A lot of people have dreams of becoming the next rap star, or music star period. I myself know many people looking to make their passion for music their career. The truth is, it is very hard to make money as a music artist now. The producers, A&R or general record label staff are the ones making the real money. If you are seeking a record deal with a major record label then you are most likely getting a 360 deal, which means the label takes a slice off of all the profit you make. Whether it’s from your tour, or an endorsement, or investment.

Which means being an independent artist is the most logical thing, but even that is a tough road to walk through. If you are going indie, that means most of the money you make should go towards promoting yourself, or producing your projects. You will have to come out of your own pocket to pay for beats, music videos, and anything else you might need to continue to promote yourself.

Many people will say that the Internet killed the music industry. But I think the opposite. All the Internet did was change the game, and now it’s up to the artists and musicians to adapt. If most of your target audience are on the Internet, then use that as your tool for success. Get connections with the top bloggers, or websites focused on your genre, and they will help you go along way. Then you can go to many of the online outlets such as Itunes to put your stuff on sale. Of course it’s going to leak out, and people are going to get it for free anyway. But if you spent the time to build yourself a strong fan base, then it will still work out great for you.

Even though this is the smartest thing to do as a new artist, it still means that you are being short changed the whole time. Which means you can no longer make music your one and only focus. Your focus should be to use your career as a musician to push yourself further. The more popular you get from your music, the more lanes that open up to you. Those lanes will introduce you to new ways to make a career out of yourself. The day of doing music for the love of the music is long gone. The day of using music to propel yourself to the height of success is here. There is no more love for the music, just business.

50 Cent was both a gift and a curse to the world of hip hop. He changed the game, and introduced new ways to promote yourself as an artist. Such as mixtapes, publicity, and being the constant talk of the town. But because 50 Cent is such a perfect hustler, he made moves that made labels pay attention and adjust their whole business model. Interscope saw none of that 400 million that 50 Cent made from his Vitamin Water deal, and they are salty about that. Those moves that 50 Cent and various other high profile hip hop artists made, is what brought about the 360 deal. Once your signed to a 360 record deal, you will forever be giving up a percentage of all your income to the label. Depending on how much you make from an investment or endorsement, paying the label may not be such a bad thing. At the same time though, it is not ideal.

Becoming a musician is now a huge gamble, you will either end up constantly hustling to make more money, or you will end up short changing yourself for the length of your career. The best thing to do is to set out a plan from the get go. Know in advance what your aims are, and what you as an artist will be happy with. Do not sign the first deal offered to you, unless you know you will be ok with the terms. In this time of recession, people are no longer buying artists out of their lower tier contracts, so you will be stuck in that contract for the full length, unless the label decides themselves to release you.

Think about every single move you make, and what the next step should be. But the most important thing is to ask yourself in the first place, Do I want to go down this road as an artist at all? Is it worth it?