OK, I don't mean "paying your dues" as in you have to ride around in the back of stinky van playing shows for years on end before you're ready for the big time - I mean it in a more literal sense, as in paying for music career. Most people who work in the music industry in any capacity are seldom short on ideas, but they are short on the cash to pull them off. Unless you have deep, major label style pockets, working in music is usually more a labor of love than a labor of getting rich quickly (or slowly, for that matter).

That doesn't mean you have to push aside that notebook of ideas, dust off your nice clothes and start looking for a "real" job. There are ways to fund your music career and keep the dream alive. They're not easy, and they require a lot of hard work and patience on your part, but it can be done. Check out this guide to the basics of what you need to be thinking about when it's time to start looking for the cash to get your music career off the ground, and keep coming back over the next few weeks to dive more deeply into the subject of money for music.

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