|
Home::Music
How To Succeed In The Music Business. Part 2
Author : David Wright
So you still wanna be a star?
Part 2
Whatever genre of music youre in, you need to define your definition of success. If your definition is being a rich and famous superstar, then, well good luck... but if your definition is being a creative artist doing what you want to do in life by sharing your music with those who will listen, then you should succeed. And if youve got the bottle to stick to your own sound and style, your own beliefs of how your music should sound, then youve even more chance of success in the long term.
But be warned - flying in the face of convention, of what is current, is always difficult. But trends fade and die - original talent and music does not!
If youve recorded an album yourself then get independent feedback, both musical and technical. Friends and family will always say your music is great (and hey, thats fine, you need that support). But, the person who tells you everything you do is great may be good for your ego, but theyre of no practical use at all! The harsh reality is that you need good constructive criticism from independent sources who know what theyre talking about. Okay, easier said than done, but there are publications like Sound on Sound, for example, who provide demo reviews.
Another tip is seek out your local recording studio and pay for a studio engineers time (or better still the studio owner if you can), just to listen to your recording. Pick their brains and ask their advice on all aspects of your recording. I did this myself and it was invaluable. Youve got to make sure you can relate to the studio engineer and that they can relate to what youre doing. But at the end of the day, youre paying them just to listen and to give you the benefit of their experience. Believe me, many studios will be glad to do this when they realize youre serious about accepting constructive criticism and youre willing to pay the going studio rate for it. But I reiterate, ensure you find someone who has experience and some empathy with the music youre doing.
The reason that this is so important is because often, when starting out doing a first album you wont have the knowledge or equipment to make it sound anything more than a demo. Unfortunately, so many aspiring musicians get so close to their creation that they fail to hear that the music isnt as good as they think it is, particularly on the technical side!
Its always good to remember that there are probably tens of thousands of people around the world (maybe millions, who knows?!) doing the same thing you are. Theres no shortage of home studios turning out music and no shortage of organizations, particularly on the Internet, telling you how to Make it Big.
So, the trick is to stand out as being different from the rest while achieving a standard that is professional. How do I define professional? Where someone has taken the time and effort to take the recording beyond a home demo. Okay, I know that may seem a little opaque, but the truth is that its difficult to define, you just know.
Music is very subjective - we all hear different things in it, indeed, we all need different things from music to make it acceptable to us, whether as a composer or a listener. There are great musicians who are technically amazing playing various instruments but record music that is devoid of soul or passion and restricted by self imposed musical constraints. Conversely there are musicians with little or no training who can blow your mind with fabulous and inventive music because they are not constrained by formal musical training. Its also worth pointing out that being a competent musician doesnt make for a competent composer of music! And even a competent composer cant necessarily imbue the composition with that special ingredient that make people sit up and take notice.
Its also true to say that a good musician/composer is not necessarily a good studio engineer! This is a fact that in my opinion, is often overlooked. Too many composers think that because they have access to an all singing, all dancing workstation and/or computer, they can turn out a great recording. More often than not, nothing is further from the truth. Composing is a talent, and engineering an album is another, very different talent. Mastering an album is yet another, very different talent. Im not suggesting an individual cannot do all these things well. Of course they can, with years of experience, and even then, with input from other sources.
Too many times Ive sat listening to a demo where the composer is convinced that the music and the recording is great when in fact it isnt. The recording and use of sounds is cheesy and naff, but the composer cant hear it because they havent stepped outside the box, as I would say. They havent stood back from the music and really listened to the recording and compared like for like against professional recordings of the genre.
Its a hard lesson to learn, to be self critical of your own creations and sometimes to realize that your creation is actually far from perfect and that sometimes, the best place for the creation is in the bin and that you need to start again on another idea. But this is probably one of the most important lessons to be learned on the musical journey.
It also important to consider this one unpalatable fact. Your album may be great. It may have nice songs, be well recorded etc. etc. but it simply may not be good enough to be anything more than an inde album that sells a few hundred copies. Thats Life!
Its a simple fact that record companies will listen to the first 20 seconds of a demo and then switch it off and consign the demo to the bin if it doesnt make an instant impression.
Thats not just A/R men either. Some years ago, a major label had so many demos that its A/R department couldnt handle them all so it gave piles of demos to everyone, even the cleaners to sift through. Everyone ended up doing the same thing - if the CD didnt make an instant impression, then it was on to the next.
Sure, that may seem unfair, but if youre the record label exec trawling thru thousands of demos, how would you do it? Again, I run a small inde label, so I know what its like.
Im not suggesting you record your demo to send to a big label. Im relating the story to hammer home the point that with so many people making music, all thinking theirs is the best album ever, that you have to be realistic - you probably have more chance of winning the UK lottery and the Euro lottery in the same week than getting a record deal!
But that shouldnt stop you!! Your demo should be well recorded and recorded well enough that you could press it and sell it yourself. In this day and age, thats probably the best way forward. Sure, still send copy to record labels, but also remember that record labels will be looking for a lot, lot more than just the music. Theyll be looking for experience, an image, a malleable artist and lots more besides for todays music industry.
Your music should have an identity that stands out from the rest and it should have an emotional presence. Achieving this is very, very difficult and in truth, it cannot be taught or learned. I truly believe music either has that magic ingredient to make the listeners hair stand on end, to perk people interest, or it doesnt. And that comes from the musician - not the production, the engineering, the mastering the record label or anywhere else - it is the defining essence of the artist.
So, what am I trying to tell you here? Well, to summarize, embark on the road of being a musician with passion and belief but accept that the chance of major success thru a record deal is virtually impossible. Understand that you must listen with open ears to what you do and learn to be critical of your music. Make constructive criticism your closest ally through people whose opinion you value and trust. And however hard you think its going to be to have any measure of success, realize that it will be even harder!
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
David Wright is a solo keyboard player and recording artist, composer and producer who founded the electronic music label AD Music in 1989. Also founder member of the electronic band Code Indigo and has released 24 solo and band albums over an 18 year period, with performing and production credits on many more. www.admusiconline.com
Spam emails More free articles Related articles
|
More related feeds |
Summer Fetes: Part 1 “Land Lubbing”
DJ Anonymous Appreciation Party; Sun. Aug. 31, 2008 at Volume 2 Mas Camp I had such a good time at this fete. Everyone was happy and smiling, the music was on point! the DJs really outdid themselves here, the flow was superb. ...Games of Yesteryear Part Two: Jones In The Fast Lane
I generally just play myself, whereby you try and succeed (being when you max out your happiness, education, wealth and business) in as small a time as possible. According to wikipedia, the game as now become a adobe flash game, ... Lesson 3: Take advantage of the oversupply and target your brand ...
Introduction: Five Lessons: How Photographers can Create New Business Models. Lesson 1: Photographers are your customers, not your competition. Lesson 2: Take advantage of the atomization of demand and expand the scope of consumption. ... THE MAN WHO SIGNED MADONNA
“To be a kid of 13 and love music so much and want to be a part of it, to have done this all my life and still doing it, how could I have any regrets about anything?” Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7661105.stm. The Local Bands That Couldn’t
Here’s where the whole “new music business model” thing comes into play, but with creative twists. Increasing a band’s online presence is fairly inexpensive, and it can reap some pretty decent returns. I’ve discovered more bands ... homebasedbusinessopportunities
Starting a Home based business - Part 2. With advances in technology and the internet, people have virtually unlimited access to information 24/7. In particular, people that want to run an home based business, this can be done ethically ... Be a Purple Cow
I noticed that some of his ideas about business success parallel nicely with fitness success. For those of us trying to improve our physical selves, a cow is probably the last thing we want to be. But trust me, Seth’s “Purple Cow” is a ... Analysing ‘Comes with music’ - Nokia’s big day, part I
Nokia could establish long-term differentiation and make its products highly attractive to these future customers by focusing on making its music offering highly accessible from the phone. In part II of this article, we will look at the ... Publishing Industry - Change or be Damned?
The music business got over this stigma of ‘self recording/publishing’ many, many years ago. Traditional publishing has a lot of catching up to do. If anything, the digital technology which has lead to the growth of self/subsidy ... ImpeachmentWatch Day 122 (2008-10-09)
Complete Text - Complete Video: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5. H.RES.1345 - Impeaching George W. Bush, President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors. (1 Article) [2008-07-10] ...
|
|
|
