Beat: I enjoyed that mp3 so much!!
What you say is very true, it is so tempting to go out and buy the best and dream that you're going to make enough money the next day to pay it back. It's a lot harder to earn that money than spend it. On the other hand, sometimes you need to take a chance if you are that passionate and just absolutely determined to say yes I'm willing to bet this on my own talent not through false ego or insecurity but through genuine aspiration and passion and I'm prepared to go whatever extra mile is required to make up any slack that is there that I find is surprisingly there *after* spent all my money and can't take it back not be swallowed by it. You have to throw yourself in the deep end, but not like a fool, you have to look in the deep blue so to speak and say, I believe I can swim - if you feel that, Then, perhaps if you feel destined to do it, you can make a business decision and go out on a limb of credit and rely on the return to be worth it. I've made decisions like that at times and they HAVE paid off. But many more times I've said no, this isn't the time, wait, and conserve resources, because the two parts have to be in balance - business, and music (with regards to credit). If you are doing it like a business, in other words, you are a business minded person who is expending business talen to create a space for music to be made (not music to make money but music in the spirit of making good music that will naturally of it's own nature return financial profits) then you can make an educated and considered guess about what you need and how much. You see, at times, it could be just as foolish to NOT get the four computers, when you need that to really get your talent out there musically and subsequently actually... you may not be able to complete the project that is within you, that will turn heads because you limited yourself, in that case you might even say you were better to get no computers until you were ready to get the four! Perhaps you needed that tool, not another. Perhaps not. So it's a business decision first. In other words, if you are a hobbyist, I would say, don't spend that kind of money until you earned it first. In a business scenario, sometimes you have to use credit as the facility and the tool that it is with full awareness of the consequences of failure, because this is a business decision first and foremost. Have a back up plan. Even if it means you have to work delivering pizzas an extra 40 hours a week to be able to pay back the loan if all fails and folds on you, ie your fingers fall off.... then so be it, but have that plan, don't get into an amount of debt that you couldn't recover from even in your worst situation. Get credit insurance, it's worth it. With music and business, that is not to say that the business aspect should take away from the music. The reverse - the business aspect should be there to house, nurture and provide foundation for the music. But you have to know the music is there, and good enough and make your own decisions and bear your own consequences and blame nobody else later when it doesn't work. You can spend $50,000 over night on musical stuff easy as you can click the mouse at Apple.com and other websites!! (if you have a credit card with that limit)! And finally IF you use credit facilities take out a properly approved loan not credit card, get the lowest rate you can find, with the best options and stake it out over a long period of time, with no penalties on early repayments. Don't pay big interest for nothing because of an impulse buy, do it properly.
My point is, there are no rules but you have to make your own within that context, get what you need and if you are a hobbyist, don't spend money you don't already have. Well, at least, that is my own opinion. [8-)]
Miklos [:)]
