Am I too old to start a career in music?

 

If you’re anything like me, you may have asked yourself the question “Is it too late for me to make it in music?”  “Am I too old?” 

And I totally get it. 

The media would surely have you think that if you're older than 16 years old, you are past your prime.

And honestly, it makes me really sad that people actually believe this.

So in this blog, I’m going to bust all the myths about age and music - once and for all!

Keep reading to learn why you are never too old to start a music career and ....

• How to define “success” and "making it" in a way that really supports you.
  
  
• The ways your life skills and maturity can enhance your music.
  
  
• Success stories of artists who started or hit it big later in life.
  
  
• Alternative paths that are available to you in music - from home studios to sync placements.
  
  
• Success stories of some of my students who started later in life.

So let’s begin!

Now, sure, there’s a huge advantage for labels to sign younger artists because there’s technically more years to get more leverage out of that relationship, and from a business standpoint, one can understand why there’s an emphasis on discovering young new talent, 

HOWEVER, major labels are not the only path to success with your music.

So let’s start by defining success.

 

Saying “I want to ‘make it’” in music is a pretty vague statement.

What does ‘make it’ mean anyway?

This is why I like to begin by defining what success actually means to you. 

The only reason we ever want anything in life, is because we think that it will make us happy. 

So while it’s totally fine to say  “I wanna make it!” in music, I’d like to invite you to try zooming in a little bit further and get clarity on what that actually means for you.

Does that mean being on the road? 

Does that mean playing for thousands of fans in sold out stadiums? 

Does that mean having millions of followers? 

Or getting added to one of those coveted Spotify playlists?

Does it mean making a living with your music? 

Get really clear on this because only YOU can define what success means for you.

 

What does “making it” mean for you?

When I asked myself this question about 11 years ago, and got really clear and honest about what I REALLY wanted for my music career, the answer that came through for me was that I wanted to make great money with my music and I wanted to get my music placed in film and TV.

Funny enough, building a fan base, being famous, and touring weren't anywhere close to the top of my priority list as an aspiring musician.

Once I had this new found clarity, I was able to take the right steps towards my dreams of monetizing my skills as a musician. This was the catalyst for what led me to learn  how to produce from home. 

I realized that most of the musicians I knew making money in the industry were producers with home studios, and charged for their services. 

I also noticed they were getting the most sync placements. So that’s the path I took. Kinda reminds me of the Tony Robbins quote 

I saw the path, and I got on it. 

Once I did that, I discovered that while the industry makes you feel like you’re either “Beyonce Big or Broke”, there’s an entire spectrum of opportunities in between.

Your life skills and maturity can enhance your music.

 

By the time I discovered the world of opportunities available to me in music , I was already 30 years old. So I was ready to embrace the mindset of what it took to become a career musician - or in my case, a pro producer.  I was no longer thinking like an amateur with a “damsel in distress” mindset, thinking somebody was going to come and rescue me and give me a fancy record deal, which is where I think a lot of artists get stuck - waiting.

Waiting on a gatekeeper to say yes.

Waiting on someone to rescue them

Waiting for some kind of permission.

I’m guilty of it too, and for years I waited for someone to pick me. But by the time I hit 30, I was ready to break free from that victim mindset I’d been in, and I was ready to pick myself.

That’s the thing with getting older. We get wiser. We get smarter. We become more empowered.

Not to mention, we get more seasoned. I don’t know about you, but I’m a FAR better musician (and business woman) than I was in my younger years. 

Not only am I better at my craft as a singer-songwriter, and have far more life experience to pull from, but I’m a better communicator, I’m more creative, and I’m way more efficient. Also,I’m not as insecure as I was when I was a younger, tortured artist. AKA a starving artist. 

So, my music career didn’t really even start until I was about 30. And for me, while I enjoyed the years I spent doing live gigs, producing was what really allowed me to monetize in the way I found to be successful, and that brought me the most joy and freedom.

Success stories of artists who started or hit it big later in life.

 

So, what about the Artist Path?

I know for a lot of people, they really DO enjoy gigging, and really do want to build a fanbase, and so for those of us starting later in life, the question still arises “Is it too late for me?” 

Absolutely not.

Here are a few artists that didn’t start their careers till later in life, starting with Chris Stapleton.

Stapleton was 37 when he released his debut solo album "Traveler" in 2015, after years of working behind the scenes in Nashville as a songwriter. 

Or how about Sia, who didn’t achieve widespread fame until 38 with the release of "Chandelier" in 2014. 

Let’s go back a little further.

While Leonard Cohen had some success as a poet and novelist earlier in life, he didn’t release Hallelujah, which catapulted his career, until he was 50.

 

And Tina Turner made her smashing comeback album when she was 44 with ‘Private Dancer’.

Is that inspiring or what? 

So no matter what your musical goals are, just know, you have so much to bring to the table, and no, it is NOT too late to pursue your dreams as an artist! 

That being said, pursuing a career as an artist will require that you market yourself, build a fanbase, and most likely that you will be willing to tour. 

 

Alternative paths that are available to you in music - from home studios to sync placements.

So what if you don’t wanna tour?

Maybe you want to be home so you can spend time with your family. 

Maybe you’re more of an introvert, and don’t love the stage as much.

Maybe you’re burned out because you’ve toured a lot.

Or, maybe you’re just tired of van life and sleeping on couches or in hotels.

Hey, been there, I get it.

And that’s actually why I stopped playing live as my sole source of income, and decided to go all in on producing from home.

I used to play 3 and 4 hour gigs at restaurants, bars, country clubs, weddings, and I even busked on the streets for tip money.

 

While I love that I got to experience “road life”, and it really did hone my chops as a musician, I did get burned out, and I knew it was time for a change when I started to lose my voice frequently from all the constant gigging, on top of throwing my back out a couple of times lugging around my own PA.

Which was another reason I decided to learn how to produce myself. 

I realized that constant live gigging was no longer sustainable for the season of life I was in.  It wasn’t about not gigging at all, but having that be my only revenue stream as a musician which pushed me to actually hurt my body, yeah, that wasn’t going to fly anymore.

So, let's go  back to what success means for you.

For me, success was being able to monetize my music. So, I hunkered down,got really clear and set the intention “I want to become a pro producer”. 

I even started doing manifestation techniques around it, and writing out affirmations like “Music is my only job” and “I get paid to produce”. 

 

Honestly, I put just as much energy into the visualization and mindset as I did into the practical stuff.

And what’s funny about the fact that I chose to start producing is that I am notoriously not “tech savvy” and I really thrive with simplicity, so the intricacies of learning how to set up a home studio, and a DAW (digital audio workstation), and work the tech was NOT necessarily easy for me, but I powered through the trial and error, the tech issues that made me want to pull out my hair, and stuck with the plan, and eventually my affirmations started to come true.

 

Just one of those “tech” days…

 

I even got my first client while I was still in the learning stages making basic demos, which worked out great because I got paid to learn, and she loved the demos I made for her. 

So, if you’re not feeling the call to hit the road and play gigs and build a fanbase, maybe because you’re past that season of life, then you might consider setting up a home studio and working from there.

Something important to note for those of us in our prime, is that we grew up in a different industry that told us we needed record deals to have success, and that we needed gatekeepers to say yes to us in order to succeed, and while that may have been true decades ago, the industry has changed. 

Modern technology has made everything so incredibly accessible that there’s literally nothing holding us back except for our own willingness to go for it.

We no longer need a label to distribute. 

We no longer need a fancy studio to make a record.

And we no longer need any big wigs in the music industry to say yes to us, because we can go out there and build our own careers.

Whether we use a crowdfunding platform like Patreon or Kickstarter, or whether we do work for hire and work with clients, or utilize the power of social media and ads to build our own fanbase.  

The power is in our hands now. You definitely couldn’t say that 15 years ago.

A lot of people say “there’s no money in music anymore” because of things like Spotify not paying enough, and while I’m not in love with their business model, and agree that artists could be compensated more fairly, I think a lot of us are focusing on the wrong thing.  

We’re stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.

There’s more money to be made now more than ever, no matter what age you are, it’s just shifted.

And for me, learning how to produce allowed me to build multiple revenue streams, including:

• Vocal session work
• Songwriting
• Ghost writing
• Custom songwriting
• Producing Demos
• Producing Jingles
• Producing kids songs
• Producing artists
• Producing for film/TV

Heck, there was even a period of overlap where I was still having to play some bar gigs while learning how to produce, and I simply printed a bunch of CDs and told people on the mic in between songs  “I made this, and I accept donations” and more often than not, people handed me 20 dollars.

 

20 dollars for a CD with 6 songs on it I produced myself from home! 

That’s actually more than a major label artist makes per song! Pretty cool right?

So the benefits of learning to produce music from home are truly boundless, especially if, like me, you're not exactly in the "spring chicken" category anymore. 

Here’s a quick recap of those perks:

• Grounded Perspective: With more years under your belt, you're more grounded, which can deeply influence the music you create.
  
  
• Rich Life Experience: You’ve got a wealth of experiences and wisdom to draw from, enriching the depth and authenticity of your music.
  
  
• Monetization Potential: Being seasoned means you’re well-positioned to monetize your skills effectively. There’s a whole spectrum of opportunities tailored to your level of expertise.
  
  
• Skill Stacking: As someone with more years under your belt, you’ve likely accumulated other valuable skills that can contribute to building your music career, whether from a corporate job in administration or marketing, communication and sales, or even just being able to play multiple instruments, or sing and play. These skills are incredibly transferable to your new role as a pro producer.

Success stories of some of my students who started later in life.

 

I want to tell you about one of my students, Cindy.

Cindy started producing at 70 years young.

That’s right. 70.

When 2020 put an end to her live performances, she turned to Produce Like a Boss and decided to take the leap into producing her own music.

The results? 

Cindy is now producing her own music, without having to pay for studio time or an expensive producer who doesn’t get her vision.

She’s become a sought-after vocalist and songwriter, with her tracks now featured by industry giants like Warner Chappell PM and Amphibious Zoo.

• She’s been hired for 12 custom songs, and counting
• She’s become a go-to session vocalist for diverse projects.
• She’s secured placements for her instrumental tracks with major publishers.
• She’s Independently released her own music, completely self-recorded and produced.
• She’s gotten her music into film/tv
  
  

Check this out:

 

Or how about my student Ralph.

Ralph was a fantastic musician before joining Produce Like a Boss, but wasn’t sure about how to turn his musical talents into income. Today, Ralph's schedule is packed with PAYING work!! He's managing four client productions across various genres and has been commissioned to produce a five-song EP. 

But that's not all. Ralph is also collaborating on tracks destined for advertising and sync opportunities, and he's even crafting his own instrumental jazz tracks for an upcoming solo release.

Since working with P.LAB, Ralph has…

• Produced a full jazz album for a boutique sync library in London, UK.
• Handled production for four different clients, each in a unique genre.
• Gotten commissioned to produce a 5-song EP.
  
  

Ralph and Cindy are just a couple examples of amazing students in my community who started a little later in life, but are crushing it! 

And hey, like I said, I didn’t start producing till I was 30, and within a few years I was able to go full time as a producer, and even hit 6 figures just working with clients from my home studio.

Did it happen overnight?  No.

It took persistence, determination, and a clear vision, as well as getting SUPER clear on my dream and being willing to pursue it unapologetically.

As Joseph Campbell said, “follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls”.

So, if you’re still curious about what learning how to produce from home could do for you, I’ve put together a free web class called “3 steps to produce your music and get paid”, and you can watch it right now at https://www.producelikeaboss.com/watchnow 

I hope you enjoyed this blog and that it brought you inspiration. 

Till next time, see ya!