Embarking on a musical journey is a thrilling endeavor, but the path to success can be riddled with challenges. Most musicians, whether they are aspiring amateurs or professionals, will find themselves at crossroads, unsure of how to navigate the complexities of the music industry or without a personalized plan to tackle them.
In such moments, there’s no better person to have in your corner than a mentor.
A mentor is like a coordinator, or a coach, who works with you over time to learn your habits (the good and the bad) and pinpoint your blind spots, help motivate and inspire you to improve, and set goals for your career as well as identify the means to achieving those goals. In short, mentors help unlock one’s hidden potential; which is why they can be as helpful when you’re just starting out as when you’re working on your tenth album.
We’re not going to bury the lead here, so the TL;DR is this: A mentor or coach can help musicians of any kind at any level with the following essentials:
- Improvement and Growth
- Feedback
- Accountability
- Building a Plan
And guess what, on Groover you can find curators and pros ready to give you professional advice, feedback, and support opportunities too 👇
In this blog post, we’ll explore the myriad reasons why these things are so crucial, and why having a mentor could be the best thing you ever do for your music.
Let’s dive in!
1. Forward Momentum (Improvement and Growth)
We’re going to bet you don’t want things to stay exactly the same as they are now, forever. Is that accurate?
Forward momentum is crucial for any artist, whether that means learning a new instrument or improving at your current one, becoming more comfortable on stage, or expanding your ability to promote yourself and build a fanbase. The thing is, we often don’t know what it is that’s holding us back from improving (and it’s not always as simple as “practice makes perfect”).
In other words, we simply don’t know what we don’t know.
According to Dr. Noa Kageyama of Juilliard, navigating our subjective blind spots can be broken down into four stages:
- “The first stage is unconscious incompetence, where we are blind to the things we need to work on.
- The second stage is conscious incompetence, where we have an awareness and understanding of what it is that we need to work on.
- The third stage is conscious competence, where we have worked on developing the new skill, but it still takes a great deal of awareness and concentration to execute. The skill hasn’t yet been automatized.
- The last stage is unconscious competence, where the new skill has become second nature and is performed easily without needing to think about it.”
Kageyama goes on to explain that we’re pretty good at stages 3 and 4 on our own, and if we’re lucky we can move through stage 2, but stage 1 is nearly impossible without outside help. That’s where a teacher, tutor, or coach can really make a difference.
But in fact, a mentor can help with every single one of those stages. Because working with a mentor is a long term endeavor, they’ll be there with you at every milestone to teach you what you don’t know, advise you on your progress, motivate you to keep improving, and open new doors when things start to plateau.
2. Relevance Matters (Feedback)
Let’s talk about neuroscience!
Getting advice from YouTube is like sitting all the way in the back of the world’s biggest classroom. You may watch videos from self-proclaimed experts and think: “Okay that’s interesting, but does any of this really apply to me and my music?”
As it turns out, it probably doesn’t. The music industry is not a one-size-fits-all model for success, and herein lies one of the major benefits of working with a personal mentor or coach. Mentors can help reduce the noise around what everyone says you should be focusing on, to what’s actually relevant to you personally.
And this matters because educational studies have shown that when we can make a personal — or emotional — connection to subject matter, we internalize it and retain it for longer periods of time. It’s why reading the dictionary usually isn’t going to lead to you remembering lots of words, whereas reading something gripping and exciting probably will.
So what does this have to do with mentors?
A personal mentor will usually look at who you are as an artist, what you’re trying to say and the sound you’re beginning to develop, what you’re looking to accomplish, and what you have already accomplished (we’ve all accomplished something!); and then they’ll be able to build a customized plan to achieve what lies ahead. Your goals have to make sense to you personally, or they’ll lead you astray and you’ll never accomplish anything. Rather than take that on yourself, get help from someone who knows what they’re doing.
Every musician is unique, with individual strengths, weaknesses, and artistic visions. A mentor recognizes this individuality and tailors advice accordingly. Whether it’s refining your songwriting skills, honing your stage presence, or developing a distinctive musical identity, a mentor can provide personalized guidance that caters to your specific needs. This one-on-one attention can fast-track your growth as an artist, allowing you to bypass common pitfalls and reach your musical potential more efficiently.
3. Adopting an Internal Rewards Driven Mindset (Accountability)
Speaking of achieving your goals, here’s where accountability comes in.
Are you familiar with the analogy of the “Carrot and Stick” approach to learning?
A metaphor for the use of both incentivized reward and painful punishment, it comes from the notion that a horse cart driver would either coerce a reluctant horse by dangling a tasty carrot in front of its face, or whip it with a stick. The problem is, it doesn’t really work.
Studies have shown that when students are incentivized with rewards for performing a task, they end up losing interest in the task quicker than those who weren’t offered anything. But you’re probably no longer a student sitting in a classroom, so why should this matter?
Well, it turns out that even as musicians, we’re unfortunately pretty hard-wired to judge ourselves by external reward systems, and value things like, “likes,” hearts, and thumbs up on socials, or streaming and download numbers on a DSP for example. Sure, those are great for musicians building an audience, but these rewards are actually somewhat problematic when it comes to personal growth and confidence-building. These rewards affect our actions and our relative self-worth.
And while rewards can be powerful tools for holding ourselves accountable to our goals, how can we avoid falling into the trap of becoming attached to unpredictable, external factors? Guess what, a mentor can help!
Mentors work to implement internal rewards systems, tied to our personal goals, that you can hold your progress up against, which is a healthier and more sustainable motor for accountability (especially compared to the debunked “Carrot and Stick” model!).
4. The Right Type of Guidance (Building a Plan)
It’s like a labyrinth out there!
Because navigating the music industry’s intricacies and ever-changing dynamics can often be overwhelming and confusing, it helps to have a plan in place, based on something other than hopes and dreams.
From learning how to decipher contracts and royalty agreements to learning how to interpret data and analytics, a mentor’s experience can serve as a compass, guiding you through the complexities of the music business as you grow.
One reason mentors will be able to help you generate a plan of action for your career is because they not only have their own experience to draw from, but success stories and case studies from within their networks that they’ve witnessed and/or been a part of, which are only a phone call away.
One quick note about those networks…
A Caveat: Networking Opportunities
In the music industry, connections can often be just as important as talent. It can be extremely helpful to get your music heard by influential people, and a lot of success could end up coming from meaningful relationships in the industry.
Now, if your mentor is a seasoned professional they’re likely going to have some powerful connections they’ve made over the years. And in the best case scenario, that means you’ll eventually get access to those people, too.
But, hold your horses! In many cases, it might be inappropriate or stepping over the line to ask for an introduction, or a favor. Remember that their reputation is also on the line when they take action in the music scene, and many artists are guarded about which introductions they help facilitate. Not only that, but asking for an introduction could make your mentor feel used, and hurt the relationship you’ve worked so hard to build with them.
Make sure you play it safe when asking your mentor for a favor.
5. Where and How Do You Find a Mentor?
The easiest and first place you should be looking for objective feedback is within your own personal network.
Most musicians don’t even realize how valuable and extensive their circle of friends, family, and creative connections actually are, but if you take the first step and post an open call on your Instagram, Facebook, X, or LinkedIn, you’ll quickly see who’s willing to step up and help!
That said, while soliciting friends and cohorts for advice can definitely help in the short term, musicians should really be seeking to develop longer lasting relationships to be able to accurately assess growth and results. For this, there are a ton of ways to get actionable professional feedback from seasoned career level artists — why not start right here with Groover’s community of pros?
By uploading your music and starting a campaign on Groover, you can get access to curators and pros, and be sure that your music will be heard and that you’ll receive a response in less than 7 days.
Conclusion
In the pursuit of a musical career, having a mentor could indeed be the best thing you ever do for your music. From offering guidance through the complexities of the industry to providing personalized advice for your artistic growth, a mentor can be the catalyst that propels you toward success. The accelerated skill development, emotional support, and real-world insights gained through mentorship can be instrumental in shaping a fulfilling and impactful musical journey.
Whether you choose to take or disregard a mentor’s feedback is your own choice. In the end remember, you are the driver of your musical vision, your output, and your career — but having that feedback in the first place is really the most important part. So, consider seeking out a mentor — someone who not only understands the notes but also the nuances of your unique musical story.
—
Get in touch with curators and pros 👇