It won't fall into your lap

I just spoke to a friend who is a musician. He was very excited since he applied for several jobs and it seems like several was interested to hire him. I asked if it was musician’s job. No it was normal jobs at the local grocery stores and stuff. He explained that it was so hard to get job as a musician. And everything costed so much. So I asked if him he was giving up living on the music and just has it as a hobby? No this was just temporary so he could get some income so he could keep up his musicianship.

The point here is that he has completed several musicians’ education where you get three years paid education to be able to build up a network so you can survive as a musician. Yes in Sweden there are schools like that. Yes I know that everybody that is a struggling musician in the rest of the world now would be like….WHAAAAT! I MOVE TO SWEDEN! So my friend went to that. But he wasted most of the time figuring out what kind of music he wanted to do. And he didn’t took the opportunity to build a network to get opportunities.

But he does quite good music. So good that he got a publishing deal. There he got the opportunity to write for commercials and trailer spots and other stuff that could give him money. I spoke to that publisher half a year ago and the publisher was complaining that my friend never submitted anything. The excuses was so many, short of time, not the right style, didn’t have inspiration, was focusing on his own project.

Yes my friend is lazy, no doubt about it. He thinks that the jobs will fall down on him since he went on these educations. And also that the education itself made him so good that he could survive just to release music for himself. Stupid idea but not that uncommon.

You have to work hard to get the jobs. And in this case he got opportunity’s he just didn’t take them. No it should be easier. And that is why he now has to take a job in the grocery store. He just got a kid (also a reason he needs money). In the end he will have a normal 9 to 5 job and well take down the guitar from time to time and wonder what it would be like to work with your passion.

I had burn so many bridges to carve out where I’m today. I make a living working with music (no I really never wanted to play music, but I love to working with music and all around it). But if I wanted to work with music and an instrument well I would have taken the same journey, the journey that says: take the opportunities. My journey is not done yet and I still everyday has to write 100 emails, do 3 skype calls and 2 normal phone calls just to keep my opportunity’s to land in front of me.

The worst thing is when people say: Oh you’re so lucky to get the chance to work with your hobbies.

No it’s no luck it’s damn hard work. Many times I had to say no to well paid jobs just to take a shit job to be able to get new opportunity’s that lead up to where I want to be.