You’ve been playing for a few years now, have a decent local following, a couple of CDs under your belt that you sell online and at shows, maybe even a handful of positive press reviews. But you still do music on the side. It’s your passion, but not the primary way you make your living.

This is the way it is for many indie acts.

Most local bands you know, even the ones who pack the local clubs, are likely hobbyists, not careerists. They have day jobs in an office building somewhere or work in the food and beverage industry when they aren’t playing gigs.

But you want this passionate hobby of yours to go global, or at least national. Heck, you just want regional at this point. Anything to keep from slinging hash or waiting in line for the copy machine.

Basically, your music becomes a career when you start filing tax forms that have nothing to do with sitting at a desk or flipping burgers. When you start letting the IRS know you’re a musician and not a retail clerk, that means you’re serious. It means you have a new career, as opposed to a favorite hobby. Here are some tips to help you make the transition.

Get a team together. You can’t  do this alone. You need to put a team together to help you achieve your goal. It could be your Mom, at first. Hey, it worked for Justin Bieber. “All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Donald S. Passman has become a sort-of bible for making it in the music biz and gives all kinds of pointers for team building. Make sure to pick up the latest edition that incorporates all the changes of the digital age.

Get right with Uncle Sam. Whereas all you did concerning taxes previously was send in your W2s with the 1040EZ form, now that you’re in business for yourself it becomes a bit more complicated. It’s time to start keeping receipts for deductions, filing self-employment forms and filling out schedules with all kinds of letter and numbers. A tax expert might be an important addition to your team.

Treat it like a real job. Don’t just practice when you’re inspired, practice everyday.

Tour regularly. Now that it’s your main job instead of a side job, a regular touring schedule can be profitable as long as you’re doing your proper promo homework, have a draw in your region or can get a support slot with a bigger band touring through. Make sure you have merch to sell beyond CDs.

Find revenue streams. Join and register your song catalog with a performing rights organization — ASCAP, BMI or SESAC — so you can receive ongoing royalty payments for public broadcast of your works. License songs for movies, TV shows, video games, etc. and you could be making money years from now on your old recordings.

Just like any career, you have to manage your business, constantly network and keep up with changes to the industry. These things may sound anathema to the way you previously conducted yourself as an artist with a hobby, so learn to separate business and art and you’ll be on your way.