Well, obviously I can give you lots of advice on how NOT to make it in the music industry
I've had years of experience at that.
In the many bands I've been in over the years only two could have gone some where. The odd thing is one was one of the first bands(Maddog) and the second was the last one(Switch) I was in. Maddog could have gone places because we had one of the necessary components. We were unique for the time.
In the 70's we played mostly country and good old rock-N-roll. What made us unique was our show. We were as high energy as Guns and Roses running around the stage and crawling on each others shoulders. It used to freak the country people out. Problem was we didn't have the dedication to take it beyond the bar.
Switch was a good example of a by-the-books band and it showed in our constant path forward and upward. We were all seasoned musicians that had been through the ropes, more times than we cared to admit, and we had a plan. Recording an album.
We went through the regular carp a no-name band does. Started playing for free at parties, then playing for the door at small bars. All the time we were investing the money we made back into the band for better equipment and our recording fund. Our choice of music was taken right from the MTV top hits list and it didn't matter if we liked the song or not because we all had learned it's fun to play what you like, but it sure don't pay the bills.
I built a studio in my basement and we practiced religiously. We also worked out our original songs but never played more than one a set. Another thing we learned by trial and error. Your original songs may be really kick ass but until you got a name no one wants to hear them.
After a few years, having paid our dues ONCE AGAIN, we started taking off and started getting a set fee from the bars because customers were asking for us to return. It got to the point where we no longer had to beat the bushes for jobs as they started coming by phone. So we made the move to the next step by bidding for better gigs. Bought a trailer, with our name on the side, to hold all of our now high-end equipment and eventually bought a buss for traveling to our gigs which now took us from one end of Kansas to another, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
We reached that point all bands need to reach where you feel a need to test yourselves. We had been told by our friends and the drunks in the bars how good we are, but now we needed to find out for ourselves. We entered a Star Search in Goodland and did damn good considering. We had problems getting to the show and got there just in time to set out equipment on the stage as the other contestants were playing. We had missed our sound check and had to wing it. We still managed second place.
On out quest to prove ourselves we set our sights on beating out the number 1 rated band in Kansas at the time. They've been know by many names over the years such as The Heat, Bluebird and Anthony and the Animals and had lots of money backing them as usual. To make a long story short we went to eastern Kansas and kicked their butts all over. It was mostly due to our choice of music. Right off the MTV hit list and it didn't matter how tough it was to learn.
Well by this time things were falling into place. We had our own fan club that sold tee shirts and distributed our posters as we played. We were now ONLY playing civic centers, auditoriums and university's and for nothing less than $1500 a night. finally the time had come to reach for our goal. We bought our time at Big Dog Studio in Wichita and set the date to record our album. We were to be the first band to digitally master in Kansas.
We had a blast, most of the time, recording and mixing tracks it was like being on vacation. One of our songs was put on a CD put out by Big Dog called Kansas Bands, is that right Zeb?, that was sent to recording labels all over the nation. We were at the top of the game when shit hit the fan. We had reached our goal and nowhere to go. We hadn't planned beyond recording our album so things started falling apart.
Now I know what we should have done but because we hadn't planned beyond our goal we knew not what to do. We had reached a point none of us had ever reached before and now were lost. We paid our dues. We had a name and an album why hasn't someone called us to become rich and famous? Somehow going back to the old routine felt as if we would be going backward. In the end we all went our own ways and I don't think any of us are still playing in a band.
OK I've rambled on enough. The path to success for every band is different but the path to failure is the same. Set your goals high and stay to your plan. Be ready to do what ever it takes to reach that goal.