I was talking to some artists about their journey through the music industry and they felt like they had been held back at certain points by certain external factors. One artist attributed their lack of success to a jealous promoter, another one spoke about "the system" and how it works against people from disadvantaged backgrounds. I then asked the artists how they felt about their music and they told me they had perfected their sound and it was ludicrous that radio stations weren't playing them. They felt overlooked because they felt their music was of the best quality. Every question I posed had an answer that mapped to an external reason as to why they weren't doing well. None of them were looking within.
It's easy to blame others when things don't go well. I used to have people blame me for not mixing and mastering well enough and that was the reason the song wasn't being played on radio. I blamed myself and mixed it again until they were happy. I've heard people say that it's the beats fault. I've heard producers say that the artists they work with aren't serious and that's what's messing them up. I've heard people say the "gatekeepers" don't like them and that's why things aren't going well for them (it's almost 2018 and gatekeepers have lost a lot of their power IMO). Another big one is that people say that they aren't doing well because they aren't in Johannesburg or another major city. All these reasons may be slightly true but when you externalise your circumstances it means that you give up control.
People need to internalize their situation and look for answers that they can control. Instead of blaming a gatekeeper, why not spend ungodly amounts of time building up your social media pages so that you have your own platform to promote from. Stop waiting for other people to put you on. Instead of blaming your engineer, why not try and work with them to improve or spend an ungodly amount of time learning to mix and master for yourself. Do the same thing if you feel you can't find a beatmaker that caters to your taste. Do it yourself. Instead of blaming your lack of success on being outside of a major city, go work a job until you can hustle up a bus ticket to a larger city and find accommodation here. Establish yourself there over a few years and then build towards your goals.
Some might say, "it's easy for you to say, you have a platform, features, knowledge about the industry and equipment". To that I say, "screw you"! I spent 2 weeks learning how to make a website, I sat in a res room for 4 years making beats while people were doing other things, I made a conscious decision to build up my social media in 2014, I saved up for 2 years to afford my first set of monitors and mic, I spent ridiculously long hours building up relationships and I'm still faaar from finished. What you're looking at is a work in progress and it's becoming more and more difficult to share my story without someone thinking I was always able to afford equipment, sell beats or talk about the music industry. Someone even told me that it's easy for me because I've never lived in the hood. I hate talking about it, but my parents came to SA from a broken and suffering Uganda with a few hundred rand in 1990 and we had to live in a place called Ezibeleni just outside of Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. We were there for a few years before we moved to East London. My parents did the most for me and I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I disappointed them. I don't like telling that story but I feel like I have to talk about it from time to time just in case people think I just fell into a situation where I could get the equipment and opportunities I wanted. Unfortunately, my accent and my inability to speak anything other than English doesn't help me get my point across. I don't have the most street cred.
When you blame other people for your failures, you give up control and you slow yourself down. That record deal might be eluding you because your music just isn't good enough or you haven't worked hard enough. Your job isn't to blame those around you. Look within for your solution. Either talk it out with your team or do it yourself. If a record label won't sign you, it might be because you don't fit their criteria or they just don't want you. Get over it and prove them wrong! There are so many ways in the door, but we give up after we knock on the first one and get no answer. When people don't give you platforms, take a step back and consider building your own stage. It's freaking difficult, but it's possible.
There will always be two types of people; those who blame the world and those who blame themselves and take responsibility. If you tend to the latter you're more likely to do something about your situation.
SB
