Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US and a #1 in Canada… so far.
“The music biz is rigged. It’s all political. It’s a popularity contest. Nobody knows or cares about good music these days. You gotta be fake or a butt-kisser to get anywhere. They’re just lucky, and I’m not…”
Blah, blah, blah.
That’s victim thinking, and victim thinking, more than probably anything else, will keep you from being successful.
Victim thinking is devastating because it never lets you take personal responsibility for your life or your career. It lets you off the hook. Sure, maybe the odds are tilted against you. But at the end of the day, you can’t control that. You need to focus on what you CAN control, which is working harder, building better relationships, writing more competitive songs, etc.
Believing that success is based on luck or somebody else “choosing” you only encourages you to be passive- to only get what you are given. However, believing that you have the deciding role to play in your career encourages you to be active, to get better and to not give up.
Victims will stay victims. But you don’t have to be one of them.
God Bless,
Brent
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Brent’s Twitter: @Razorbaxter
Brent Baxter Music: http://www.brentbaxtermusic.com
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This is a really important concept. I can tell you from dealing with thousands of businesses over the years that the most important asset you can build in business is the relationships with clients, vendors, customers, other business people etc etc.
The people who really work at building relationships are the ones who are likely to have the most success.
The music business and the songwriting business are no different to any other business.
Very true Brent. We all chose our path in any career we decide to go into. I read a book that drove that home to me, it was “The 7 Habits of High Effective People”. I was amazed how well that translated to the music biz. I did a podcast called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists” that speaks to that. HEre is the first one in the series. http://principleprojects.ca/podcast-habit1/
Yup, completely agree… and there are a lot of ‘victims’ out there.
You had me up to “write more competitive songs”. That’s where we split trails. I constantly strive to write better, more relatable, and meaningful songs. But competitive, well that’s something that, at least for me, can stay over on 16th and 17th. I may an outsider, but I definitely don’t feel like a victim.
Well, the “write more competitive songs” depends on your goals, really. Doesn’t apply to every songwriter. Thanks for chiming in, Randy!
After rereading my comment, I apologize for being almost combative. I will also admit that it is very difficult to have a songwriting life outside the Row here in Nashville. The lure of having that kind of clout as a writer is very strong. But it’s just not natural for some folks, I guess. That being said, I do wish there were more organizations, publishers, labels, even PRO’s that were more available for material outside the Country radio format. There are people making money in other genres so it can’t be that only one style works. Brent, thank you for being a gentleman and for you’re help in our work.