How Serious Are You? The Hobbyist, The Due Payer, and The Professional
When you become a Working Professional in the Industry, it’s a lot easier to look backwards and notice the distance you’ve come. You’re never somebody until you’re somebody. But in that hindsight you notice that there were distinct phases, changes, and milestones that you had to reach to get to where you are. At those late night smoke and shoptalk, gatherings of successful individuals, and even public interviews (Interviews are free game, by the way), the highest earners in our Industry reveal commonalities in their struggles, the steps they had to take, and how they were capable of elevating themselves on their journeys. I’ve found in interacting with a thousand odd clients that most Working Professionals share 3 very distinct commonalities in their professional development, and having knowledge of these stratifications will allow you to traverse your business and brand with direction. These tiers from least to most developed professionally consist of The Hobbyist, The Due Payer, and The Professional. It can be extremely easy to never reach a Working Professional.
The Hobbyist :Time Oriented
The Hobbyist is the lowest noticeable level of interest in becoming a Working Professional in the Music Industry. Some individuals just toy with a perceived fantasy of ever really playing Music at a level where it earns them money. Musical participation is due to it making them happy, giving them an outlet, allowing them to vent, etc. Whether taking biweekly violin lessons or freestyling when you’re with your homies, this level of Musical interest can’t even be defined by a wealth level that might help define the image of where you are on your path. There’s simply not enough input here to have a profit based output. For most that choose to do Music at this level, the reasoning is purely emotional.
The Hobbyist should focus on time spent. Skills develop over time, but if that time is spread across one instance per every week and a half, you won’t hit a sufficient amount of practice to no longer be considered a Hobbyist in any reasonable amount of time. The stereotypes of the greats Jazz musicians playing until their fingers bled or the Pop Singer singing in the mirror two hours a day are not actually stereotypes. You should aim to cross the threshold of 2,000 – 3,500 of your 10,000 hours. This very famous time figure was given to us by Author Malcom Gladwell, wherein he asserts that after 10,000 hours you’ll be considered a Master in your craft. Yes, that’s about 3 – 5 years at a very low rate of 2 hours a day. This changes depending on how much effort you put in. The good part about these years is that they’re often already done as a child, especially in the United States where the Education System supports Orchestra and Band. Playing an Instrument also bolsters College acceptance likelihood, so many have already reached that threshold. Let your talent develop and give it time to be polished.
Obviously this is not always the case as there are plenty of one hit wonders, and specifically the HipHop Industry is saturated with very young Performers who more than likely haven’t hit this metric. But that’s the wonderment in the task, especially with our youngest that find longevity. If you’re a Hobbyist you’re more than likely not concerned with generating revenue from whatever your interest is, know that simply increasing your hours given will allow you elevate to a level where you can start to scope your professional focus.
The Due Payer : Goals and Milestones Oriented
The inherent separation between the hobbyist and the due payer is sacrifice. It’s an understanding in any craft based Industry that what you’ll have to give, that time variable from The Hobbyist, is extensive. Once you start to do something every day, the opportunity cost (what you give up for something else) becomes more and more noticeable. Birthday parties, social functions, dates, quinceañeras. This time elapses slowly and it’s taxing. The adage that you get out what you put in is nothing short of the truth. Furiously collect these hours and use them to test your mental. What amount of effort are you willing to exert to move that mountain or be the one in a million? Don’t let someone else work harder than you.
The Due Payer should focus on Goals and Milestones. This is the meat of your journey. Some artists will spend a full decade here, if not remain on this rung for many years. Identify what it is that makes a professional, and pursue that. Professional Producers make and sell beats at a high turnover rates. Does your turnover rate match that of a Professional? Try and scale up. Make 3 beats a week for a month. Then make 5 beats a week for a month. How many hours are you spending in the recording studio? The key here is honing. The Hobbyist works until he can make a table. Now how to do you make a good table? This is the Experimental time period. Many Producers have stated that this era of their creation is entirely unique as they strive to develop more personally stylized bodies of work. Technical skills developed from the transition between a Hobbyist and a Due Payer are expanded on as the flood gates of creative energy are opened and tapped. You often spend several years emulating as a Musician; interpolating other styles from your inspirations. Here you’ll discover that you could be someones inspiration someday.
This phase can also include semi-professional opportunities. Essentially, offering professional services at a non professional level and for much much lower rates, if any rate at all. Every Engineer mixed for a buddy first, before the studio. Every writer penned verses for an unknown local talent before they wrote for an Industry Professional. These are milestones you look to cross in your field. Selling your first beat, getting your first placement, interacting with your first A&R, engineering under contract for the first time. Collect your trophies along the way. The more resumé worthy and field relevant, the faster you’ll be able to climb to the next rung. The signs of Branding and Marketing will begin to appear as you seek to develop yourself as a professional entity. You’ll need business cards, spreadsheets, a willingness to write emails, and send countless DMs scrounging for opportunity abound. The reward eventually leads to an internship or chance of service to a more advanced entity in the Industry. Everyone learns from someone. That opportunity could be the catalyst for creating a professional opportunity.
The Professional : Income Oriented
Being a Professional is inherently grounded in getting paid for your services. In this tier, you can chart your success by assessing how much you’re collecting each month or each quarter. It’s important to differentiate between Professional Rates and clientele, and the Rates and Clientele you’re serving as a Due Payer. Professional Rates are competitive. When you’re capable of matching the rates for services of other Professionals or Institutions, you’ll know you’re Professional. Where the Due Payer sells a beat lease for $30, The Professional is paid in Royalties by their Publisher for a high level placement. There’s levels to the game. The Professional has an extremely wide array of skills from honing their craft for extended periods of time. Networking skills, preparedness, an understanding of industry concepts, and specialization in technical areas. Typically getting your first Professional position is enough to separate you from paying dues, as you’ve given the right amount of time to achieve a substantial music related job. If you can pay your bills with the extent of your craft, you’ve certainly earned the title. Professionals also understand and utilize multiple streams of revenue, allowing their money to work for them. Things like Branding, Marketing, and Merchandising appear strongly coordinated and developed at this level.
With the job of Professional comes a respect amongst your peers in your craft even if you haven’t met them, allowing your name to work for you as well. As long as the quality of services you offer is high and consistent, you’ll earn your keep. Professionals should focus on the check or size of the contract. It is a literal representation of your capacity for performing your chosen craft. How many 0s is your work worth? The highest level of professionals charge upwards of thousands, are not easily accessible to the Due Payers and Hobbyists, and take everything in writing. They’re represented, notable and lauded in their respective communities, and leave an impact on the direction of their field. Do you have acclaim? Can you contribute to the larger picture? That’s the goal at the very least. Getting paid a competitive rate for your services will be enough to at least classify yourself as a Professional.
The Professional should focus on income. How many contracts can you balance at one time? How many placements can you secure this year? As each quarter passes, are you growing your business, your brand, or your wealth of income? Try to make more money through the same avenues you’ve been leveraging to reach that point. Discover even more avenues, and extend the cast of your net over the ocean of opportunity that exists in the Industry. The key here is running it up. There’s always more money to make, more hands to shake, and more connections to develop. At any given moment in the industry, someone is signing something that will net them a significant amount of income. Why weren’t you a part of that? How can you ensure you will be next time?
Regardless of the tier you find yourself in, there’s so much to do in the music industry, and because it’s so saturated, the competitiveness at each of these levels is massive. It doesn’t come easy for any of us. Identify your interest, put in the effort until it monetizes, and then funnel your revenue back into your business so it can grow and yield even more and even larger fruit. Conceptually there’s a simplicity that you can rest on, though. If you work hard for a long time, eventually you’ll receive due credit. Immediate gratification is rare in this industry. Not everyones journey to a working professional will last a year or a decade. There’s variation of the story’s duration, but everyone worked for it, and nobody becomes a seasoned and veteran professional on accident. It requires intent and conviction to find longevity.
