Being an amateur or independent musician sets you on the path to finding your sound, your audience, and your true calling in the music scene.
Not only do you have a lot more freedom than any signed artist – despite the benefits a record label brings – you also don’t have to stick to the same sound, make a new album on a strict schedule, or collaborate with people you have no rapport with.
There May Not Be Much Money
Gig payouts, online streams via platforms like Spotify and Youtube, and downloads of your song off of stores can all have a pretty low return. That’s the crux of the issue of being an amateur musician in 2024: there’s still not much to go round.
The more music you make, the more you perform your music, and the more you promote these money making avenues, the higher your return will be. However, even in doing all of those things, it’s going to be difficult to make a living off of music making alone.
Of course, if you build a dedicated fanbase, you’ll be able to rely on this loyal following to turn up at gigs and pay for your tunes. They may even do a lot of the promotion for you.
You can also think about creating profiles on platforms like Patreon, which allow your fans to pay monthly for access to exclusive content. Pricing yourself at a reasonable monthly amount means that even a small following can make an option like this a lot more profitable.
There are a Lot of Stories to Follow
Everyone was an amateur at some point, but no two musicians have the same start to look back on. Count on this in your own journey; everyone finds success in their own way and hits different milestones as they go.
As an amaetur musician, knowing there’s no one right way to become a big hit will make you more confident in your efforts. You’ll know you’re doing what you can in a way you want, and there’s always other things to try if that’s not working out for your goals.
This can also be a comfort if you find that making music isn’t quite for you. It doesn’t mean your career in the music world is over. It’s a diverse place and many jobs exist within it, and sometimes you find your true passion along the way after making a few mistakes.
That’s something Clive Davis discovered for himself back when he first got started. Indeed, many amateur musicians end up discovering that working behind the scenes is more their passion than making music in front of them.
There may even be more money in these roles, if that’s your main objective in putting your talent out there for the whole world to see.
The Local Scene Can Be Quite Confined
Local artists can get themselves quite a few gigs at local venues. Become a regular at any one place and you may just get a lot more food and drink bought for you too! And if the venue you’re playing catches the attention of a bigger producer or label holder, your commitment to the scene could be the one thing that helps you achieve your dreams.
That being said, if you’re playing the same three venues every month, you’re going to run out of people to play to. Locals are going to know you by name, but anyone who wants to check you out has probably already done so. That’s when the local scene becomes stunting to your artistic growth.
It’s still a challenge to be an amateur musician in 2024, but there are more routes than ever to find success and a worthy income!
These things can really stunt your creativity, and very few amateurs have to tangle with these restrictions on their journey to finding success in the music world. It might not seem like it now, but the longer you gain experience on the amateur side of things, the better your music skill, talent, and knowhow will be in the long run.
But with all that being said, being an amateur musician is still a challenge. There’s a lot to wade through, a lot of self promotion to do, and a lot of noise to make to catch the attention of the bigwigs who could change your life.
And because of that, we’d like to think about the difficulty of making music on this lower, local level in 2024.
