Getting your song played on the radio has long been a luxury, a service reserved for artists signed to major labels or benefiting from a huge network of influence.

However, in recent years, things have been changing, and new alternatives are being put in place to encourage the discovery of new artists. But how to get your song on the radio?

Why is exposure on the radio still so important?

With the rise of social networks and new distribution channels (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and other streaming platforms), promoting your music has never been easier or more complex at the same time. It is easy because these options are accessible to everyone. Today, it is possible to distribute your music at a lower price on the main streaming platforms. On the other hand, it’s so complex because it’s difficult to set up an effective strategy that isn’t too adventurous and time-consuming… Currently, over 20,000 new songs are released on Spotify every day and it’s hard to stick out from the crowd without spending a lot of money or wasting a lot of time.

62% of new track discoveries are made via radio, compared to 20% via streaming.

Traditional media such as the press or television have lost their allure over the years, and it is no longer as necessary as before to go through them to make one’s music known. On the other hand, in the face of competition from streaming platforms, radio remains the main source of musical discovery. 62% of new music discoveries are made on radio, compared to 20% on streaming, especially among non-subscribers to a streaming platform. Apps like Shazam allow listeners to listen to your song over and over again… on Spotify for example!

1. Have a solid musical project to get your song on the radio?

Before approaching any music professional, you must have at least some professionalism yourself in order to stand out and, above all, appear credible in your approach. Refer to the following criteria:

• Build a strong and singular visual identity to support your musical project.
• Have a press kit at your disposal or a good biography presenting your project and your background.
• Be active and have a certain visibility on social networks (Facebook, Instagram etc.).
• Have recordings of impeccable quality (.wav, 16bits, 44100htz).
• Fill in the metadata of your tracks (digital information about the music: title, performer, author, composer, producer…).

2. Choose the right single to get your songs on the radio

This is the most critical step in the whole process. You must absolutely submit a work of good sound quality. This means that it must have gone through all the stages of musical creation, from choosing the title to composing, arranging, voice recording, mixing and mastering. The challenge here is to select a “single,” a track that is both representative of your musical universe and that also has a strong potential for listening, and therefore, for the audience. More simply, it is your “big hit.”

3. Respect radio formats

Another essential element in maximizing your chances of getting on the radio is the length of your song. To do this, your track should last between 2min30 and 4min. Beyond that, your chances of getting on the airwaves are often limited. Of course, we do not advise you to restrict your artistic creation. On the contrary, you must extend and express your creative potential to the maximum according to your desires and according to your own rules.

Taking risks and experimenting will help you to assert yourself as an artist. On the other hand, we recommend that you produce a “radio edit” version of your single if necessary. This means that it is a version specially adapted for radio broadcasting, respecting the duration format and excluding any obscene or shocking aspects. This version is also very often used for video clips. One of the most famous examples is Daft Punk’s One More Time, whose radio edit version has a radically different structure than the album version.

4. Takes quotas into account

Think of quotas- if you have a song in the language of your country, you’ll have a better chance of getting it onto national radios! Yes, it’s true. It’s a criteria you have to take into serious consideration if you want your song to be played on the radio. For example in France there’s a quota imposed by the CSA which is designed to protect French-language songs from the invasion of Anglo-Saxon pop songs that are flooding the airwaves.

The law of February 1, 1994 requires private radio stations to broadcast, since January 1, 1996, at significant listening hours, 40% of French songs, at least half of which must come from new talent or new productions […].

By French-language song, the CSA means any work with a text performed or recited primarily in French or in a regional French language. And by new talent, any artist who has not yet obtained two separate gold record-certified albums.

5. Choose the right radio and opt for new networks of influence

Every radio station has its own audience and therefore has a musical genre of reference. The radio station you want to present your song to is therefore also an important choice. For example, it is useless to go and propose a reggae track to a radio station specializing in metal. Choose radio stations that play tracks in the same style as your music and target the ones you are going to approach in a relevant way to maximize your chances of being played.

Fewer and fewer people are listening to radio in its traditional (over-the-air) form and a whole new form of online radio is gaining momentum and providing a new outlet for emerging artists.

Listen to tunes without downloading them.

Streaming music, or more accurately streaming audio, is a way of delivering sound — including music — without requiring you to download files from the internet. Music services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music use this method to provide songs that can be enjoyed on all types of devices.

Streaming Audio Delivery 

In the past, if you wanted to listen to music or any other type of audio, you downloaded an audio file in a format such as MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG or FLAC. However, when you use a streaming delivery method, there’s no need to download a file. You can start listening through a device or smart speakers almost immediately.

Streaming differs from downloads in that no copy of the music is saved to your hard drive. If you want to hear it again, you can easily stream it again, although some paid streaming music services allow you the option to do both — stream and download.

The way the streaming process works is that the audio file is delivered in small packets so the data is buffered on your computer and played pretty much straight away. As long as there is a steady stream of packets delivered to your computer, you’ll hear the sound without any interruptions.

Requirements for Streaming Music to Computers 

On a computer, in addition to obvious needs like a sound card, speakers, and an internet connection, you might also need the right software. Even though web browsers play some streaming music formats, software media players installed on your computer might come in handy.

Popular software media players include VLC, Winamp, and RealPlayer. Because there are many streaming audio formats, you may need to install a few of these players to be able to play all streaming music from various sources on the internet.

Paid Streaming Music Subscriptions 

Streaming music subscriptions have made enormous gains in popularity. Apple Music, which is available on Windows PCs and Mac computers, is a streaming music subscription with more than 40 million songs you can stream to your computer. 

Amazon Music and YouTube Music offer similar subscriptions. All of these paid programs offer free trials that allow you to evaluate their services. Some services such as Spotify, Deezer, and Pandora provide free tiers of advertising-supported music with the option of paid premium tiers.

Streaming to Mobile Devices 

On your smartphone or tablet, the apps provided by streaming music providers are the best and usually the only way to enjoy their streaming music. However, every music service offers an app, so you just need to download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play to add streaming music to your smartphone or tablet.

Contrary to some preconceived notions, no artist can pass from the shadows into the spotlight just by snapping their fingers. Also, getting a good song out there is not enough anymore, and there is no point in making buzz just for buzz’s sake if you want to build a solid and lasting reputation. Finding your own identity as an artist and bringing together an audience around your project is a long-term process.

Indeed, you have to remain authentic, but also use the right methods to capture the audience that corresponds to you and understand what it expects from you. Knowing your fans allows you to interact with them as well as possible, but also to develop a better communication strategy in order to gain visibility- and especially notoriety. Here are some tips to help you target your audience as a musician.

1. Don’t try to please everyone

It is a question of not spreading out in order to satisfy as many people as possible. Your musical project must embody and project your own voice. This is what will make you a unique and original artist. Forcing oneself to conquer all hearts and minds is often a waste of time. It is up to you to discover your own identity in order to remain coherent and authentic. This is how your audience will identify with you. And it is also in this way that you will be able to implement your positioning and development strategy. Here are the questions you should ask yourself before targeting your audience:

• To which musical genre(s) does my music correspond?
• Is my project strong enough?
• Am I able to easily communicate about my music?
• What are the values/emotions I want to convey?
• Is my music for a niche audience or a more popular one?
• How do I set up a visual identity in line with my project?
• What are my ambitions?

Once you have found your positioning as an artist, it will be easier to find the right audience for you.

2. Engage with a community

In order to better understand the audience you are engaging, there is nothing better than meeting the professionals and enthusiasts who correspond to your musical universe. Go to concerts, fairs, forums or any other musical event aligned with your style.

Take every opportunity to interact with the audience, musicians and even other fans. In short, you will meet people who share the same passion as you. This will not only open you up to new perspectives, but also broaden your creative field.

3. Find online discussion groups related to your musical universe

There are many Facebook groups and forums specialized around specific musical genres that have thousands of fans and insiders. These groups are an opportunity for you to get an overview of trends, listening habits, and news, but also it is an occasion to support other musicians who are in the same boat. Sharing and discovering new music on these networks is an excellent way to exchange, share, and discover other worlds.

It is the best way to maintain contact and be active and dynamic around your musical project. These groups often bring together thousands of people eager for new things and potentially receptive to your musical productions.

A Facebook group dedicated to shoegaze, dream pop, and nugaze music

Our advice: do not hesitate to give before asking (and therefore receiving). Sharing the bond of an artist you love without asking for anything beforehand can be an opportunity to create strong bonds. And one day, you may get something powerful out of it. Our slogan?

“Give, give, give, give, receive.”

4. Find the most famous artists in your musical genre and use them as a reference

Finding reference artists allows you to have a base and determine in which direction you want to go. Take for example Coldplay as a pop-rock reference. Start with accessible artists and adjust as you go along according to your stage of development and your ambitions.

The purpose here is to analyze:

• What types of social networks do they communicate on?
• How close are they to their fans?
• How do they communicate with their fans?
• What aesthetics do they adopt?
• On which types of media are they featured?
• What other artists are their fans listening to?

In short, it is a matter of figuring out how they got to the level they are at. Review their audience and the different communication strategies they implement. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that beyond talent, an artist must necessarily be a good communicator to be able to gain recognition and visibility.

5. Be active on social networks and build your own visual identity

To stand out and spark interest, you have to attract the eye. Proposing a striking visual identity is the best way to stand out and reach your audience with a particular imprint. Even if music remains the raw material, it is an element not to be neglected. A striking aesthetic builds loyalty and engages your audience.

6. Use data analysis tools on social networks and streaming platforms

It can be scary at first, but some social networks, including Spotify and Apple Music, have developed easy-to-use tools to better understand your audience.

On Facebook for example, you can access the statistics of your page [Tip: add /insights/ at the end of the URL of your Facebook page]. In the “People” tab you can discover the distribution in terms of Gender / Age groups / Countries / Cities of people who like your page.

On Spotify for Artists in the “Audience” section, you can also find the countries and cities where your songs are most listened to, their age group and gender, as well as artists that your audience also likes. Apple Music For Artists offers the same option, also adding data from Shazam. All of this data is essential to better understand your current audience and adapt your strategy accordingly!

7. Finding the right channels for promotion

To promote their music, artists have only two main solutions today:

• Hire a press officer (~1000-2000 euros per month) which is often expensive for musicians who do not always have the contacts or the means, and with results that do not always match their expectations and the investment made.
• Send hundreds of emails to media and musical influencers (such as blogs, playlists, webradios and specialist journalists) themselves. This is certainly free, but a monumental waste of time in the artist’s creative work. And above all, as the media are overwhelmed by emails, artists do not receive answers, which is often the source of great frustration.

The media, labels and other musical influencers are overwhelmed by emails from artists and their representatives (press officers, managers, labels) every day (between 100 and 500 every day even for small blogs).

Indeed, they offer the best pathways to promote your music with guaranteed feedback. These opportunities will allow you to boost your visibility and gain legitimacy!

Most artists have experienced the challenge of finding and keeping the right band members. Hopefully these interview questions will help you find exactly who you are looking for:

• How serious are you? Be sure that their level matches that of your own.
• What experience do you have? What bands have you been in, if any? Have you been a band leader? Be sure that you are getting someone who will fit right in.
• Are you looking to join a band as a sideman, or do you want to join a band in which you are part owner? Be sure their expectations are the same as yours.
• Have you ever been on the road? For how long? Some musicians think being on the road will be a blast until they see how much hard work it is. Others miss their families or significant others too much and begin to resent the situation. Be sure hat your band can handle your touring demands.
• How often are you willing to rehearse? Do you need to get paid to rehearse or do you consider it part of the job? What you want to know is their work ethic, and whether or not it is equal to yours.
• Do you have references? It is vital that you can talk to former band members to learn about any challenges that you might have to deal with.
• Do you have any other commitments that might prevent you from fulfilling your commitment to this band? Some musicians might have separate gigs already on their books, have a vacation planned or have a day job that might conflict with your own gigs or plans.
• What are your strengths? What are your limitations? Be sure that the person has a realistic perception of himself or herself. You also want to know up front if there is a gap that you will need to have someone else fill, such as back-up vocals or heavy lifting.
• Besides your talent, what else can you bring to the table (computer skills, graphic design, marketing skills, contacts etc.)? Obviously, it helps when you can keep some work in-house.
• How much money do you need to make? How long are you willing to work with the band to work up that salary range, or so you need that much money immediately? Be sure that their expectations are in line with what you can realistically pay them.
• Are you counting on working with this band exclusively, or will you be picking up gigs whenever and wherever you can find them? Again, their intentions need to coincide with your needs.
• How long do you plan on taying with the band? Is this a temporary engagement for you, or are you looking for a long-term position? Be sure that their plans and your needs are a match.
• Have you ever been a band leader? Whether you need a band leader or not, this is important to know. Ssome people who are used to being the leader are not comfortable tking orders from others.
• Do you need to ask anyone else for their support or pemission before you take this gig, or before you go on the road? You want to know if they have family or an employer who might prevent them from fulfilling their role.
• Are you willing to invest time and/or money into the band to take it to the next level? This is important if you or other members of the band are investing in the group. You never want an imbalance in this area without a clear understanding of the relationship.
• Do you have all of the equipment you need, and is it in good working order? Obviously you don’t want a band member whose amplifier keeps quitting in the middle of your shows.
• Do you have other gear or equiment that could be of value to the band (recording studio, PA, van etc.)?
• Do you write songs? If so, are you counting on the band performing or recording them? Be sure you manage any and all expectatons so there is no misunderstanding about this.
• Do you sing lead vocals? If so, is it your goal to be the lead singer, or to share in the lead vocals? Once again, this needs to match your vision or current lineup.
• Do you have a challenge with drugs, drinking or other bad habits? Know what you level of toleration is (one drink per night, no drugs etc.) Be aware that they might nor answer honestly, so check their references before bringing them into the band.

If you pick the right members from the start, you can avoid dealing with a lot of misunderstandings, ego challenges and bad habits that can jeopardize not only the band, but your reputation.

Criticism – let that word sit there a moment.

Dealing with criticism is just part of putting ourselves out there, right?!  I have received inquiries in the past from my readers about how to deal with negativity and criticism.  This article will give you some tips that I hope you will find helpful. Today I want to take some time to explore how we can stop letting this type of criticism get us down.

I know better than anyone, that it’s the negative stuff that stays with you, even if 98% of your messages are just lovely. It doesn’t matter what you do, there will always be someone who finds a fault, especially when you are in a subjective field, like making art.

By the very act of creating, and sharing those creations with the world, you are opening the door to other people’s opinions. It’s part of the deal, so let’s learn to deal with it in the most graceful way possible:

Reflect on the critique.

Take some time to read what they’ve actually said. And ask yourself two questions:

1. Is this person someone who knows what they’re talking about, or is he/she an internet troll?
2. Is there any merit to what they’re saying?

There are times when criticism is valid, and may just have been expressed in a less than ideal way. For example, if someone left a comment complaining that the photos you share of your artwork are too dark, you could look at ways to improve your lighting. If they moan that your nose is too big, or your voice annoys them, delete and ignore.

There are also times when other artists or teachers may offer constructive feedback about your art. It can feel like a personal attack, because as artists our work feels like an extension of ourselves, but it’s important to know the difference.

Make choices that are right for you.

Like I said before, no matter what you do, and what direction you take your creativity, there will be people who have something negative to say. You can’t control that. The only thing you can control, is you and how you handle it.

You’re not going to please everyone anyway, so remain true to yourself.

Understand your spotlight.

Having an online presence will always attract attention (of all kinds). There is no magic bullet for cutting all criticism from the web, but you can put certain measures in place to limit the impact:

• If you run an online community, draft strict guidelines about what is and what is not acceptable, and follow through with removing anyone who gets nasty.
• Close comments on your blog posts or simply moderate them to control spam and unwarranted ugliness.
• Kill with kindness. If someone has something unkind to say about one of your posts, don’t engage in the negative, simply say “Thank you for your feedback – I hope you enjoy the next one more.”

Appreciate the outpourings of support.

I can guarantee that no matter the size of your creative network, you will receive more positive messages and comments than negative ones. Unfortunately, we all tend to dwell on the ones that make us feel bad.

I would suggest collecting those nice things people say in a notebook or take a screen shot and save in a folder on your computer, and reading back through them every time you have to deal with something mean.

Here’s another thing to remember – those people that really cut you with words are not thinking about how they’ve hurt you. They will already have moved on to the next thing. The people who support you, are the ones that will be thinking of you – so give them your focus too.

Journal it out.

Our journals aren’t there just to look pretty on a shelf, they can really help us work through this stuff. Whether you’re a “regular” journaler or an art journaler, you can use those pages to process your feelings, and move on to a more positive headspace.

Writing it all down can be a very cathartic experience, and I really recommend it.

While it’s easy to say, “I want to get a lot more fans” you have to ask yourself, how is saying this actually going to help you achieve your goal? It’s a non-specific “want,” rather then a well thought out business plan.

Studies have shown you’re more likely to achieve your goal if you have a clear visual understanding of what you want to achieve in life. This is where S.M.A.R.T. aim and objectives come into place.

S.M.A.R.T. is a tool we can use to better map out what we want to achieve. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed. That means all of the aims we have for our music career should be specific, we should be able to measure them, they should be achievable, they should be realistic, and we should know how long it’ll take us to achieve this aim. These aims should be written down, so we have a goal to look at and refer back to when we feel a bit lost as to what we’re doing.

You can run a few S.M.A.R.T. aims alongside each other, and they can vary in size in terms of how big they are. One may refer to how you’re going to hit the 100 gig mark (which is more long term), and another may be how you’re going to set up all the necessary social media profiles you need to promote your music (which is more short term).

Make sense? Hopefully it does, but if not, here’s an example.

Let’s take the above aim of:

“I want to get a lot more fans.”

This is a very vague aim to have, as it doesn’t give us any idea of how we’re going to achieve this goal of ours. By applying the S.M.A.R.T. formula to it, we can edit it to be an aim we can refer back to and get a better idea of how we’re currently doing. This will make it easier to achieve it.

So first off, let’s make our goal Specific. We want to specifically state what we need to do to achieve this goal. There’s no point saying we want more fans if we don’t know how we’re going to go about getting those extra fans, is there? It won’t make it any clearer how we’re going to achieve that goal; it’s sort of like saying, ”I want to be rich.” The majority of people who say that have no further ideas in their plans to get rich, and therefore never take any real steps to achieving that goal.

OK, so how Specifically are we going to go about getting more fans? Let’s say you have the means to create home made videos of you performing cover songs, and have a YouTube channel via which you can showcase your material to the world. By uploading your videos and encouraging people to like your Facebook page if they enjoy your song, you will get a percentage of people taking you up on this offer. Tell them they will find out about your new videos there first, and that they will also get exclusive bonus videos not shown publicly on YouTube. This will encourage a larger percentage of your video viewers to Like your Facebook page.

You could also get those new Facebook fans via gigging or other means, but for this example we’ll stick to the cover songs strategy. So we can change our aim so it looks like this:

“I want to get a lot more Facebook fans by doing cover versions on YouTube.”

Now every time we look at this aim, we know what we should be doing to achieve it. If you want to get more fans by doing other things, you can make other aims to go alongside this one.

Next, we need to make this aim Measurable. After all, how will we know if we’ve achieved our aim if we haven’t got a clear goal to aim for? What does “a lot more” really mean? Is that 20 new followers? 100? Or 1000?

In this example we’re using Facebook followers as our measuring point, although you can aim to get more mailing list subscribers, more gigs, make more money, etc. Sticking to the Facebook example though, I will change the aim to:

“I want to increase my Facebook subscriber count by 100 followers by doing cover versions on YouTube.”

Now this is something we can actually measure, and can look at to see how close we are to achieving our aim. We don’t want to stop there, though, as there’s more we can apply to make our aim even more useful to us.

Next, we want to make sure our aim is Achievable. Well, is it? In this case, it is. Gaining 100 Facebook subscribers is something most people can do if they offer something of value or interest. It will take some people longer then others, but it is something you can achieve. It is also Realistic, which covers the next section in our S.M.A.R.T. formula as well.

If you was to say you want to increase your Facebook subscriber numbers by 10,000, though, while it may be humanly achievable, it’s not really a Realistic aim for the average independent musician. Therefore, this number would have to be cut back to one that’s a lot more realistic.

Don’t try to cheat with the numbers; they’re only there to help you take manageable steps to advancing you music career. You don’t want to aim for the end goal straight away; this will lead to you not hitting your targets soon enough and only leave a feeling of disappointment and failure. This often leads to people quitting music and believing it doesn’t work, so initially aim for something that is Realistic and Achievable.

We don’t have to change our above version of the aim in this case (“I want to increase my Facebook subscriber count by 100 followers by doing cover versions on YouTube”), as it is both Achievable and Realistic. That said, if you’ve made an aim and it isn’t achievable or realistic, change it accordingly so it is.

The last stage is to make sure it’s Timed. By this, I mean it’s something that we can time, and has an end date.

There’s no point having an aim that will go on forever; if you don’t achieve that aim, you need to know when it’s time to say it’s not working and modify it to something more realistic. This is why we will give it a time limit.

For this example, I think 4 months is a reasonable amount of time to get 100 new Facebook fans. You may want to aim to do it quicker if you already have a starting fan base that you can transfer over to Facebook, but for this example let’s stick to 4 months. So, let’s edit our aim to reflect this:

“I want to increase my Facebook subscriber count by 100 followers by doing cover versions on YouTube. I will do this within the next 4 month by [insert date].”

And that’s it, our S.M.A.R.T. aim is complete! Instead of just saying you want to achieve something, you now know how you’re going to go about achieving it, when you should have it done by, you can measure how far along you are with your aim, and you know that it’s an aim you can realistically achieve.

You should carry out this process with all the aims you have for your music career, whether in terms of how you’re going to get more gigs, how you’re going to reach a certain pay rate, or how you’re going to finish an album you’re making. Apply this to all the things you want to achieve, and you will have a much clearer view of what you need to do to succeed.

Important Note:

When you set your music career aims, do them in manageable steps. Don’t say you want to earn a million dollars and be rich; take things in baby steps and achieve one goal at a time. So initially aim to break even, and create a S.M.A.R.T. aim for how you’re going to achieve that. Once you’re at a break even level, next aim to make, say, $100 a month from your music career, and do a S.M.A.R.T. aim for how you will complete this aim. As you achieve it, keep building things up and work toward new aims in manageable and realistic steps.

What Happens If You Don’t Meet Your S.M.A.R.T. Goals (and What Happens If You Do)?

So, you’ve mapped out your S.M.A.R.T. goals, and you’ve been following the plan to achieve your written down goal. But at some stage of following this plan, it becomes apparent that you aren’t going to hit your target. What should you do?

Well the thing about these goals, is you can make them flexible. You will of course want to try and make your goal as realistic as possible when you’re drawing up your plans, but sometimes it’s easy to underestimate how difficult something really is.

If this happens, you should go back to your original aim, and edit it as needed. By now, you should be more clued up as to what a more realistic aim is to have in terms of this part of your music career. Let’s say for example 100 new Facebook follows was too much to aim for. Why not reduce that number to 50 if you feel that’s a goal you really can reach?

On the other hand if you hit 100 fans well before you time limit is up, why not set a new aim for more Facebook fans in a new time range? Only if you feel it’ll benefit your music career of course, you may instead decide to increase interaction with your current followers before you actively try and get any more.

At the end of each S.M.A.R.T. aim, there are a couple of things you should do. Firstly, you should analyze how things went. What worked and what didn’t? Is this something you can scale up to get even better results? Is it worth aiming for this goal again?

Once you decide this, you should make a new aim to keep you busy in your newly free time. Alternatively, you can use that time to work more on another aim you have going on.

After a while, you will start to see what the best place to put your efforts is. You will find that by doing some things, you will be gaining more fans (or making more money) quicker than when you do other things. It’s in these areas that you should start to put more time, as they will give you more rewards for your time. Work smart, AND hard.

When people study music, they learn much more than simply how to sing or play an instrument. Most of us can’t become professional musicians as adults, but the time spent on music adds up to much more than “just a hobby.” Musicians gain a number of soft skills that are helpful in any type of career. As opposed to hard skills, which consist of specific knowledge and skills needed for a given job, skills are equally important abilities that allow you to interact well with others and complete work successfully, and they’re in high demand.Having soft skills makes you more competitive in the job market and increases your chances of success in any position — even if you’re self-employed! Whether you end up in a music-related career or not, you will be more prepared to tackle future employment challenges by having these 8 skills learned through music.

1. Self-Discipline and Responsibility

Self-discipline is a crucial skill in any profession. Employers and clients naturally appreciate punctuality, and time management skills are necessary to plan one’s schedule and complete work on time. Musicians must learn how to meet the goals of a lesson on schedule and make adequate time to practice. It also requires organization and personal responsibility, because getting to a concert on time doesn’t mean much if you haven’t practiced adequately or forgot to bring your instrument, sheet music, or other necessary items. 

2. Adaptability

The ability to accept change and go with the flow is a very attractive quality in an employee. Musicians learn how to play with new groups of people, how to play a different style of music, and how to adjust to meet the requirements of a conductor. Whether it’s adapting to work with a different team, shifting to a new procedure, or learning how to use new software, employees who can make a smooth transition will be much more successful than those who flounder when changes occur. 

3. Perseverance

Every job will present its own frustrations and obstacles, but those who have practical experience with perseverance will be ready for the challenge. Even for a person with natural talent, learning how to sing or play an instrument well requires a great deal of practice and repetition. You also gain valuable experience in how to face a new challenge every time you start learning a new piece of music. When a piece is difficult, you cannot give up. You play the hard parts repeatedly, going slowly at first, until you can hit every note right at the desired tempo. It’s also beneficial to learn to recognize when you need help with something, and how to ask for that help. 

4. Memory and Concentration

Musicians must often memorize pieces of music they plan to perform in concert, and memorization is a great mental exercise as it requires repetition and concentration. Attention to detail is an important aspect of learning a piece of music as well, since you must learn which notes to play, how long, how loudly, and so on. Concentration skills are also necessary, especially when playing with other musicians or in front of an audience. You must be able to focus on your own part in the middle of an orchestra or choir, while still paying attention to the conductor and the performance of the group as a whole. This skill comes in handy throughout your life, anytime you need to absorb important information or work in a place where other people are also working or talking.

5. Communication

Good communication skills are extremely valuable, and can mean the difference between success and failure. Musicians learn how to use verbal and nonverbal cues to communicate with one another while rehearsing and performing. They learn how to gauge audience reactions as well. If a team of world-class experts are unable to communicate well with each other while working together, their project will run into trouble regardless of how good each individual may be at their own part.

6. Teamwork

The ability to collaborate well with your team and other colleagues is a critical skill in the business world. People have different personalities and working styles, but they all must work together. Musical ensembles of any size must function as a team, overcoming personal differences to produce good work. Cultivating a sense of responsibility towards your team helps you feel more determined to overcome differences and carry your own part for the team as a whole.

7. Openness to Feedback

Music students learn how to deal with criticism. Constructive criticism from an instructor is a vital part of the learning process, and a music student needs someone with experience to help identify areas that need work and offer strategies for improvement. It’s no different in the workplace. Employees will receive feedback from their supervisors and others, and they must learn how to accept criticism gracefully and adapt their work accordingly. Musicians may also experience criticism that is less constructive, and the same may be true in the workplace. This is unfortunate, but having experience dealing with that as a music student can help mentally prepare you for it on the job.

8. Confidence

You may have many other skills, but without confidence, it’s difficult to apply them to the best of your ability. The pride and sense of accomplishment that come from learning how to play an instrument, mastering a piece of music, and performing it successfully build a music student’s confidence. It also teaches them how it feels to achieve something through steady work.Overcoming any trepidation about performing in front of others is another boon in the professional world, whether you’re feeling nervous about a job interview or meeting, or have “stage fright” about giving a presentation in front of a group of people. Gaining experience with this as a young person can help produce a confident and capable adult.