This article is going to be just a tad bit different from the ones you’re used to reading here. I think you will find it interesting at least and possibly fascinating at best. You can let me know either way.
Have you ever watched an awards show? Last night I watched the Tony Awards and all these talented people. Some of them have won multiple awards and today are living legends. Carol King comes to mind as one of those people as there is a play out about her life. The girl that portrays her is just scary good. Sounds just like a young Carol King.
You could arguably say that some of these people have reached the top of the mountain and you have to wonder what it feels like for them to look down from there. For that matter do they even know that they’ve reached the top?
Or have they.
Angela Lansbury had some pretty good success in movies when she was younger. You could make a case that she had reached that mountain top back in those days. And then something funny happened.
At age 59 (I’m not even there yet) she started a little TV show called Murder She Wrote. That little TV show aired for 12 seasons. When it went off the air, she was over 70.
When I think about that, it boggles my mind. Arguably her biggest success came during a time when most people are thinking about retiring or have already retired.
You’re probably thinking, what does this have to do with creating royalty free music? It has everything to do with it and I’m going to explain why. It has more to do with it than just making money from it.
During your career as a royalty free music writer you’re going to have your ups and downs. You will have periods where you’re writing scores for people almost daily and then there will be those times when the work just isn’t coming in, for whatever reason. Could be a bad economy. Could be a score that you did that got around as being “pretty bad.” Bad news travels faster than good. That’s just the way the world is.
Point is, you’re going to have those ups and downs. So just when you might think you’ve actually reached that mountaintop, you may actually discover that you’re no where near it.
I had a very successful marketing business that had nothing to do with music for about 9 years until about 2011. The last 3 years things started going downhill and this year things collapsed altogether. That’s when I finally decided to do something with my 35 years of composing experience. But I never thought it would ever come to this. I thought I had reached the top of that mountain.
You never know what life is going to throw at you. Some people, sadly, have everything going for them and then they’re cut down by illness or some other tragedy. Look at what happened to Jim Croce and Harry Chapin to name just two. They died way too young and tragically.
So if you’re thinking of getting into this business but think maybe you’re too old or not good enough, you won’t know until you try because your best work may be ahead of you. I truly believe with all my years of writing that my best work is ahead of me.
And that brings me to the next part of the top of the mountain.
Education.
You would think after 35 years of music experience that I would probably know it all, or darn close to it. And maybe I do. But just recently I stumbled upon a course at Berklee that looked interesting. A lot of it, on the surface, appears to be material I’m pretty sure I know solidly. But then I thought to myself. Maybe there is still something I can learn. Certainly the course on music production in the modern age might teach me something. After all, I am an old dinosaur when it comes to this newfangled technology. Aside from that, the courses give me a chance to earn a Berklee certificate. That can never be a bad thing.
So yes, at age 56 I’m going to be going back to school to see if there is something else I can learn. My work will be judged and graded by my peers. That will give me a pretty good idea of where I stand. I’m confident I’ll do well, but not overconfident. Like I said, I may not be as close to that mountaintop as I think. My failed business taught me that.
And then of course there is that intangible mountaintop. How others see you. You know, success is a funny thing. People will react differently to it. Some will love you. Some will hate you. Some won’t give a hoot about you one way or another. Just when you think the whole world is in love with you, they may turn on you because of something you said or did. Look how many stars fell from grace because of things that they did that had nothing to do with their acting or singing or writing or whatever.
How you personally conduct yourself outside of your profession is critical to your success, believe it or not. That’s why I always try to treat people with the respect that I would want them to treat me with. Besides, it’s a lot easier to be nice to somebody than to try to tear them down. I think everybody should read “How To Win Friends And Influence People” by the master himself. Yeah, old Dale sure knew how to sweet talk people.
After you leave this page, I want you to think about where you are in your life. I want you to realize that no matter where that may be right now, it may not be where you think it is. Tomorrow could be better or worse. But that’s almost entirely up to you. Yes, a lot of things are out of our control. But the things that are within our control, like our education and the way we conduct ourselves, need to be nurtured and cared for.
Otherwise, that mountaintop may just turn into a cliff waiting for us to fall into a bottomless pit below.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim