In order for one to be a successful musician, there is a huge need for right positioning in the music industry, as there are ongoing changes which are occurring. Anyone who is not acquainted with the latest trend could be left in the dark, and it is very difficult to achieve success in this state.

For you to be a successful musician, the following steps should advisably be followed:

• Connecting with fans: It is necessary for an upcoming musician to make conscious efforts in order to connect with fans, as it is pivotal to your success as a musician. There is a need for you to maintain and increase your fan base, and this can be achieved by connecting with your listeners. Try to make a good impression for each performance, and with time, you would observe that the audience would always want to see you exhibit.

• Play in line with your strength: It is essential that you know what your strengths are as a musician. It is one thing to write a good song with great lyrics, and it is another thing for your fan base to love the song. Now, you should bear in mind that the reason why you have a fan-base, is because these set of people love the format of your song. Hence, you should strive to ensure that your songs are tailored in that light; in your strength.

• Brand publicity: You need to make efforts to ensure that your brand is well-known. You could start off with some really cool graphics, and ensure that everyone around you has it. If you are someone whose forte is not publicity, then it would be advisable for you to hire a promoter, who would assist you in ensuring that your brand is popular.

• Do not wait for a record label: This is one mistake which upcoming musicians tend to make. They are usually of the opinion that the availability of a record label would help them to boost their profile. However, it would be more beneficial if you do the hard work yourself. A good number of musicians who belong to record labels, hardly release their own music, and even if they do, the profit realized from it, would be shared, thereby reducing your cut.

Music celebrity may initially seem like a fun circus, but ultimately, it proves to be a dizzying, nauseating ride. Most people only see the glitter and glow of the music industry: the fame, the “rock star” persona, the party lifestyle and the fan base. What they do not see is how fickle the industry is, how it will promise you success and glory beyond your wildest dreams, but in actuality, what it does is chew you up and spit you out.

Celebrity status as a musician is a very fickle, short lived thing. When it arrives, it feels like it will last forever. Celebrity musicians take their money and blow it on an extravagant existence that always features them in the lime light. They attend parties and bask in the glow of their success. The problem is, if you do not keep reinventing yourself as a musician and offering your audience new reasons to love you, they will fall away, taking your industry success and glory with them.

The substance abuse that celebrity musicians often engage in is another element of musical fame that may seem fun at first but ends with dire consequences. Music celebrities are constantly being offered drugs and alcohol as a reward for their success. Entertainment industry people and party people alike bring it to them consistently, and many people fall into the habit of using and drinking on a regular basis. As their addiction and substance abuse problems take over their careers, they are left ragged and used up, only to find that the party has moved on without them. Frequently, a musician’s drug and alcohol problem result in deteriorated health or even death.

The sex opportunities that are thrown at celebrities are also something they are known to fall head over heels for. Everyone knows that music celebrities are often sexual icons. Many of them are also aware of this and use it to their advantage, hooking up with every piece of tail that comes their way. What they do not account for is that their every move is being followed by the paparazzi who are eager to report their affairs. Sleeping around will quickly damage a musician’s reputation.

When we observe a musician who used to be famous but used their fame toward debauchery instead of developing their talent, we find this very sad. Sad that talent was wasted and sad that a person was so mislead in their priorities. If they managed to continue writing good music through their debauchery, that is one thing, but if they rose to fame only to exploit it and live a life of excess instead of advance their careers, that is a disappointment. The iconic washed up musician is a sad prospect to us, yet there are so many of them. They can be identified by their lechery, their addictive tendencies and substance abuse, and their tendency to milk their celebrity.

Lechery is a word more commonly applied to men, but it can be applied to women as well. A lecher is one who displays excessive, offensive sexual advances. Music celebrities tend to do a lot of this because they know their celebrity status commands sex appeal. When it becomes creepy is when celebrity musicians abuse their powers and overly sexualize themselves and others. Even people who used to be loyal fans of theirs will take notice of this behavior and will think less of them.

Another common trait of former music celebrities is addiction and substance abuse. This is perhaps their most well known calling card. So many musicians go down this road to their own detriment. They achieve fame and embrace the party lifestyle, accepting drugs and alcohol from everyone who offers them. They abandon their former devotion to their craft in order to be wasted full time. Not only does this jeopardize their health and safety, but it also loses them a great deal of respect among their fan base.

In general, when former celebrity musicians ride out their celebrity for its perks instead of respecting their careers and musicianship, it is very disappointing. So many musicians who have shown great promise quit working hard at their first taste of fame in order to revel in their fame. Imagine the great musical works of art that could have been created if these musicians were not distracted by the glitter of celebrity.

When a celebrity musician ignores warning signs, pleas from friends and family and their own better judgment to end their substance abuse and addiction by whatever means necessary, it is consistently to their own demise. Addiction and substance abuse are paths frequented by celebrity musicians, and the extreme cases are not pretty. Highly talented artists who were well-respected for their musical abilities have been lost to addiction and substance abuse, either professionally or mortally. Some are simply brazen about their substance abuse or addiction while others badly want to quit but do not know how. Either way, doing nothing to reverse the unhealthy lifestyle often ends in professional ruin or death.

The tragic cases are the hardest ones to swallow. When a celebrity musician is addicted to something like alcohol that is seldom the cause of immediate death, it frequently ends in the ruin of their career. A drinking problem never helped anyone succeed at anything, and the music industry is no exception. Judy Garland is an example of a career that declined drastically due to alcohol abuse. Many of her later career appearances exhibited clear signs of her alcoholism. Garland, as well as artists such as Amy Winehouse, Billie Holiday and many more lost their lives to drug overdoses or alcoholism, leaving their loved ones and fans to mourn them.

On a more hopeful note, other celebrity musicians who struggle with addiction or substance abuse make a full recovery. Musicians such as Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Johnny Mathis are both in their seventies, and live to tell about their personal recoveries from extreme substance abuse. For some musicians, the respect for their craft is enough to bring them back to sobriety. Others wisely seek addiction and substance abuse treatment to restore the quality of their lives and their music. This goes to show that it is never too late to regain your life, even when you are a celebrity musician receiving addictive offers as part of the job.

I will never forget my mother telling me about the time she saw her musical idol in concert, and he was so drunk that he nearly fell off the stage. She was heart broken and moved away from his music after that incident. It is not an accident that addiction and substance abuse are particular to the culture of music celebrity. In fact, some research has shown that people who tend toward creative endeavors are naturally more inclined toward substance abuse and addiction.

The story is all too familiar. A young musician starts out penniless and passionate, requiring nothing but their instrument and some performance space to get by. For them, it is about nothing but creating and performing music to the best of their ability. Most musicians are particularly focused when they are working to begin their careers.

When their hard work and dedication is received with praise and fan-ship, a musician has fulfilled their primary purpose in life. Their craft has been honored and their talent validated. Having made it to a celebrity status in their career, they feel that they are on top of the world.

However, the lifestyle of celebrity is quickly revealed to come with trials and temptations. The stress of having no privacy deeply affects the lives of many celebrities. To cope, an overwhelming availability of drugs and alcohol are made available to them, as well as other addictive substances and activities. Musicians and other artists are commonly sensitive, feeling personalities who seek life to the fullest end, and are naturally inclined toward experimentation. Thus, the indulgence in addictive substances and activities begins.

The experimental nature of an artist can quickly work against them when dealing with addictive substances and activities. The desire to go further into the high or mood alteration that an artist craves leads them into a habit that cannot be controlled, and the musician’s addiction begins. Their illustrious musical career becomes tarnished as performances diminish and creative ability decreases. Their following begins to notice changes in their appearance and behaviors, and it is only a matter of time before their problem is exploited in the media.

Some musicians recover from addiction and substance abuse, usually by returning to their musical drive, while others are defeated by it, losing their careers and even their lives. It is a tragedy when lives and talent are destroyed by addiction and substance abuse, and musicians should know that help is available to them if they are seeking a way out of addiction or substance abuse. Musicians struggling with addiction in Canada should seek treatment in substance abuse Vancouver, Edmonton or Toronto.