Tip Six: Show Me The Money!

Ok, you finally made it! You have a number one hit on the charts and your record is selling left and right. Now you can go buy that mansion and throw a giant party, right? Wrong. The majority of mansions or expensive items you see in an artist's music video are nothing but props. It takes a lot of work to afford that kind of thing, and many experienced artists can tell you that it isn't that simple. Because of the way record production works, an artist will most likely not receive a single penny until after the recording costs, such as marketing, video production, and general promotion have been paid off. In addition, the money given to a person by the record company is just an allowance, which will also have to be paid off. If you truly desire the "finer things", don't let yourself go into debt by filming intricate videos when you first start off. Just get a friend to come film you for free at a show and then add a good quality audio sample. Pay off your debts before you go off buying a boat or something. You might also want to consider the fact that in order to afford the majority of the things you see in the videos, you won't ever be around to enjoy them since you will have to be on tour, working on new music, or coming up with other ways to make up the money for them. Another important thing to take into account is the difficulty that a lot of artists have with maintaining long distance relationships or having families unless they can bring them on the road, and it's not common for that to work easily. Decide what is truly important to you before you make any choices in the industry.