Attention artists, lets do some math. I want to give you some insight from a mentor’s perspective. A lot of people (especially artists) think you have to be signed to a major label to be successful in the music industry. NO! This is not true.
You don’t need to be Jay-Z and Beyonce. You don’t need to be DaBaby, 6ix9ine, or Kirk Franklin. Yes, you should shoot for the stars, however, you should not obsess over it, nor lose your soul for it. Don’t idolize it.
If you are someone working a full-time job 40 hours/week, and your salary is $30,000 per year, that’s a decent salary for working eight hours a day, on average, depending your age and profession.
Realize you don’t have to play the numbers game with major labels, or with social media regarding getting likes, follows, and shared statuses, etc. As an artist, you would be “killing the game” by releasing albums, videos, and even a single for $0.99 cents up to $9.99 per project. As an artist, selling your CDs or downloads for $10 a pop (out of your trunk, online, or wherever) realize you then only need to sell 3,000 units to make $30,000 cash! And that’s if you dropped one project and worked it for a year, like a job, But remember, it’s your product and you work for yourself! (self employed entrepreneur)
Therefore, my advice to you is to stop chasing “the dream,” and start chasing your purpose! Because the reality is… most of the superstars we see, portrayed highly and wealthy, really don’t actually have a large amounts of liquid cash that they claim to have. The majority of their assets (cars, houses, boats, clothes, jewelry, etc) is on credit or owned by the label. And overall, the image they are portraying is false.
If you are a serious artist who wants longevity in the industry, in other words, one who wants to be around for a while, and not here today and gone tomorrow, you can make a pretty good living or have supplemental income (extra cash) by simply selling a “few” thousand units. Chances are you’re not going to blow up to sell gold or platinum units or have that overnight blow up.
Eventually, if the real bag of millions come, and the fame comes, you will already have a solid work ethic and foundation on how to manage it with humility and prioritize. That being said, my label 1 Way Entertainment is releasing 5 albums this 4th of July on Cord, Celena Lena, Sis N Lil Bro, Sswag Movement, and Tytist.
We are calling it 1 Way Day. Get ready!
Korey “XROSS” Dean Sr., Grammy Nominated
