Tips to Becoming a Successful Recording Artist
Be yourself and be as authentic as you can be. Not to say that you can’t imitate someone else, but trying to imitate celebrities creates a more difficult route because you’re imitating what already exists. Sometimes, a better option is being influenced by someone and using aspects of how they influence you while making it your own. Michael Jackson and Prince credited James Brown for how he influenced their careers. Not only that, Michael publicly acknowledged this influence on many occasions.
Work hard at your craft. Those who are successful put hours into practicing, performing, working out, studying the greats before them, and learning the industry. If you're not the type who like to practice and rehearse, remember that you're competing against those who are. Sometimes, this is what separates the stars from the amateurs.
Leave the ego at the door. Having an ego before you’re famous is not usually a fan attractor. People admire those who are humble whom they can relate to. What makes fans follow you is the fact that they connect with you and want to see you succeed. If you’re offensive to your fan-base, or overly egotistical, people will watch for you to stumble and fall. It is very important to remain humble and thankful for each and every fan that you gain along the way. Also, interact with your social following and remain reachable.
Perform as much as possible. Performance helps you practice and with each mistake or bad performance you can learn and get better. Starting at small venues really helps artist hone in on what they need to perfect n their performance. It can be intimidating to perform at small venues, however it’s recommended to not shy away from venues with only 3-30 audience members. Practice makes perfect and it’s easier to learn and perfect with a smaller audience than a larger one which could ultimately destroy a career before it begins. Having 1000 people in a crowd with smart phones recording your every mistake might end up on social media and prevent others from coming to your shows in the future. Justin Bieber spent time at smaller venues like Eddie's Attic in Atlanta, GA before going on to national super stardom. Working with Usher; they used this venue to perfect his stage presence.
Align yourself with a dedicated team of professionals. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sign a contract, but it’s really important to align yourself with a team of seasoned professionals in the industry who’ll have the connections needed to help you stand out from others. Who you know is a major factor in the music business.
Invest in your own career. The industry has changed and therefor labels, managers, investors, and A&R’s now seek out artist who have done a substantial amount of groundwork for themselves. In order to do this groundwork successfully, it’s important to have a solid fan-base, with real fans, who will pay for tickets to your shows. Building a fan base takes time, hard work, and money. Artist who actually believe in themselves will spend money to build and promote their brand.
Treat your career as a business: If you start to think of yourself as a product, you’ll realize that in order to get a product out to the masses, there needs to be a structured business plan. You have to learn the music business and understand that it is like any other business; however the products being sold are music, talent, and branding. The artist becomes the brand, the music becomes the product, and the talent attracts the customers. Record Labels use thoroughly mapped out campaigns to break an artist similar to how McDonald’s releases a new hamburger. There’s a target audience, commercials, branding, advertising, social media, and live presence to get the product to the masses.
We’ve provided only a few small examples of what we believe it takes to become a successful recording artist. Loving what you do, feeling passionate about your craft, and doing it regardless of whether or not you’re rich and famous are also key points to remember. There are millions of successful independent recording artist whom the mainstream public has never heard of; however, they have a strong fan base who supports them and an audience that’s big enough to allow them to have a modest career in the industry.
If you feel you’re ready to take your career to the local or national level, please set up a consultation with us by clicking here.