As an old fat guy, I get why it feels good to blame youth and fitness for my lack of musical success but the truth is, thin young people are not getting any record deals either! And I guess it can be satisfying to drag out that old saw about how their music is horrible and not excellent like mine! smile

My "wisdom" on this topic is simple and it boils down to a couple of rules,

1) you are NOT going to get a record deal
2) if you think you are going to get a record deal see #1

There are a few folks here who are making a living playing music and hats off to them! No offense but I suspect they are a dying breed serving a demographic that is also a dying breed.

That's not to say you cannot make money with music. If you have great music and work incredibly hard with shows and selling your stuff you may be able to make a meager living. And there are opportunities for writing for film and other uses but ya gotta know the competition there is incredibly fierce too! And of course, there is Shovel Selling where you sell the promise of helping others succeed in music either by teaching or selling equipment, etc. But mostly ya ain't gettin' rich and you are gonna work a whole lot harder than your standard minimum wage job!

So, what's a fat, old songwriter to do? Well, for me, it is keep my day job and do the music because I enjoy it. I write songs for me and a small group of friends and fans who enjoy my music.