Hit The High Notes With These Music Career Tips
By Careers Expert
Tuesday, April 4, 2017.
Becoming a famous pop star is often what most young children dream of. These dreams are often fired up even more when they get even more into pop culture and start to idolize current pop singers and musicians. Are your teenagers considering trying their luck as a singer? Many parents might worry as it can often be a very unforgiving career path to take. However, if you are careful when choosing the right path for your child, you shouldn’t have too much trouble helping them progress their career.
Even for adults who fancy ditching their current day job, chancing it in the world of pop isn’t as difficult as you might think. So, are your or your child ready to start on this exciting journey into the world of pop stardom? Here are some very useful tips that will help you hit the high notes in the music world!
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Keep On Practicing
The music industry is a very cut-throat industry, and you really need to be at the top of your game if you are ever going to get anywhere. And there is only one way you can ensure that your skills are honed: plenty of practice! Make sure that you are practicing at least once every day. If you are as dedicated as you should be, then this shouldn’t be a problem. If it is your child who wants to try and carve a career for themselves in the music business, then you need to make sure that they understand that practicing is important. Even if they are still at school or college, it will be necessary to flex their vocal chords whenever they have any spare time in the middle of their studies. Without practice, your vocal and musical skills just won’t be up to scratch, which means there is not much chance of showing your true potential in auditions. Don’t see your practice as work; it should be more of a hobby that you can use to help springboard your career. If you see it in this way, you will be a lot more motivated to do it, trust me!
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Consider Talent Shows
Even if you don’t have a TV, you will be very aware of just how many talent shows there are on various channels these days. It is impossible to escape them! Sure, some people see these as a waste of time and talent, and that they are the music industry’s version of industrial farming. However, they do work for some people. After all, just look at Kelly Clarkson. After winning the first season of American Idol, Clarkson has gone from strength to strength and has had a lot of success and hits in the music industry. So, it is worth entering these competitions if you aren’t too sure how else you could launch your music career. One thing to be aware of, though, is that all of the professionals who work on these kinds of shows, such as Simon Cowell, can be very demanding and like to have their pop stars exactly as they imagine them in their head. Because of this, you might find that there is a lot of pressure to change your look, sound, and image. Stay strong, though, as it pays off to be true to yourself!
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Record Your Own CD
If you would rather not go down the TV talent show route, there is another way into the pop profession. But to do this, you will need to contact a lot of different agents and record label professions to try and get that all-important contract! And you can’t exactly see them empty handed! They will want to hear what you can do, and the best way to show them this is to give them some demos. Before you can do that, you need to record some songs! There are lots of recording studios around the country which you can hire to record some songs. The studio can then print off however many CDs you require. However, the cost of recording and CDs will all add up, and it can end up being very expensive indeed. Some people try and get around this high cost by recording some music themselves at home. This is a lot easier to do these days as computer equipment and recording equipment is a lot cheaper than what it once was. If you look on online auction sites such as eBay, you should be able to find some very good deals for secondhand pieces of equipment.
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Look For Representation
Once you have your demos all ready to go, it’s now time to try and find some representation. This can be an agent or a PR company to help with all your press and publicity. Wondering how to hire a music PR firm? It’s not as difficult as you might have thought as long as you have your demos all ready! You just need to send these off to the agent or PR company in the post. Make sure that you also include a letter in the envelope with the tape. This should include a bit about you or your child (depending which one of you is trying to make it in the music industry) and whether you have any previous experience in the industry before. It’s also a good idea to add a few headshots and links to any YouTube videos and other social media profiles. Which brings me nicely onto my next point...
Get Some Headshots
When it comes to making it big in the acting industry, headshots are incredibly important as they give agents and talent scouts a great opportunity to see what a potential actor looks like and whether their look is suited to a part in a play or movie. Well, they are also very important in the music industry, and can make all the difference when it comes to getting spotted and signed by an agent! Ideally, you should get the headshots taken by a professional photographer. These will look a lot more serious than some headshots that you quickly took o your camera phone! When you come to print them out, it’s also a good idea to get them professionally printed. This will look a lot more professional than if you had simply printed them on your home printer onto standard paper. If you go to a printing company, they will be able to print on a high-gloss paper, which will make you look amazing!
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Perform Whenever And Wherever
While you are waiting to be picked up by a music agent or PR company, it is important that you try and get yourself out there as much as possible. You never know when there is someone from the music business in a crowd at a gig! If they like what they see (and hear!) they might approach you about possible signing a contract with them. So, it’s worth spending some time thinking about all the gig venues in your local area. You can research using their website to see if they have any open mic nights or welcome amateur performers to put on gigs and shows. It’s a good idea to look beyond traditional gig venues and see where else you could perform. For instance, lots of pubs and bars put on music nights these days to try and attract more people. If your local bar doesn’t already do so, you could speak to the owner about maybe starting one. It would benefit the both of you! It could also be worth thinking about busking in the town or city center.
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Don’t Give Up On The Day Job… Just Yet
You will find that making it in the music industry takes a lot of focus and dedication. Because of this, some people think that they should give up their day job so that they can put all their energy into their new career. This would be a very good idea if you were guaranteed to succeed in this new career path. Unfortunately, things aren’t always that simple. You will find that there are a lot of stumbling blocks that get in the way of your music career. I hate to say it, but you aren’t guaranteed to become a success. Because of this, it is always a good idea to keep your day job. Sure, that means that you will need to work on your music career in your evenings and weekends, which could be very draining and tiring, but you can stay positive and motivated by focusing on your dream goal! Ideally, you shouldn’t give up your main job until you have signed a contract. This way, you will always have a steady income to live off while you busy working on achieving your dream. If you do quit your job too early and your music career doesn’t take off, you could end up stuck in a very tricky situation indeed!
Hopefully, this blog post has told you everything you need to know about making it big in the pop industry. Good luck!