I came to the realization a bit ago that musical stardom is essentially a finishing school for a personal brand. Most of the extremely successful artists seem t

I came to the realization a bit ago that musical stardom is essentially a finishing school for a personal brand. Most of the extremely successful artists seem to use their career as a springboard to some other venture; your time touring and putting out albums is more about networking and showing that you're dynamic, poised, attractive, etc. Basically, that you're qualified to be the "face" of something else. If you don't seize that once-in-a-lifetime marketing opportunity... Well, it's once-in-a-lifetime. You should essentially have some plan ready to go the moment you realize your name is on everyone's lips. Fashion partnership, acting gig, merchandising deal, something.