Systematic studies of artistic careers are scarce and this is the first large-scale study on the career development of pop musicians. Using a prospective longitudinal approach we followed a sample of aspiring pop musicians in the Netherlands (N=369) over a three-year period. First we identified four groups of pop musicians with different career patterns, that is, upward careers, downward careers, stable successful careers and stable unsuccessful careers. By means of a multigroup growth mixture model we examined how career success was influenced by social support, professional attitude and professional network. Results showed that successful pop musicians experience more social support, have a stronger professional attitude and a more extensive professional network. Moreover, our study shows that these findings were consistent both between and within the different career pattern groups. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)