. of debt and nearly ending up on the street, multiple times... Thank God for friends and family bailing me out. So, y’know… that’s why. Take that for what it’s worth.
Storytime with Schwartz…
See, I used to think starting my own thing was going give me freedom. I hated working for other companies. They had so many rules and I felt suffocated. I saw my heros and fitness entrepreneurs like Paul Chek, Dr. Kelly Starrett, and later Mike Bledsoe running their businesses without a hitch. Or so it seemed from the outside.
So, I tried going it on my own. At the time I was also training full time for long track speed skating and was quietly encouraged to pursue that, since my hours were waning at the gym anyway… it started with a quick little kettlebell class for a bunch of my old clients who also hated the gym’s vibe. Then it was some cycling adventures. Park workouts. I even made a few house calls all over Calgary.
Eventually I made enough money (god only knows how) to buy a cheap squat rack, some weights and outfitted my home with a legit home studio gym. Check it out 📸 👇
But it never worked out because I had no idea how to actually run the business. Sure I had all the skills to train and get my clients great results, but holy heck - I was a mess when it came to admin.
That’s when I realized in order to run a business, you need more than hope to make it sustainable. Despite my undergrad minor in business, I was like a fish out of water when it came to the operations and how much strategy and discipline it took to keep running. I was working on the business and working in the business. The only guy crazy enough to trade up the traditional 40 hour week for someone else for 88 hours for myself. It was bonkers at times. If I didn’t have my dog I don’t know what I would have done. And, all tthis while trying to be a pro athlete. 🫠
So, I started looking for business mentors. Early in 2016 I joined a business accelerator, geared specifically toward helping Fitness Entrepreneurs get their business rolling. I dumped $2500 into their 6 week accelerator. At the time, it was the most money I had ever spent on myself in one shot. Again, God only knows how I came up with that cash.
It worked for a little bit. I learned how to set pricing, collect leads, sell my program, and I had the structure in place. Everything was looking good. I was making money. And holy moly. I was spending it twice as fast.
This is when I learned the most valuable lesson I’ve ever learned when it comes to business and life: Creds don’t mean a thing if you lack the conviction.
What’s that mean? Well, if you’re an artist who subscribes to the belief that all artists are poor, you always will be. If you think the world is out to get you and you’ll never make it, you won’t. Thoughts—> Beliefs —> Actions. Change that shit.
Ho-hey…
It hit me like a truck. I was holding on to an identity of scarcity. So no matter how much I made, I’d spend it even faster so I could keep my “brokie” story. That hit.
What’s worse, is that it was a totally subconscious pattern I was completely unaware of in the moment… and it’s one I see a lot with artists I work with who want to go “full time”.
Three Reasons Why You Should NOT Go Full Time with Music… yet.
If you’re reading this, you likely don’t actually have the skills to build a business… yet. Which is what it takes. You’re going to spend more time than you can even imagine on setting up websites, outreach, promotion, and learning how to run a community to connect to your fans, learning how to sell merch, market yourself and focus your efforts so you’re not spread out like I was for 4 years… if you’re sitting there like, “yeah right Mike, I can do it.” My question for you is, how many hours (and dollars) have you invested in learning business? How much time have you worked with a mentor to help you build your brand? How many networking events do you attend each month and how many courses do you invest in each year to level up your business acumen?
If you’re reading this, you’re too soft to make it in business. There’s this thing called grit that most of the musicians I meet have absolutely none of. It’s and especially noticeable nowadays where everyone seems entitled. For example, you want Ai to generate everything for you. Emails, comments, songs, posters, art… real life is not like that. Unless you want Ai to play the show for you too. Then what? Wake up 5 years down the road and realize you’re in the exactly same spot as you are today? Cool. You’re unwilling to pick up that phone and call the venue and tell them what you’re worth. You’re unwilling to put in the miles/hours/dollars that it takes to make a full time wage at anything, never mind music. It takes hearing 100 “nos” before you get that 1 yes. I did it for fitness. I did it for music. It’s absolutely exhausting. You don’t want to do it.
You’re not physically willing or able to. You know how I know? I earn my keep educating artists on why exercise, breathwork, meditation and healthy eating habits are a good thing for them. Why don’t they think this way naturally? granted, it’s not exclusive to musicians, but it’s because it’s more socially acceptable and convenient to cope with your sadness with booze, coke, or porn… and actually looking in the mirror sucks. A lot.
See, that grit I was talking about up there… ⬆️ Yeah, it comes from doing hard things. Putting yourself under intentional stress to come out stronger. Exercising to an intensity you would never put yourself through on your own. Meditating on the fact that you’re not where you wanna be in life and why. Or how you could lose the people pleaser personality instead of just dressing up and going out to fix it with liquid courage. Things like that. Building resiliency. It’s a muscle, and frankly the whole world has gotten super soft, like 10-ply soft about it. 👇 😂
I’m the perfect example…
I had no skills. I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I had to learn how to adapt. Persevere. Last. Fight. ‘Cause I wanted it. That required me swallowing my pride, investing time and energy into myself — my body, my brain and my business. So if this ruffled your feathers, good. Our feathers have to be ruffled in order for us to fly. I had a lot of really smart people ruffle mine. I hated it then. I had an ego the size of Texas. But truth is, if you’re broke AF you’re not in the place to be too proud. You better get humble fast before you turn on your art and make it about the scene, the promoters, the algorithm… you know what I’m saying. It’s all projections. You’re exactly where you’re at right now becasue of the choices you’ve amade up until this point.
The silver lining. Those choices lead to learned behaviours. And you can unlearn them and learn new ones. You can change if you want to.
If any of this resonates, please, reach out. Send this to whoever you think needs to hear the tough love. I’d love to connect you (and them) with the mentors who have helped me turn my life around. It’s not that you can’t go full time, it’s just you have yet to build a foundation to do so, and that’s what we’re all about here at MF. Drop me a note and lemme know how I can help and who you need on your team. Let’s make it happen. 💫