Today we’d like to introduce you to Kory Brunson.
Hi Kory, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Most music artists are struggling. Thousands. Most are very talented and are working hard, grinding away at the thing they love. The thing they are passionate about. Music. But very few are able to break into a full-time lucrative career, and there’s a big, haunting reason why. Artists only see (or are only shown) two extremes. Grinding in bars forever, or world wide fame. Because of that flawed perspective, most artists do not break into the career they really want. Making a high-level income, doing nothing but music, but still having plenty of time at home with their family. I’ve been a full-time musician supporting my stay at home wife and two boys for the last 20 years. The first few years of my career were absolute hell. I followed the typical Music Industry playbook that most artists are following right now. Play play play. Spend more on recordings. Release. Repeat. Work harder. Grind. My wife and I struggled through it and it was awful. And it was toxic for our marriage. Over the years, we finally figured it out, but we shouldn’t have had to. Unlike most professions, our industry has never had a viable path / template for artists to follow to teach them how to build the career they actually want. Even artists who graduate with 4 year Music Degrees (and $200,000 of debt) still don’t know how to make money as a Lead Singer/Performing Artist. So they suffer and struggle, and the crushing debt isn’t helping. Someone needs to change that. So, now that my children are raised, we have built an organization to change all of that. We find artists that are at that place, ready for change, teachable, and walk them through a step by step process to build the career they want, and the people in their lives want them to have. It doesn’t take luck, you don’t need a manager, you don’t need a record label (I’ve never had either one) but you DO need to move out of the bars, change your mindset and begin to approach your career differently. So… we originally started NADU which is now “Nashville Artist Institute” where I personally select and work with artists to create the full time lucrative career that they and their family can enjoy for life. This is not a development company, a label, or a management deal. We don’t do it for you. This is more of a “trade school” for Music Artists. But it works. We empower Artists to finally take control of their career, get a handle on their future, their art, their schedule and their income. I just got a text from one of our artists yesterday. He’s been in the program one year. He just had a new baby. And he also just had a fantastic meeting with a major Booking Agency that’s going to be paying him $4000-$6000 per show now, which means he will have plenty of money and most importantly, enough time with his new child. He expressed his appreciation for me and the program for getting him there. I find that to be extraordinarily satisfying and fulfilling. We can do this profession better. We are doing it. And I want to do that for every Artist out there. There’s no magic. It’s just finally approaching our profession in a way the benefits the Artist and not the bars or social media or Spotify.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As with anything, the road is sometimes rocky of course. By far the biggest obstacle we have is how deeply rooted the music industry script / playbook is engrained into the minds of artists. They’re told “THIS is the one and only way to ‘try’ to build your music career. You’ll probably fail. But this is how we’re all doing it. So be a good little worker bee and fall in line”. It’s unfortunate. Artists are burning up thousands of dollars and years of their lives on a system that was not built for their own happiness, artistic fulfillment, monetary gain and personal success. The system is built to keep them grinding, working, and used up until they’re gone and they replace them with the next one. 99% of the artists we talk to are making less than $20k/year on their career and working WAY too much. Those artists that are out there making 50 K to 70 K are working so much they never have any type of life or family life.. By far, our biggest struggle is helping artists understand that they need to (and absolutely can) break away from that system and (more importantly) that there is another path available to them that no one is telling them about. Most artists believe in a purely binary system. Going broke grinding away in bars for years, or “something happens”, they get discovered or go viral and all their dreams come true. And that binary system is so well ingrained into artist minds, it’s often impossible to get them to see it any differently. Even logically when they know the bar grind scene is killing them, and there’s probably no chance that they will become a superstar, they (and their fellow musicians / social circles) can become so entrenched in that mindset that getting them to change that mindset can be extremely challenging. As humans, we usually hold on to what we know. What’s comfortable. Playing more gigs, spending more on more recordings, and hoping “something” happens is what most artists know. So it’s what they often cling to.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In short, we work with artists to set them on a different path to give them a full-time career and plenty of time at home. This is a legitimate profession that requires training to do it full-time as a career. We provide that training. And we know it works because we see artists succeed, and it’s what I’ve done in my own personal life for the last 20 years. The music business is actually a fantastic business. Once you approach your career properly. I perform about 60-70 shows per year. I’ve made a consistent $100,000 income each year for the past 20 years. I’ve flown all over the world, including Costa Rica, Qatar, Xtapa Mexico, Cancun, etc.. Performed for the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, AMA Supercross. Shared the stage with Thomas Rhett, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chris Young, Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, etc.. And I’ve headlined my own shows for up to 60,000 people. It’s a great life. I’m not famous. I’m just..happy.
Now, I’m working with teachable, talented artists to help them have the same success, or hopefully better. We specialize in 3 areas:
1 – We teach you how you build an actual career, without a label/manager/going viral/etc.. Make good money, travel the world, make your music and spend time with family.
2 – “Success” needs to be re-defined (in every industry). Too many “successful”, famous artists are either miserable or dead. We don’t call that success. We can do better. “There’s no reason to become a successful artist and end up a miserable person” – Kory Brunson. Your mental, emotional, financial, relational, physical, marital and familial health ALL matter.
3 – You have a Support Team (Spouse/Parents) that love you and want you to follow your dreams. But they don’t know a thing about how to help you. So they need help, helping you. We reach out to them and help them understand the biz, what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, what the plan is, and how they can best support you. Artists shouldn’t shoulder the burden of trying to explain a business they are trying to understand themselves. This can cause massive relational strife and sometimes divorce or a broken parent/child relationship. So, we remove that burden from the artist so they can focus on their career, we can help the Support Team, and the relationship is much more protected.
What am I most proud of?
I’m proud of the artists we’ve helped so far. They worked hard and completed the program and now they have full time careers and the life they wanted. Perfect? Of course not. Work? Absolutely. But a massive level up from the destitute bar grind they were stuck in. I love that I had a role in that. I want to do more.
I’m also very proud of the impact my music has had. My song “We Know You’re Out There” has touched many military Gold Star Families over the years and in some small way has helped them through a horrific grieving process. I have also written and performed music that has been some measure of comfort for other families who have lost loved ones. I love how music can do that.
What I’m MOST proud of is that although I have been a full time Artist for 20+ years, I just celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary. And….I’m incredibly proud of the deeply rich relationship that I have with my two sons. They don’t resent my career for “taking their dad away” because I wasn’t away. They’re actually grateful that I was in music instead of a “real job”, because I was HOME most of the time to raise them and love them, and to be a Dad (best job in the world). They’ve even performed with me a few times now that they’re older (which is the real dream come true).
We celebrated our anniversary last week by going to Ireland on a family trip, all paid for by me being a performing artist. More importantly, we all went together, and relished the time we spent because we want to be together. That’s what I’m the most proud of.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Go to https://nashvilleartistinstitute.org/music-careers to check out a video about what we do. If artists feel they are at a place where they are ready to bet on themselves, make an change and break out of the Music Industry grind they can set an appt with me on my Zoom Calendly schedule. I love talking with artists, listening to their music, hearing their stories and discovering whether or not our NAI group is right for them.
Pricing:
- Less than Belmont
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nashvilleartistinstitute.org/music-careers/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nashvilleartistinstitute/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nashvilleartistinstitute
