6 Saboteurs that Hold Musicians Back from the Big Time

by Cari Cole

Sabotage. Sigh. It’s real. And artists are especially victims to it. shackles pic
The margins of error are huge. From wrong advice, disingenuous advice, or just plain lack of good advice, to the challenges riddled with potholes and landmines to trip you up.

Here are the top 6 ways artists and musicians sabotage themselves and how to course correct in a snap. I hope it helps you rise triumphant and avoid countless years of struggle!

 

6 Saboteurs That Hold Musicians Back From the Big Time

 

1. If I Only Had a … Manager, Booking Agent, _____ (fill in the blank.)

If I only had a manager, a booking agent, or someone (anyone) to help me!! (plus help me get my sh** together.) This is a particularly deceptive one. A while back a fellow indie artist posted an article about how she kept waiting and waiting and waiting for a manager and finally got so sick and tired of waiting she started managing herself. And bam, that was when her career started to take off.

Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to have that specific someone to steer the ship, the truth is those days are pretty gone. Today artists are so proactive with their careers that a manager or booking agent are a bonus, not the kingpin of success. And that’s a GOOD THING. Remember hearing stories from the “old music biz” where managers stole artist’s fortunes right out from under them? We’ve all heard the stories.. Leonard Cohen, Sly Stone, etc. Well, that came from the mindset of having someone “take care” of everything. Not what you really want. Saying you need someone to come rescue you is the biggest saboteur that most solopreneurs fall into because it keeps you a helpless victim, waiting and hoping and worse, inactive.

Solution: Manage and book yourself until the right people come along because you are making a good living and you are an asset.

 

2. Fear of Success

Fear covers a big domain and seeps into everything, but it is the number one saboteur we all have to hunt down and bust. Fear steals confidence, fear steals time, fear steals our life right out from under us even with the best of intentions. And it does this without our permission and often without our awareness.

Take Lisa for example. All she wanted was success. But every time she got close to it, she got so freaked out she ran. She didn’t trust anyone in the industry to “get her” and so her “knee-jerk” solution was an exit strategy. That’s how a lot of musicians respond. That’s how I responded, several times. I got close to big deals and my fear was so epic I walked away. It’s more common than you think. And let me just say, the fear of being controlled and manipulated is a natural fear when you sign on that dotted line. But knowing who you are, knowing the business are your trump cards. And awareness so you are not caught with your pants down at a critical moment. Fear plays a major role in your decisions. It’s up to you whether it’s conscious or not. The more conscious, the more you are in the drivers seat.

Solution: Develop a strong relationship with yourself by having these conversations and facing your fears ahead of time. You want to develop an internal trust with yourself, so that you can swim in the deep waters and not drown… #superstar.

 

3. Musician Anxiety

Musicians and artists are highly sensitive and anxious people, wired with highly amped and often super sensitive nervous systems. It’s part of the nature of being an artist and what creates great art. The downside is that this high anxiety can keep you from getting your best work out there.

Take Scott. An incredibly talented musician all he wanted was to make music his life. But at every opportunity his anxiety got the best of him and he would lose hold of his rational self, which in turn made him unaware at critical moments. Or he would push at the wrong times. So much so that he never seemed to get in the saddle where he belonged.

Solution: Know that anxiety is an intrinsic part of your nature and take extra steps to take care of yourself. You can take it a step further and nurture your nervous system. Using lavender essential oils (in your bath, hair, hands, temples and your pillow at night), take 1-2 capsules of organic passion flower at night (passion flower is a nervine that feeds nutrition to your nervous system), take salt water baths with essential oils often, do yoga to help stay in balance and manage your magnanimous beautiful highly sensitive nervous system. Or try take a step further and try meditating. Transcendental Meditation is our meditation of choice. It has a deeply profound effect on balancing the nervous system and reducing anxiety.

 

4. Insecurity and Lack of Confidence is Normal

A little known fact: Often the most talented artists are the most insecure. Confidence itself does not determine how great an artist you are or will become.

Take Adele. She openly admits vomiting before every performance. Being the perfectionist that she is, performing is threatening to her being because she knows the level she has to deliver at and it’s scary. Once you make a killer album, now you have to go out and deliver it. Not just once, but night after night after night after night. It’s a whole new problem. And it’s not just her, there are many big stars who struggle with insecurity. But Adele’s struggle is a perfect example of how confidence has nothing to do with how great you are. But you can’t let that stop you from performing, or moving forward in your art and career.

Solution: Admit your insecurities to yourself, don’t let them stop you from moving forward. Get counseling. Get coaching with a music coach (like myself) who understands the nature of artists temperaments and can help you move forward despite yourself!

 

5. The “I Don’t Have Enough Money” Syndrome

Lack of money can be a real thing. However, imageedit_2_2125642895
thinking you are stuck there is a disease
. Look, artists have to fork over large amounts of cash to get their brand off the ground. This is reality. But poverty mentality goes further. It tells you that you’ll never have enough and therefore you’ll never reach your dreams. It keeps you from investing in yourself at critical moments. It wastes a lot of time and years doing it yourself and staying “stuck in the struggle.” The “I don’t have enough money” mantra becomes the reason why you can’t make it. It’s important to know that while you may have challenges right now, that statement is not actually true in the larger picture. Every day artists, filmmakers, authors and entrepreneurs rise from the dust. So can you.

Take Nia. She wants to believe she has what it takes to make it, but her mind tells her to be careful because she might fail. She’s got little ones and a mortgage to pay, yet the only thing she knows how to do .. is music. So in her mind she’s kinda screwed. Music requires a leap of faith – and yes, it’s totally illogical. Nothing great was ever created without risk.

Solution: Ask yourself if you were at the end of your life and didn’t go for it with your music if you could live with yourself? If you say “no” you’ve got your answer. Don’t let your lack of money dictate the outcome of your dreams. One step at a time. If you want it, the money will come, you’ll find a way. Maybe not in the time you want, but in time if you stay the course. Get yourself connected to a community of artists to get inspired and learn from. And if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room ;).

 

6. Unrealistic Expectations

We all know that being successful in anything (let alone in music) doesn’t come overnight. But there is something about the expectation that it will that drives even the least hopeful of musicians forward! It’s a requirement to have an impulsive, impetuous, impatient, annoyingly restless and bullheaded temperament that cannot wait to get out of the gate (do I know you or what?!) I know because I too was an artist and I was exactly like that. It drove me and everyone around me crazy ;).

Take Cari. She wanted to be a great singer/musician more than anything else in her life. So much so that it hurt. It was all she could think about. She wanted it so bad she wanted to win a Grammy. But along the way, she was approached by labels that wanted to control her (so she ran) and several industry folks wanted to help, but that was before she really knew who she was and they were no help. She gave up for long periods of time because she didn’t have any money or was so devastated by things not happening. But her dream wouldn’t stop pushing through. And one day, at 40 years old, after a long and arduous journey (several decades in the making) she released a little record that went on to impact the lives of 40,000 people ;). What if she had given up? Oh and the Grammy? She made the Grammy Ballots for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, but none of that matters anymore. It was never the Grammy she was really after. That was just a symbol for a feeling of success.

Solution: You’re going to have unrealistic expectations. It’s part of your nature. Just set your sights on the real goal of making the best album you can and then getting it out there with a team of people who believe in you. Check. You Can Do This. Do you have a choice?

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Hi, I’m Cari Cole.

You’ve got talent, but you want to become great at it. You’re in the right place! My mission is to help you refine your unique artist vision to bring to the world.

About Cari Cole

Cari Cole is the CEO / Founder of caricole.com and CCVM: Label Without Walls. She is a Holistic Vocal Coach, Artist Development Expert, A&R Director, and Songwriter based in New York City helping artists for the past 38 years. She is a mentor for Women in Music and The Association of Independent Music Publishers.

Her latest venture, CCVM a label services company, provides artists with a seamless path from creation to completion. After 30+ years of observing the overwhelm and challenges that artists face, Cari pulled together the best top creative professionals and designed a new approach to supporting our artists.

Disclaimer:
The information provided on Cari Cole's website is informational only and should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on Cari Cole's website. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately.

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