Can I make it in music if I have a job?

This is a biggie… so we want to unpack it as carefully as we can.

It’s always lurked in the back of artists mind… “Music isn’t paying the bills so I need to get a job. Now I have no time for music.”

Then, when people ask “what do you do?” you go straight in with your occupation, music hardly get’s a mention and before you know it, you barely even feel like an artist anymore.

Whenever we have this conversation with artists it almost feels like there is a degree of shame involved. As if they feel like they have failed as an artist because they have had to get a job. It’s a shame, but it’s understandable; making a living from your art is arguably one of the greatest marks of achievement. Anything less feels like a failure.

However, we had a long chat with our good friend John Seaton (check him out, he’s amazing) about this very notion. He had gone through the same emotions.

But through conversation and perspective, he reframed this problem into what it really is…

Something pretty damn admirable!

John spoke about feeling a sense of pride in knowing that he is “doing what he’s got to do” in order to fund time making music. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a job alongside making music, in fact, it’s almost inevitable and you can take some comfort in knowing that you’re making a sacrifice because that’s what “making it” is going to take.

Of course, everyone is in different places in their life with varying degrees of commitment. The task then becomes about prioritising and working out what you’re willing to sacrifice to have a shot of becoming successful with music. Which leads us to our next point…

How are we defining ‘success with music’.

Again, this is down to you. For some it is quite simply just having the capability to release their own music to the world regardless of streams or income. For others, they want the full Grammy laden, glamour drenched lifestyle that only hitmakers in LA experience.

There is no single definition of success here. Only yours. Don’t weigh yourself down by comparing yourself to other people’s successes. This is a trap we fell into very early on and still catches us out every now and again.

But once you have worked out what your ideal scenario is, you can start to work backwards from there to where you are now, and think about what it’s going to take to get there. The likelihood is, part of that plan will involve having a job.

So what are the realities of being an artist that has a job? Well, we can say with certainty that it is absolutely possible to become hugely successful in this scenario. Dua Lipa did it, Freddie Mercury did it, even David Bowie worked as a butchers delivery boy to pay for saxophone lessons!

They’re great stories and examples but we want to dig a bit deeper into the practicalities of this work/music balance.

It probably sounds obvious, but ultimately it comes down to time management. That is the scarce resource in this case.

You know when you’re going to be in work because it’s likely to be scheduled for you. But it’s down to you to schedule time for music, and to then be disciplined enough to stick with it. Put it in your calendar and treat it like any other meeting or appointment you might have.

It’s easier said than done but having that discipline with your schedule is super important here.

In the past we have seen templates of how you should schedule your time to set yourself up for success but rather predictably, they don’t take into account anything realistic about your life and so they fall short.

For that reason, we’re not going to suggest to you a perfect way of structuring your life around your 9-5. But we are going to once again, highlight the importance of taking the time to do that yourself.

A final top tip is to have a read of our previous blog post on how to finish more songs. We talk a lot about setting deadlines in order to make the most of your limited writing time.

To sum up, we’ll say this. Do not feel remotely embarrassed that you have a job while trying to build a music career, wear that badge with pride. You are taking a bold step in a huge journey and we have nothing but admiration for those that are willing to make that sacrifice. The reality is, even artists that look like they’re doing really well and getting tonnes of streams, probably have a job.

There is a lot more to cover on this topic and we’ll definitely be doing a video discussing this.

But for now..

Big Love

Jump & Turner