Yeah all the time.

justin

It is this very pain that assures you that you are on the right path.

This is a tough biz. But at least your pursuing what you really want to do in life. As opposed to working a regular 9-5 job.

jobu2u wrote: It is this very pain that assures you that you are on the right path.

Your exactlly right. Nothing good comes easy.

Same with me. You are not alone!

reginald wrote: Anyone out there feeling like me? I m full of pain in my strugle towards sucess in music but i can never give up (although at times ive felt like) people fightin you, hating on you, jealous, some say your insane, yet they dont know what it takes to make music happen.

are you Reginald Harrison???

That's why the corporate types have us by the cajones; we do what we do for the love of it and pursue it with passion. It's the numbers that are against us. Every yahoo with a guitar or vocal chords thinks that they are the next Beatles. The odds are considerably better if you want to play major league sports. The money is better there too! How many of us get 119 million for seven years and 11 million dollar signing bonuses?

Everyone always doubted, called insane, and hated on the late, great Wesley Willis, and just look how far he made it in the music business. There's hope for you yet.

But yes, we are made of pain and struggle; however, we are mostly made of water.

...or you could pursue music as a pure art form, unassailed by the f*cked corporate whims of the so-called music industry. I have a good old fashioned 9 to 5 (more like a 7:30 to 5:30) that allows me to pursue music on its own terms.

Sure, I don't have as much time as I'd like to devote to it, but at least I don't have some A&R mucky-muck with a doofus lookin' chin whisp tellin' me how to sound more like Maroon Five. puh-lease!

The music business is very hostile to real innovation at this point in time, unless you want to pursue a niche market, in which case, there's a lot of cool stuff going on. Hope you like baloney sandwiches.

reginald wrote: I m full of pain in my strugle towards sucess in music but i can never give up (although at times ive felt like) people fightin you, hating on you, jealous, some say your insane

"You've gotta suffer if you wanna sing the blues"

D. Bromberg

I think you need to re- define "success".
If success is to make globs of money pucker up for those same mucky mucks, - they and their corporate media lackies define success. If its peer recognition you think as successful - start promoting yourself after you make sure that you want to hear real criticism from trained ears - send out your stuff and invite honest criticism from pros, not friends. If its performing music so that an audience recognizes you have something to say then that is success - whether you can make a living at it or not. If its writing music that other performers change so that they can deal w/ the BS recording business then that is success. If its engineering or production or teaching or sticking on labels or working in a music store or copy work or..... then that can be your success.
If its working a day job and/or supporting a family and playing music when your schedule allows then that's success too. If its writing or playing music that no one else hears, that can be success as well. You get to decide. Whatever it is its better than "reality" TV.

If you want fame, fortune, free reign on your musical career, the adoration of fans,friends and family, freedom to come and go, perform as you please - then get off the pipe- because NO one has that and never really did. It used to be better than it is now, but chasing THAT dream is a waste of time and energy. Its a childish notion- just like the "suffering artist" BS that most people equate with musical composition.
With the exception of about 25-30 yrs of American Popular Music from the late 60's on, most (not all)performing "artists" didn't make squat. Before and after that, the real "artists" were/are in the background and either made enough money to survive or didn't.

Charles Mingus was a mailman, Charles Ives sold insurance, quit your whining! They were musically gifted beyond anyone on this forum. They, like everyone else, did what they had to do to be successful. What's your excuse?

Hey Reginald, welcome to RO! I know where you are coming from dude, but they call it paying your dues. I don't necessaraly agree with that personally but it seems to be the way things are. Unless you are born into an entertaintment family and have gobs of talent you are going to have to STRUGGLE to find the success you seek. The only advice anyone can give you that makes any sense is DON'T GIVE UP! Especially if you really want the brass ring. (That is the price of stardom in this world).

With that being said, you can also follow
the path of education, like my cohort of the vocal booth Phil (Pmolsonmus) who told you to quit whinning. He got a masters in music, is a choral director, sings jazz on the weekends and has a family and works very hard at keeping it all together, Not bad, heh?

Either way, it will take lots and lots of work perfecting your chops and developing your career. I know it is frustrating, I've been there myself. There are noy easy answers but just follow your bliss. It may well kill you but its the way of the heart, and when the heart is true it can not be denied.

We do it for the love of it.

If you are honest with yourself, it doesn't take long to figure out whether or not you will be a "star".

I was honest with myself early on. Despite great keyboard chops and a decent voice I realized I would never be a rock star. However, I made a very nice career as a sideman, or mercenary if you prefer (my motto was YOU PAY, I PLAY), working as musical director for quite a number of groups, several well known and doing studio sessions. I later became a recording engineer and now do film/video audio post production. There are many careers out there for talented people.

So there comes a point in time where you maybe should give up dreaming of being a star, but don't give up on the business.

Henry Rollins put it best

I saw Mr Rollins do a spoken word in concert.

He said that once some one came up to him and said damn I wish I was a musician like you

His responce . . . . . .
ARE YOU MAD? Art is a virus that consumes your soul. Adrug that you need to sustain life and you can't quit because it is part of you. It's like quiting you left arm. Then when you get signed your told what to do and not to do and then when you sell enough records to do what you want people call you a sell out
I want to do some thing like be president of the United States. Do noting make 300 thousnad a year and if the boo you you have them arrested or made look like a public fool

Reginald -

For some of us, there's pain. For others (as for myself), there's more frustration. Whatever the case may be, we're all the better in the end because of it. Our trials and our struggles (and our pain) build our character and make us the people we are. When you have a love for something, such as music, you do whatever it takes. Some paths in life are easy. Others seem impossible to make it through. But we do.....somehow.......someway......we do.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope that you can work through your pain and be all the better in the end, because of it.

Keep your chin up......keep your love for music alive...and strive to be the best you can be!

I have experienced pain entering into anything that has ended in success. You have to pay... financially, with sweat, loss of sleep, ridicule, frustration... Some way you always pay. If you don't pay going into it, you will pay later... with compounded interest.