Aspiring and emerging artists need to be aware that they share a common goal with legions of hopefuls, all hurling themselves at the same venues, media spots, labels and audiences. The common mistake is thinking all these people are in competition. They are not. This isn’t gladiator school. Your peers are your potential co-conspirators. No artist can exist in a vacuum; inspiration simply does not survive in such an environment.

Listen to what others are creating. Get to know them. Help one another, recommend one another and share contacts. Collaborate! If you get a break, share that progress and take someone with you. And don’t stop at performers. Promoters emerge the same way artists do. So do labels and magazines and radio shows and websites.

Too many artists pitch themselves to the establishment, to the existing success stories, hoping for a short cut. That kind of ambition is as transparent as it is boring and often the best you can hope for is becoming a chapter in someone else’s story.

Find the people who have recently started out. These people are trying to build something they are passionate about and they need help just like you do.

Louis Barabbas

(Source: wilkinsky.us)