Don't Move To Nashville (or LA, NY, London, etc.) 

I was 21 and unencumbered when I moved from Indianapolis to Los Angeles (1983). Would've been far more difficult if I had a family. I was already pretty established in Indy, but wanted to work on a much bigger scale. I showed up with crap for gear, some skills and a dream to be the next Steve Lukather or Tommy Tedesco. Didn''t really happen like I imagined but I did end up with a career here. It's a very diverse patchwork of genres and mediums but I love that no two days are alike.

As a person who moved to Nashville for music and to go to college, this was cool! You're exactly right, a lot of people have a story arc where they get onto the first big music project/endeavor and then get disheartened when it falls through. Being in a place like this, building a career in music, and finding "success" is a lot less complicated than people think, though. I always say if you don't give up, you cannot fail. But target moves, too! When people first arrive, they just want to "make it" and have pretty little direction other than that. That target gradually widdles down and moves to "I just want to make a living in music" and even that isn't very specific. But if you understand that the music "industry" is huge and that there is space for everyone, you will look more creatively at options. Next thing you know, you end up in a side quest about film scoring that brings all the way to music licensing and production music. It's a moving target, but it's not like having a career in music is some unicorn. It's an every day thing! There are a lot of people who do it in some capacity every day. It's an attainable goal, whether or not you're in a big music city!

From the UK perspective, I don't think you need to move the big cities to be in the music industry, but if you do move (even for a small amount of time) it accelerates your career progression, growth, and wage. That's certainly the case in my experience and friends who are also in the industry.

You left out Mississippi. A true hub of activity....if you like cows.

how much you make off mmusic??????????????????????

Bob Paterno?! No way! I was watching the video and was shocked when you mentioned him. We did a couple writing sessions about a month ago. He was/is such a nice guy and an extremely talented writer! Small world. ☺😅

I think with your editing skills, your channel would really blow up if you focused on very direct, tangible tidbits that the average musician/producer wants to know more about. Your videos on mixing have a ton of views, but your more vague story-telling type videos, while shot and narrated beautifully, don't really take off. Mixing/mastering/recording tips that are direct and catchy would really help you and us alike. And alotttt of people want more understanding of how royalties/income streams/career paths work, in a detailed way. I saw your video "make money writing non-trendy music", and was expecting a walk-through about how sync licenses work, where to shop for brands who are looking to hire musicians for sync, getting your royalties paperwork setup for things like youtube's content ID, etc., but instead just found a video talking about how your friend's song serves a non-trendy purpose. We'd love to hear about the actual 'how' on how to make money, just like the 'how' on how to mix better. Cheers, love your cinematographic approach to content.

Before you go back to Nashville, you still owe me another visit in NYC.

Oh, Ross King, you say!? Well, Praise the Lord!

I came to Nashville in 1987 to go to Belmont College and thought I was going in to the music business. Ended up going to law school. I still live in the area, and there is a lot to love about Nashville- but trying to make it in the music biz is not one of them.

With the housing costs so much higher and the way we're connected online, it's very different to when I was in my 20s. Moving to a big city really was the only option back then.

Ive heard our brains cannot handle how something will work in the future but we spend so much time on exactly that. Yes, plan, some or alot, but I cant know whats going to happen. Im sharing that because what has, good or bad, put a hold on moving, is the higher costs of living. I cant just go like I could have years ago with costs being lower. But, I still cant predict anything, so I have to take the time and go to music scenes to check them out. The other mental junk with this for me is about expectations. I pay big money to live someplace and then I start thinking about outcomes, like my ability to play needs to increase, quality needs to do the same, and an overall self imposed pressue to do because I need to justify the price. Nothing wrong I guess if that pushes you to be / do more, but now Im aware of how that stress feels and not a fan. Lots to consider, moreso, what is it that works best for me and what direction is worth whatever resources I have to put it, like my time, money and sweat, tars, etc. Great video!

I'm in Nashville and trying to get out!

Very intimate indeed, but you are an amazing teacher already, it just needs to be enough because it is enough job already

cool vid, Jon. Damn, that guitar sounds good, doesn't it? Just slide right into it and the "sound" is there.

Dude-a great video. Your answers are good even for a different question I’ve had: should I continue to work on a body of content even if it’s not going to be attached to millions of views? I like the part of your answer, “[Your] work speaks for itself: the people who want to listen to it will listen to it.” It’s a good encouragement when things seem less likely to go in the direction of “stars aligning”. Would love to hear more about the machine and it’s gatekeepers. That sucker seems impenetrable and each genre seems to have a very small set of approved writers and no more. I’m looking even at worship music-a genre that shouldn’t have that gatekeeping on it from a moral perspective but definitely does. If you’re not one of 10 writers-it’s like you’re nobody. That’s something maybe social media can and will change.

Obolig!! Great that you guys got to meet up.

I almost moved to Nashville in 1998, eventually decided on LA (from Milwaukee). Got advice that changed my trajectory from none other than Brown Bannister, who told me when I was visiting (and doing live production for) the GMAs way back when... he said "if you move to Nashville after you've built something outside of here, you'll be in a MUCH better place than just coming here looking for a gig." Having that body of work you speak of is critical. Great advice from you (again, no surprise) regarding putting in the work before you look for your so-called big break... whether it's a move to a music mecca or hounding those inside "the machine" to give you a shot.

Good video and love the slide sound! I would say in 25 years of being a musician (often financially struggling) I had about 4 major fields where the answer is YES to sort of NO, or less important. #1 Teaching: enough potential clients in a reachable area, could be a large city to a small town, more depending on the competition already around. #2 Performance & Touring: Beside other stuff I became the guitarist of a band in Germany that went multi platinum, won all awards there and we had headline tours and media exposure. All of that on a pretty much national level, Germany is a small country but large enough population where sales can be significant enough to run a biz of that for a while. All of that wasn't so much based on a specific city, even though yes we had to be close enough around to attend rehearsals, sometimes sessions, but most of production was already done remote. But an example where being in a national market mattered and what you said later, it run successful for a while and then stopped because the sound wasn't trendy anymore. #3 Production Music, demo songs, content design: Started doing that 15 years ago still being in Germany and location did NOT matter at all. Having international placements now, also in the U.S. to where I eventually immigrated, which BTW I wouldn't have been able to if not have had the success of #2 because getting a work visa or luckily in my case a Greencard to the U.S. is so damn HARD! Which is a topic itself for international folks because it will impact the struggle moving to foreign hubs so much more. Hint, you cant have a day job to support yourself on a work visa in the U.S.. Which lastly brings me to #4 Film Scoring/ Los Angeles: Absolut YES!! If you want to establish yourself in the LA market and work on LA studio productions, assisting for other composers, then you have to be in LA! I have talked to various established guys here and the IN PERSON connection is still so important, social media did not replace that. YES, there might always be those 2%ers that won Oscars outside of it, German composer Volker Bertelmann just did so this year, but to have a realistic chance you have to be HERE in LA. Not all the time but extended amounts of it. Good luck! 😊

Thank you for this content Jon, I for one needed it.

stages of success. 1. "who's jon meyer?" 2. "get me jon meyer" 3. "get me a young jon meyer." 4."who's jon meyer?" great video, as always. thank you!

Ok I won't 🫡

Jon, I always love your videos. It is always great seeing you at the Production Music Conference each year. I’m not gonna be able to attend this year. I hate it but I have so much going on and can’t fit it in. I will be there virtually though. Seeya next year for sure!!!

The most important thing to realize is that while some are better than you... you are the only one with your unique talent set and way of creating music. Focusing on your strengths, while realizing and admitting your weaknesses, is a much better approach. Owning your uniqueness is the best approach overall. Better to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond than getting lost in a BIG pond filled with a LOT of fish! Yet, it all depends on your priorities as well... if family is a major priority for you, career will take over that in a larger pond! Stay true to yourself and your values and enjoy the ride. I once lived in Nashville and worked for Reba as technical director of Starstruck Studios. Were it not for a divorce, I may still be there, but am glad that I'm not because of who I've become outside of that career path. Sometimes life throws you curveballs that you need to respond to in ways that take you where you never imagined you'd go. Great video, Jon!!

Came here in 2008. Had other careers but wanted to be a great songwriter. So many songwriting venues back then. Heard a lot of great songwriters; some thrilling nights. Also heard a lot of not so great out of tune, pretty terrible stuff. As for my songwriting career; couple moments. Many changes in the city in music since then < everything cha cha changes. Jon, love your videos. Pretty good advice.

Great video! Also give open G tuning a whirl. 🤩✨️🎶

I moved from Australia to Los Angeles for my music career. The interesting thing about LA is that everyone that has moved there for career growth knows what failure is. It's the shared experience of the city. Everyone has learned they have to level up to succeed. Someone once described LA as being full of people who were too good for their hometown. Kind of true.

Always look forward to you videos. If not for the content, then surely for the style. Good stuff.

Even being in a place with some stuff going on, it's still hard to get up and go, when so much of your energy seems to have got up and gone.

Sage advice.

Id move to Nashville in a heartbeat. Fantastic town!