becoming a "successful" composer

My Dearest Tortured Composer, 

I need to tell you about something that few people in the music industry will ever admit. It's about a particular risk that comes with pursuing music, whether as a career or even just a hobby.

Let me illustrate this with a story...

After I graduated from college, I decided to pursue a career in music. I had a band. We started playing shows, and things were actually going great.

We were getting booked on some of the best local stages, pulling 100-200 people per show. Given that only 0.08% of bands will ever sell 1,000 CDs, we were probably in the top 20-30% of musicians in our area.

But here's where it gets interesting.

In most fields, being in the top 30% yields tremendous success. The top 30% of doctors get paid very well. The top 30% of plumbers get paid very well. The top 30% of musicians? Well...

You see, there are two domains in this world (as Nassim Taleb points out in his book "The Black Swan"): Mediocristan and Extremistan.

Think of it like this:

In Mediocristan—where most normal careers live—success follows a predictable path. Take being a plumber. If you:

• Complete your training

• Do good work

• Build a solid reputation

• Show up on time

You'll probably make a decent living. The same goes for doctors, accountants, and most traditional professions.

There's a clear middle ground where most people in these fields earn roughly similar money.

But music? Music lives in Extremistan—a bizarre parallel universe where normal rules don't apply.

In Extremistan, there's no predictable middle. You either make it big or you don't.

Think about it: When's the last time you heard someone say, "Oh yeah, my friend's a pretty successful musician. Makes about $80,000 a year writing symphonies."

When I was performing, people would often ask me, "Oh, have I heard any of your stuff on the radio?"

This question perfectly illustrates the problem. In their minds, there are only two types of musicians:

1. The ones on the radio

2. The ones who haven't "made it" yet

They don't understand that only about 0.0001% of musicians will ever get a song on the radio. It would be like asking every doctor you meet, "Oh, have you won a Nobel Prize in Medicine yet?"

This is what makes music so cruel - the gap between expectations and reality.

People think success in music works like success in other fields. But it doesn't. Not even close.

Let me tell you about Bach.

Johann Sebastian Bach is arguably the greatest composer who ever lived.

Yet during his lifetime, he was just the church music guy. He was born the same day as Scarlatti and Handel, but they were international superstars while he barely left his church job.

Today we regard him as perhaps the greatest composer ever - but he didn't see any of that recognition in his lifetime.

Now, this might sound depressing if you're in this for fame or recognition. But here's the thing:

You don't have to make every dollar from music. And I need you to hear this next part:

YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE OF A COMPOSER IF YOU WORK A DAY JOB.

In fact, it might even be an advantage. When you have other sources of income, you have the power to say no to projects you hate.

Think about it - somewhere out there right now, a composer is writing music for a film they absolutely DESPISE... simply because they need the money.

Some of history's greatest artists had day jobs:

• William Wordsworth worked at a post office

• T.S. Eliot worked at a bank

• Bach worked at a church

• Chopin had students

I'm not saying you shouldn't try to be successful. I'm not saying you shouldn't put your music out there.

What I am saying is this: if you place all your worth on becoming a "successful full-time composer," you may be setting yourself up for misery.

The fact is, you could write the most brilliant piece of music in human history tomorrow - a life-shattering, universe-altering masterpiece - and your life might not change at all.

You could show it to 100 critics, they could all reject it, you could die in a year, and then it could get discovered and change music forever.

Which is why it's so fundamentally essential that you fall in love with the act of composing versus the results.

Because here's the truth that most people won't tell you: The odds of becoming a "successful composer" (in the traditional sense) are virtually zero.

But the odds of being a composer who creates meaningful music while supporting yourself through other means?

Those odds are entirely up to you.

Find work that pays the bills. Make music that matters to you.

And stop torturing yourself with impossible standards that even Bach didn't meet in his lifetime.

Are you struggling with this? Hit reply and tell me—I'd love to hear your thoughts.

And remember…

The world waits for your music…

Luke

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