The Musician's Dilemma: Music Business Secrets for Becoming a Music Entrepreneur and Balancing Your Art with Your Business

By Daxton Page

There are so many musicians out there who have a passion and a love for their art. We spend hundreds of hours learning how to play our instrument, hours learning how to create songs that we're proud of, thousands of dollars on equipment we desire, and more. But let me ask you a question...

How do you balance your art when you turn it into a business?

You either have this art you've created and you feel a little weird trying to take something as personal as your music and turn it into something like a business, or you're someone who is potentially in or wants to get into the music business because there is an opportunity to become known or even well-known and potentially achieve some riches.

Well if you're in this dilemma of not knowing whether you're going to make the move into fully committed music entrepreneur, then Musicians Dilemma is going to take you through the process of what it looks like to balance your art with your business so one doesn't effect the other in a negative way.

There are musicians who are concerned that looking at their music through the lens of a business will somehow cheapen their relationship to music, other musicians are concerned after putting in a lot of effort to their music career that there has got to be a better way to look at this business.

Musicians Dilemma will address both of these common concerns and give you the right shifts to make in your life to have a more balanced approach to both your art and your business as they work together in your music business.

If you're ready to make the move, pick up your copy of Musicians Dilemma today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765234334

Daxton Page

DAXTON PAGE is an entrepreneur, investor, musician, and instructor/coach who has spent more than 4,000+ hours working 1-on-1 with musicians to help them revolutionize their musical, personal, and financial lives on and off the stage with his company Musician Mastery. Daxton is also the guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band KIRRA who has sold tens of thousands in merch sales as well as over hundreds of thousands of streams on all streaming platforms worldwide. Dax coined the term "Money$mart Musicians" as a way to create, as well as be apart of a group of musicians who could create the lives for themselves they want as well as have the means to give back to their fans, local communities, and the world at large. Dax lives in Oklahoma with his family, and you can visit him at www.DaxtonPage.com

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Copyright © 2022 Daxton Page.

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any

technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the

advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer

information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-

being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your

constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Cover design: Daxton Page

Interior design: Daxton Page

Interior illustrations: Daxton Page

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3432-7 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3741-0 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3433-4 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/07/2022

This book is

dedicated to the musicians whom I have been called to serve: my MoneySmart Musicians. You’ve made it possible for me to do work that interests me and that I feel is meaningful and worthwhile. The first book in my Musicians trilogy is about breaking down the myths and false beliefs about becoming a music entrepreneur so you can start to create the life you really want. If this book helps one musician overcome the dilemma and create the freedom needed to have the life they want, then this work will have been a success.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

The 4 Harmful Myths That Perpetuate Failure

Myth #1: Making Music For Success Is Selling-Out

Myth #2: If You Want Something Done Right, You Better Do It Yourself

Myth #3: If You Build It, They Will Come

Myth #4: Success Will Hurt My Creativity

Being Unbalanced

All About The Art

Don’t Be The Patsy

The Radio Insider

Getting More Options

Focusing On Your Image

All About The Money

Losing Sight On What Matters

Breaking The Hail Mary Mindset

Forgetting Why Your Business Exists

Protecting Your Relationship With Music

Finding Balance

Balancing Business with Art

Facing & Conquering Your Fear

How To Sell As A Musician

Understanding Value

Protecting Your Highest Levels of Value

Balancing Art with Business

Becoming Fan-Centric

The Secret Power Of Music

One of Your Biggest Assets

Who Moved My Cheese?

Conclusion

Putting It All Together

For Artists Who Were All About The Art

For Artists Who Were All About The Money

In Summary

End Notes

Acknowledgments

About The Author

Preface

When the first singer for my first band KIRRA died in a car accident, I had a moment where I was certain my career was over. We had worked for almost 5 years building a reputation and an audience with his specific style, and losing a lead singer is one of the hardest things to overcome as a band.

Those 5 years were a grind of touring, playing shows (a lot of them close to empty), begging for labels only to end up bickering with them about how long a verse is. My band members and I come from south side of Oklahoma City, and there aren’t a lot of opportunities for musicians. Somehow we managed to create our own opportunities by working hard for years on end to make a name for ourselves, and when Jesse died, it was like watching a door slowly close forever in front of you unless you do something about it.

Luckily we found our singer Gabe, and then I discovered how we could take a different approach than the last 5 years. There was a way that we could retain control over our music business, and still get our name out there and keep what we had fought for and earned with our heart, sweat, and tears. It would be a complete fresh start.

I knew there had to be a better way to operate a music business! I was 2-3 years into a journey of self-transformation when Jesse died. I was buying books like crazy on everything from investing, real estate, and business to psychology, personal development, and time management. I had been learning the foundations of entrepreneurship and how I was going to use that vehicle to create the life I wanted.

I wanted to be able to create my art in peace, but also have a career with it. I wanted the bills to be taken care of, but I didn’t want to stress over my songwriting to keep food on the table. Some call this wanting your cake and to eat it to, but I never understood that saying. The purpose of cake is to be eaten, life to be lived, and artists to create. Including create the lives we want to live. Some of us want just enough to keep the bill collectors away, and give you a little comfort to do what you want to do. Other may want a little more of the extravagance that exists out there in life, and the best part is there is no wrong answer.

There is nothing wrong with wanting an abundant life. In fact, if you want to attract an abundant life, you’ll have to start with an abundant mindset. Make peace with the fact you want more out of life. On the flip side, if you want to think about making just enough then that is fine as well. I would be willing to bet however, that once you reach a certain level of achievement, you will want to get to your next level.

This book is how artists can start to learn to balance the fundamentals of business with the passion and creativity of their music. You’ve got music that you’re passionate about, but you can’t let some of the noise of society today hold you back and instill false beliefs about what it means to be a successful artist. You’ll hear me talk about about art and the philosophy around having art and business work together. This is all designed to give you a perspective that will help you maintain a great relationship with your art.

I also knew I wanted to include some great tactics for music entrepreneurs trying to have more success inside of their music business. It’s one thing to balance your art and your business, but what if you don’t really have much of a music business built yet? Well, have no fear! I’ve got you covered.

This book is going to give you insights and strategies that took over a decade of trial and error to discover, and hopefully save you from making the same mistakes and capitalize on the same strategies that worked for me!

If only one artist out there started to feel more at peace with becoming a music entrepreneur without any false beliefs attached so they could just pursue music with all of their soul, then I will have accomplished my mission. I’ve been in this business since I was about 15 years old, and in that time I’ve seen so much and learned so many lessons that would help artists out there have more success and peace within their music business—or their lives more generally.

I knew that creating this book would help musicians all over the world start to have a sense of clarity when it comes down to turning your music into a career and starting to balance all your work in your music business with the art you create. I know some people maybe scared to start becoming more of an entrepreneur because they feel that it will somehow change their relationship with their art.

I designed this book exclusively to maintain your relationship with your art in a way that is still productive to your music career. Most people seem to think it’s one or the other and there’s no middle in between. Well I’m here to let you know there is a way to have a career in music without letting the music industry start changing and manipulating your art.

I remember the first time I knew it was possible to not work a 9-5 job or be a starving artist while pursuing my music career. I was working at a big corporate music store where they offered lessons as well. When I got that job I signed on as an instructor who taught guitar, bass, and drums. I worked there for 3 and a half years and had an average paycheck of around $400 - $500 for the entire duration of my 3 and a half years there.

I’ve always wanted to work for myself and not have to spend 30 to 40 hours a week at a job where I wasn’t in control of my destiny, and there was little to no room for growth. I decided to make the shift and jump into the deep end of entrepreneurship by starting my own little side hustle.

I decided the easiest way to make this transition was to go from a music instructor at a big corporate music store to a local music instrument and business teacher. It was almost exactly what I was doing for years and I had built an audience of people who wanted to learn not only how to play their instrument but how to make a career from their talent as well.

You’ll hear more about this later, but my first month made me $1,317 and I had only worked 28 hours the entire month! This is when I knew that creating the freedom to create the life we want was more in our grasps that we knew. If we could imagine the way forward, we could start to take action to create and manifest our own destiny. Not the destiny others have set forth for us, but the destiny we always knew was possible — we just didn’t know how.

Until now…

Now in the new digital age, it has never been more possible for a musician to build the life they want. Whether you want to live like that "The Office" character, Dwight Shrute and make $80,000 and year and live on a beet farm, or you want a lavish house with all the fun toys and donate unreasonable amounts of money. All of these are possible based on what you decide is the best move forward.

Not every musician is shooting for the exact same life, we’re all different. In this day and age, you can create that life for yourself. It will take learning new things, it will be tough, you’re going to run into unexpected obstacles, but the best part is you are more than capable of what it takes. Sometimes we get a bunch of thoughts and beliefs about becoming a professional musician or artist, that we start to believe that BS the people who aren’t pursuing the dream we have give to us.

Hopefully this book will help you work through this dilemma and come out the other side with a gameplay to start your music career and the mindsets and principles you’ll need along your journey as a career musician. This journey takes the shift from being a hobbyist into an entrepreneur, balancing your art and your business, and ultimately taking your place in this business.

Are you ready?

Let’s go.

Introduction

From a surface level view, it doesn’t make much logical sense to be a professional musician. There isn’t a lot of short-term income potential in the business, there’s an unbelievable amount of competition, and the factors that play into a successful band are much more than a group’s or individual’s ability to write great music.

There are thousands if not millions of teenagers, young adults, and mature adults who want to pursue music as a professional career. Yet, very few of them take their dream seriously and even fewer of those who take their dream seriously actually act on their dream. Why is that?

Well, this is what I call the Musicians Dilemma, a feeling of deep almost spiritual connection to music and the need to create and share it, but having been raised in a culture and a world that is increasingly hostile to entrepreneurs (in the face of how much it relies on them), and by consequence, lack the necessary tools to take control of their financial futures and achieve financial freedom.

This is the disease, and I’m hoping to offer the beginnings or at least a part of the cure. Professional musicians as a group of people are in a vulnerable position right now and need the mindsets, habits, and strategies of successful entrepreneurs to not only understand the business that they are in, but understand the reality of the business-world as a whole and how they can navigate and thrive within it, and create the lives for themselves they’ve always wanted.

I’m not here to coddle your perceptions of what this business is and what it is not, nor will I sugar coat what business in general is like. I’ve seen too many artists ripped off first-hand to infantilize you by giving you stories that distort your perspectives from the truth. I’ll go ahead an apologize now if some of what I tell you is a bit uncomfortable or shocking for you to hear.

Like I said, I’m going to give you the cold hard truth about business, art, and things of the like. If you’d prefer to stay in the matrix, then close this book or turn off the audiobook. If you’re ready to be unplugged and actually see what its truly like trying to be a professional artist, then let’s go.

Let’s get something straight though, if you’re reading this you’re most likely a musician who is serious about becoming successful and actually making a name for yourself. You need to understand that NO ONE can take away from you what you have, and that is the gift of the ability to share and create music.

There is a reason that religions, for example, all over the world use song in conjunction with their prayers and worship, it’s because there is something spiritual about music. Even to the most hardcore punk or metal atheist, they will go to a concert and act out as well as be apart of an event indistinguishable from a religious gathering.

Think about it: your alter is your stage, the lead singer is the preacher (I know a lot of singers are probably not going to like that comparison), music is the spirit, and