Deleted original wall of text because it was self condescending and entitled.

I'm recording music again, no expectations other than to have fun.

Sounds a bit like Musicians Anonymous. :P

Take this advice, keep it in your mind now and forever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYMnAUGFuG0

If you want breaks, you'll need to make the right deals/partnerships and get the correct exposure. There's good and bad publicity. You want people to say "Oh, what's the name of that track?" when they hear it and not "Cool." I think you missed the psychology of marketing completely and then lost interest, which is unfortunate. ^^

I think going into music (or any artistic medium) expecting to make a living from it is to set yourself up for disappointment. To even have a remote chance as a solo artist you need to have such a burning passion for what you do that it doesn't even cross your mind that you need to pay rent you're so preoccupied. You need to be a little bit crazy to be able to put so much heart and soul into it, not just say "I'm quite good".

Not true. You need to work hard. Do your job and when those hours are up keep at your passion. Successful people do not roll dice, they just keep at it until it happens and set reasonable goals that bring them closer every day.

So how do you stay motivated to work hard when no one's interested? I've progressed musically over the past 3 years, I can't afford a marketing kit or a PR guy, and my friends don't advertise for me.

I've done what I can.

EDIT: Sorry the OP is a bit whiny, but I'm at the verge of giving up on music, and I didn't expect to get rich at all, but the occasional dollar would have been nice.

How many artists are there with the same problem like you? Everyone thinks he is good, or he wouldn't do it. Still only a
very few can live off the earnings and i don't speak about the big sellers.
My dad was head of an orchestra and taught music, composed songs had his own band. Still the people wanted to hear
popular songs. Yes, he earned enough, but only because he worked his ass off and was rarely at home.

About the problem with your friends. Welcome to the club. If its about money i've found out the hard way that friendship
is just a word without meaning.

A few random tips...

Find your niche but be willing to cross genres: You write lyrically heavy songs and only use a guitar and your voice? That's cool, really, instead of going the traditional folk or singer/songwriter route, why not see if you can make your songs work in a freak folk setting. No matter what genre or style you're into, there is always at least one closely related genre, and that genre might be easier to found in.

Realize that unsigned musicians are rarely appreciated: Sad but true. I know a lot of unsigned artists who have released phenomenal albums but have about fifty fans in total. Just the fact that you are unsigned will have many "casual" music fans thinking that you're not a "real" musician.

Learn to market yourself/Make friends with musicians around the world: Find blogs/websites that talk about music similar to yours and ask them to do a review of your music, post on music forums etc etc, get your name out there without being the guy talking to himself on Twitter. Make friends with musicians around the world, not only do you make new friends but you're getting contacts as well and that's rarely a bad thing.

Join a performing rights organization: there isn't really any downside to this but there are a ton of rewards, from discounts on making a website, to affordable health insurance to seeing opportunities that aren't mentioned anywhere else. check each publishing rights organization for more info.

Understand that you're probably not the next megastar. For every one band that made it, there are over a thousand that didn't. Are you okay with only having twenty fans? Are you okay having to give your music away? Would you still want to create music even if only you would be hearing it?

Oh and if you haven't already, get a day job.

You are making some really good points. +1

This was supposed to be a thread for fellow starving artists to share their stories. Not a "let's give Leucius pointers" thread.

The tips are appreciated, and yes I already have a job, which I stated in the OP :)

But the other artists are not starving.
We keep them all well fed on false promises, lies and hope. It is more like a religion, you suffer as penance for what you are doing.
You look up to those before you and wish to reach their dizzying heights knowing that if you do as they tell you one day you can get there by using your talents and abilities just like them. What they never tell you is that you really do not need talent or style to get to the top - look at Reanna and Katy Perry - you just need to know how to please the man.

Ehm, have your 'critisizers' ever heard of Joy Division?
Another track, pretty dark stuff.
Or this one - I shouldnt be listening to this, its impact is too profound.

There's nothing wrong with being a depressing sob as long as you do it right.

But, of course, they wont appreciate it if all they listen to is some modern mainstream pop shit (not all pop is bad though eg. imo Michael Jackson's work is brilliant).

You think you've got things bad I'm a Gary Glitter tribute act, I've not worked for years.

I think instead you should focus more towards people who get things done. People of action, people who are content creators. Do collaborations on youtube, make your own youtube, make some music for that indie game a friend/some nice person is making, do stuff to get out there to everyone. You've learned that you can't just do it in your corner of the world and become successful.

And also value your skill more. Charge for your time. Ignore the ones who aren't going to lead to profit, rather than use them as an excuse to devalue yourself. :) Well, I'd need a skill to have commercially failed at it. You're already well ahead of me in that regard. It'd be a shame for you to give up on something that I could never even do without some serious money and professional help. ^^

There's no way to musical success other than playing live.

When you play live, you get better in ways you cannot get better by yourself.
When you play live, you meet new people. They may end up being fans, bandmates, or not. But they will broaden you. Over time, you will find that you think differently than you would have if you had not met all these people.
When you play live for an audience, you hear and experience your own music in a different way than you had before.
The experience of playing live over and over again for a few years will make your music better, your judgement better, and your marketing better.

I made a choice at one point that going on the road was not the life for me. That is because I want the life I've built: a wife and kids, membership in a Christian community. But, if you have not spent the time playing out, at least once a week, for at least a couple years, then don't give up music. Only give it up if you want something else instead. That's a choice anybody can respect. Giving up without trying (and playing live is the only real trying) is just not good.

Plus, I haven't stopped making music. I've just stopped trying to "make it" in the business.

For reference, here is a grooveshark page of old music of mine, and here is my youtube channel with some more recent songs.