Take the entrepreneurial route.

Jay-Z didn’t get his start with the backing of a major record company.  He first sold CDs out of his car and eventually became a co-founder of the independent label, Roc-A-Fella Records.  Carter adds, “I was forced to be an artist and a CEO from the beginning, so I was forced to be a businessman.  When I was trying to get a record deal on my own, it was either, give up or create my own company.”  Shawn later became founder of his current music label, Roc Nation.