Why Being a Music Artist in Your 30s or 40s Is Now an Advantage

So why is it that music artists in their 30s, 40s, and beyond just gained an insane advantage over the entire music industry? A shift is happening right now that will position these music artists to potentially gain millions of fans, which in turn can alter the trajectory of their careers entirely. I've worked directly with some of the biggest music artists in the world, ranging from all ages. And while many people think music is a young person's game, from what I see with the current changes, it's you, the artists in their 30s, 40s, and beyond who are at a crazy advantage. But with that advantage, there's one key component that you'll need to understand to reach peak success, which I'll explain later in the video.

So, in this video, I'm going to lay out your exact key advantage and advantages if you happen to fall into this age range. And I'll also explain what the shift is now that gives you a new position. But before we dive into your advantages, let's look at a few facts. Christian Dior didn't start Dior until he was 41. Ridley Scott didn't make Alien, his breakout film, until he was 40. Mark Rothko is in his late 40s when he created his iconic colorfield paintings. George R.R. Martin didn't start writing Game of Thrones until he was 44. Electronic music artist Solomun had his breakout in his late 30s and then continued to ascend through his 40s. And then the late great Virgil Abloh was in his late 30s and early 40s when things really started to connect and take off.

So what all these artists have in common? They found something that connected with the masses in their 30s and 40s. It doesn't mean that they weren't giving their craft effort before, but they found something in this era of life that connected with others. Some of the most successful clients that I work with are artists building music brands in their 30s, 40s, and beyond. They spent their youth living life, but also honing their craft and walking the road of trial and error. Then a shift happens. A new level of focus. A new gear is found. And the clients that I have that are cooking right now are nowhere near a fall-off point. They continue to get better and they continued to ascend.

Now, I have heard many clients through the years talk about how they felt like a clock was chasing them. They felt like time was closing in and the opportunity to do this was fading. You relate to this feeling at all? See if any of this tracks. Sometimes you feel like if you don't do this now, you may not have another shot. You feel late to some of the new games that have been started when it comes to content marketing. Things seem to be changing so quickly away from what you know, and the rules feel different every year. And overall, you feel torn around being practical or realistic, but you still love making music. And that love is deep.

Now, some or all of these may be things that you feel, but here's the thing. If you look at the amount of music that's uploaded every day, around 100,000 songs, the amount of stuff to listen to is well beyond being oversaturated. So, when there's that much noise, how do fans even find new music and new artists they love? How could a music artist stand out in order for them to find them? The best news here is that we find ourselves in a unique moment in history where the story of your brand is just as important, if not more important, than the music. And for some people, they may not love that. But the way that I'm looking at music projects now is I'm looking at it as a movie or ongoing show that the audience is watching. There's the artist story, which is the movie, and then the music, which is the soundtrack. And both are important, but the movie portion is more important than ever. People in today's world are craving real connections and real human expressions of art, real stories, and unique, interesting brands. There's an expectation of quality now because of the amount of stuff. But something that feels real and that a fan identifies with is where a bond is formed. And because of the reasons that I'm about to get into, you have an insane advantage to create that bond with your music and story with people all over the world. Because of the amount of life that you've lived. You're already holding things that you may not even know you have and those things are giving you a serious advantage.

So, who am I to even talk about this? My name is Chris Alba and over the last 12 years, I've owned a creative agency called The Cult Creatives and I've been a creative director and art director for some of the biggest names in music and I've helped grow many multi-million dollar brands in the artist world. I've worked on all sides of the industry from creative direction to design to music videos and production, brand identity, styling. I've been a producer and a touring artist myself and I've also been on the talent buying side booking concerts and shows for 15 years. I've been blessed to be on the front lines and see how great brands are put together and what actually connects with audiences and grows a music brand. And there are definitely patterns that I've seen through the years and I talk about them and how to find these elements for your own brand on this channel. So for those interested, you can check out other videos. But I am finding more and more that the artists that I'm working with or the artists that I'm friends with that are in their 30s and 40s and beyond are just crushing it almost like it's a millennial renaissance because they have advantages that the other age groups don't have. If you're in this age group, you are in a better position than ever to continue to grow at an expedited rate.

So now let's get into the advantages and towards the end of the video I'll give some exact tactics and methods on how you can directly apply these advantages to help grow your own brand. But for now, let's get to it.

Advantage number one, you have a real story to tell. The game changed. The rules have completely flipped. People want the story now, not just the music. I can tell you that this is true, and I'm seeing it every day. And it's not just in music. One of the highest paying jobs you can get now at some of these bigger companies is literally called storyteller. It's often a multiple six-figure job. Why is this such a sought-after position? Because these companies who spend millions of dollars to find out what's working with people and what's working with consumers see that it's all about storytelling. They've seen through data and market research that in a world of oversaturation, a good story is the way to stand out. The same goes for music and the biggest brands on the planet are master storytellers and they're as good at this as being creators of music.

But if this is true, how does that work for you? Where's the advantage? Well, because real stories are formed from real experiences. The best movies or shows in the world, whether they're real or fictional, play off of real human experiences and real human emotions. When writers are creating the scripts for these movies or shows, they're referencing real human life moments to help tie the plot together. The more real these moments feel, the more locked in the audience is on the story. So, because you've lived more life, you have more experiences to reference. Those experiences give you a story, so you have more of a story to tell. The chapters in your book are longer and the story goes deeper. And although you've been with yourself all these years and maybe you think your point of view, taste, or story is not that unique, it is because no one has lived the life that you've lived or seen the things that you've seen. And the stuff that stuck out to you along the way and deeply impacted you or inspired you is often what you make your music about. So the same should go for story. And that's what the audience wants in the artist that they love. They want to experience the music and the story. And when it comes to music branding, a good story often gets conveyed subconsciously. The brand as a whole conveys what you're trying to express to them. That's why so much of the stuff that I have on this channel is about finding and organizing your story so you can properly convey it to an audience. So just by continuing to build your music project today, you're starting ahead because of the wealth of experiences that you hold. And these experiences can't be bought or learned on YouTube. They're yours.

Advantage number two, you know yourself better. So, we're continually finding ourselves and figuring things out. But now, where you find yourself in life, you know more and are more clear around who you are. It feels less like searching and more like the clay is starting to harden. It's more clear now who you are and who you're not. At this stage in your life, you know very clearly that there's going to be some people that like you and some people that don't. And that's okay. You're not chasing the approval of others maybe like you did when you were younger. Now you hopefully more chase the approval from yourself. For me personally, as I matured, I started thinking less and less about what other people thought. What I think about more now is I think about two versions of myself. I want to make sure that 90-year-old me won't have any regrets, and I want to make sure 12-year-old me would be proud. It helps inform almost every decision that I make now. It's why you're even watching a video of me talking about this topic. You have such a better opportunity to make great art and tell great stories if you aren't trying to please everyone and you're cool with yourself because you know yourself better now. You can better express who you are and expressing who you are and what you like and your humanity. This is what connects with other people at the deepest level. Art is all about connection. If you feel excited about it when you're making it or coming up with the idea, they might too. Now more than ever, people are craving real human connection. And art of all mediums does that. And because you know yourself more, it affects how the art gets made. Art is just expression through a series of choices. That's all any piece of art is. And those choices become easier when you have filtering systems to make those choices. And your filtering system for making those choices becomes more honed the more experiences you have. So because you have 30 or 40 years plus of making decisions in life, you can make those decisions much faster than people who are still figuring it out. It doesn't mean that you don't experiment or try new things. Your brain just works out the choices faster and it has methods to do so. And another powerful part of knowing yourself more is you're now better at self-editing. You notice patterns in life regarding yourself, both good and bad, and you make adjustments around the kind of person that you are. For example, for me, I work best when I give myself tighter deadlines on things, like writing the script on the video that you're watching right now. I gave myself a matter of hours to complete it versus doing it over a matter of days and editing and refining a bunch. I outline my thoughts. I organize the flow and then I get to what I'm trying to say. So, for me, if I give myself more time, I'll use that time. But I'm personally at my best when I'm not overthinking it and I'm going on instinct. And when I'm going on instinct, to me, the work seems to be better. And the only reason that I have the instincts to work faster is because of life experience. Now, I more than realize that not everyone's like this, but I've lived enough life to know this is what gets the best out of me. Another example, when I produced music in my 20s, if they gave me 6 months to work on an EP, I would take all 6 months to do it, and I would overthink and analyze and rework and rework over and over until it was time to turn it in. But then looking retrospectively, some of my best stuff came from when I had a deadline and I only had a few days to make something. I had to make it fast because it was due. Come up with the idea, flesh it out, mix it, turn it in. There's not enough time to overthink. So, because I've lived life and I've noticed where I felt my best stuff came from, I then adjusted how I worked on all things creative. I built new systems for just me and those systems are now a part of how I self-edit and how I make things.

Advantage number three, your why is different. Now, one of the first things I do with clients when we begin working together is we talk about their mission and their goals. What are they trying to do with the music and why are they trying to do it? Having now done this for 12 years and asking hundreds and hundreds of artists about their mission, their why, their values, you notice patterns. And if you ask a teenager why they want to grow and exist as a music artist, their answer may be different than someone who's in their 30s or 40s. I find the missions and the whys between the two are extremely different. It's not better or worse, it's just different. Your why and why you do something and the story you have with yourself is one of the most powerful self-motivators there is. For example, say you had a goal of legally making a million dollars and the why was because you wanted to be rich and own cool stuff versus what if the person that you loved most in the world was in life-threatening danger and the only way to get them out of danger was to legally make a million dollars. Same exact outcome, different why. The story of the why unlocks a different kind of motivation, intelligence, and searching. Making a million dollars seems tough if you haven't done it, but if you had to and the why was strong enough, you could. Let's look at a different example. Instead of gaining money, let's do weight loss. Tony Robbins has this funny example that he uses where he says, "If you want to lose a certain amount of weight by a certain time, take a picture of yourself with your current weight completely nude. Print that photo and then put it in a sealed envelope and give it to a close friend. Tell that friend that if you don't lose the weight by a certain date to post the photo online, you'll lose the weight." Same challenge, new why.

So, because you're in this new era of life now, the why for why you're a music artist is different. You've also been playing the game longer, so you realize it's a marathon and not a sprint, and you spend less time looking for a breakout moment, and more time focused on long-term world building. Your why goals are often bigger now than they were when you were younger, and you know the work it takes to bring them to life. So, while everyone else plays the games of quick success, viral moments, new trends, you know how to focus to be aligned to larger long game goals.

Advantage number four, your taste is more honed. Put simply, you know what you like now. You have history, so you can see what you keep coming back to. These are the things that you're nostalgic for, and this should inform your art. I have an exercise that I'll do with some clients where I have them write down a list of their favorite things. Favorite movies, albums, songs, designs, things that burned into their memory and impacted their life in a deep way, things they love and things that they come back to. Then I have them make a list of new things that they've seen or heard recently that inspire them. These lists and the combination of items on them can be a great place to form new ideas. You can mix and match and see what interesting combinations you get. It's encouraging the artist to take the new things that they're inspired by and merge them with the things of the past that they love or that they miss. These lists are part of what makes your taste. And again, taste comes from experience. The more things that you've seen and experienced, the bigger your arsenal of references becomes. You can't buy those references. You can't ask ChatGPT about those references. You have to live it. And another part of living it is also seeing the cycles of things and how they move. The longer you live, the more you realize it's all cycles. It's not just a bubble you're currently in. You see how history repeats itself and how the pendulum swings back and forth. My dad had this thing that he told me about when I was young. We were talking about fashion and how it all works. He goes, "There's a lot of nuance, but at a high level, it's just fat tie, skinny tie." I had never heard that term before. So, I said, "What's fat tie, skinny tie?" And he said, "Son, look at the American working man's tie. In the '50s, it was a fat tie. In the '60s it was a skinny tie, '70s fat tie, '80s skinny tie, '90s fat tie." And then he said, "Why do you think that is?" I said, "I don't know, Dad." He used more foul language than this, but he said, "People have to sell ties." And how the forward companies and trendsetters sell ties is that they do the opposite of what's currently popular and then they tell the next generation, "This is the way to do it." Your dad wears the fat tie, skinny tie is where it's at. Every generation wants to be different than the generation before. They want their own style and in order to define it, it's usually the opposite of what came before. So, because you've been around, you've seen these cycles and it helps you stay on path and stay aligned to what you're trying to do with your music and your story. You don't chase trends maybe the way you did when you were younger. Your taste is different now. The arsenal of references you have as well as a larger perspective on what's cool. And music is just another art medium just like film. A medium that relies on life experience, learning, and taste. Do you think that great filmmakers get worse as they get older? Not normally. It's not sports, it's art. Christopher Nolan isn't unlearning everything he's learned on previous films. He's only getting better because you can't buy taste. You live it and you earn it.

Advantage number five, you manage time differently now. Generally, how you worked and prioritized time when you were younger is much different than it is today. You value time now more than you did then. You're not perfect, but you've gotten much better at prioritizing and executing. Once you know what you're doing, doing it just becomes another set of tasks. There's less burnout and you're okay if things take a bit longer as long as they're good and they're done right. You likely have built systems for getting things done. You may still have a few bad habits, but you've also built some great ones. Habits that help you achieve at a higher level. And these habits paired with knowing what to do has made you better overall at following through. You're much more consistent now because consistency beats hunger every time and hard work beats talent when talent stops working. So in an ocean of talented artists, but who are inconsistent, you have an incredible advantage just by showing up and getting things done. And you've also likely gotten more strategic because time is so precious now. You learn how to manage getting things done and you spend time strategizing around what's top priority and what isn't. You look more at results these days than you do at productivity. You care less about being busy for busy sake. You're asking yourself what's actually getting done and how are you stacking the bricks on this giant wall day after day. Your brain sees things and it thinks differently now. You're managing your time for long game thinking. So, just know when you're showing up to work ready to build things, you're seeing that work through a much different lens than many other artists out there.

Advantage number six, your fan base may be older, but this is a good thing. In this new artist economy, you don't need to be a household name to be a millionaire music artist. You just need a real community who likes your stuff and will support it with their dollars and their time. It's all about being really connected with your people. I have some friends who have a great band and their audience, it isn't huge. It's maybe 20 or 30,000 followers all-in, but the average spend of one of their fans is $300 annually. Those metrics are insane. Their fans being a bit older have more disposable income to spend on the things that they love and support. Each of the band members have a few other creative things that they do to drive in revenue into their own lives. But their band alone is an 8-figure business. And the guys in the band live a very comfortable life and have invested their money well. Another great thing about an older fan base is like you, their taste has been honed and they know more about what they like and what they don't. So if they love your brand, they're likely going to stick around. Often a younger audience can be more fickle and if the hits stop coming, they can fall out. Building a bond with a fan is just like any other relationship. You come into their orbit, you bring something positive into their life. They enjoy what you provide, so they continue the relationship. But an older fan base will hold this relationship in a different way than a younger fan base. Similar to adult relationships, once a true bond is formed, it can stick for longer.

Advantage number seven, you have actual stakes now. So, this is maybe one of the greatest advantages of all because it's actual fuel. When something costs you your own time, family time, money, or comfort, which is always there for you, you stop making disposable work. You love the craft, but you make it count when you do it. There's a greater drive now when you do have the opportunity to create. And in my opinion, those stakes are a great thing. You know, it really matters. And to you, the result matters. And not the result that's going to come from others, but the reason that you do it. Let me say that again. Not the results from others, meaning do people like it? How did it engage? Or how did it perform numbers-wise, but the reason. The reason changes the game. And because the setup is different, it means that you're playing a different game than most. And if you're playing a different game than most, because you have these stakes now, you have an advantage.

Now, with all these advantages, how can you use them? What are practical ways you can apply these to the things that you're building? So, the main key takeaway from everything that you've heard today is this. While you have the advantages of story, taste, dedication, stakes, experiences, etc., you have to commit to the skill of getting better at the communication side of getting your music, story, and your brand out to people. I prefer the word communication, but the term most people use is content. People our age have different feelings towards content, but most artists I know don't love it. It generally strikes a negative chord with them, and I completely understand why. How content is traditionally framed is not why music artists got into making music. They got into it for the making of the music, sharing of the music, performing the music. And while that's the reason that they got in and likely the reason you got in, communicating your brand via content in the modern world is the key to unlocking it all, it's how you can use every advantage that I talked about today. And it is 100% the difference between a local artist and one that can sell at a stadium. And so, you know, content isn't just about posting to social media. It's all of it. It's the whole thing, including the music. It's communicating your story in different places. And a simple way to look at it is all these different platforms are just languages. So if we use the metaphor of languages, once you understand a language and a language system, you can then speak in that language and better communicate your story. But that's where so many artists in our age range get stuck. They don't want to learn a new language. They just want to do things how they know how. Their appetite to feel uncomfortable or do something out of their comfort zone fades as they age. And think about this. The only reason that you know who I am or even listening to the message that I have now is because I committed to understanding new forms of content so I could communicate. I had never done YouTube before this and I knew very little about YouTubers, but I committed to understanding the world and the language of it so I could convey this kind of information to people who found value in it. It's more of a shift in mindset than it is the skill itself.

Now, that's the main takeaway, but what are other practical tactics that you can directly use your advantages for? There's a lot, but here are some high-level ones.

Number one, hone in more on the story that you have to tell. Take the time to sit and really flesh this out. We have a bunch of videos on the Neighbor Art Supply channel that go more in the weeds of fleshing this out, but there's no one on the planet who's lived the life that you've lived and had the experiences that you've had. Those experiences give you your story. You use those for your art. It's all about figuring out which ones, what movie are you going to show the audience this time. And as always, if you need help or you want to collaborate with us in this realm, you know where we are. All things The Cult Creatives, thecultcreatives.com.

Number two, section out moments to spend more time with yourself, not working, not consuming, and not interacting with others. Spend time with the roommate that lives inside your mind. As I said before, knowing yourself more deeply becomes a superpower in art. You already have the advantage, but nurture the relationship you have getting to know yourself.

Number three, create some form of vision board around your mission. Look at it every day if possible. This keeps you aligned to what the mission is. And when you're thinking about this, try and create a vision and a mission that has more to do with adding value to yourself in the world versus gaining attention that's controlled by other people.

Number four, take idea vacations. If your taste is everything and that's your advantage, what are you doing to fill up that reference cup? Block time to travel and get inspired. Even if you just drive somewhere new, experience new things. Get out of the studio, out of your comfort zone, and go see things. Download those experiences and add them to your taste.

Number five, create a time blocking system. If you haven't yet, create a system of time blocking to help prioritize your mission. Map your week, map your month, look at it, and ask yourself, does this align with my mission? Some things you need to do for survival or commitments, but the other parts of your time should be blocked for intentional things moving toward your mission.

Number six, have conversations with friends around the things that you love and they love. Could be movies, music, life experiences. Ask them about new things that they're into, but also ask them about things that they miss, things from the past. This can be a great place to mine inspiration and creative ideas. If they miss it and you miss it, it could be worth creating a new offering in that lane.

Number seven, have a journal session or sessions around your why. Why are you doing what you're doing? Where is the purpose? Where's the happiness? You may have already done this or you have a sense of it, but revisit. Make sure that you're still in alignment.

All these exercises deepen the advantages that you already have. How you show up is so different just because you've lived life. You've experienced things that other people haven't. And you're seeing the world in a different way now. And the world wants unique stories more than ever and that's your advantage.

So that's it. I hope this helps and even if there was the slightest bit of doubt around continuing to pursue this, I hopefully semi-quelled those voices of doubt. As I said at the top, we live in a time where there is more music being released every day than any other moment in history, but most of it isn't good. And even if it is, the story that's attached to it is likely not connecting. Because at the same time that we exist in this moment of oversaturation, we also live in a time where people are craving good storytelling. It's more important than it's ever been. And the world needs more real music artists dedicated to creating and making great work. And by no means is your age a disadvantage in this new world. You actually have a leg up in this arena and it's wide open for you. So go get it. I'll see you on the next one. Peace.