A new series of videos appeared on YouTube the other day which consist of interviews with lots of very very succesful artists and industry executives.
You might not agree with everything that they say but you can't doubt their success so some of it must be on the money.
This one is about how to make it in music.
A new series of videos appeared on YouTube the other day which consist of interviews with lots of very very succesful artists and industry executives.
You might not agree with everything that they say but you can't doubt their success so some of it must be on the money.
This one is about how to make it in music.
The point of the first article is that greatness is within your grasp if you can be bothered to work hard enough.
I'm sure many people who read this post will have heard about Malcolm Gladwell's theory of '10,000' hours that he sets out in his book 'Outliers'. If not, get to Amazon and buy a copy since it's a phenomenal book that will inspire.
In short, the argument, backed up by lots of evidence, is that experts, geniuses, superstars are all made and not born, and it's the effort, application and practice that makes them so - and generally to get to the standard that marks you out as different, takes 10,000 hours.
Just because you have a hard life, just because you’re willing to forgo the spoils of the middle class, that does not mean you’re good.
You’re only good if you work at your craft. And that does not mean learning how to play "Stairway To Heaven"…that’s just the beginning. How do you get to the point where you know all the notes, have practiced the scales and can come up with something innovative and new that will make our heads turn?
By spending a lot of time picking.
Your move.
Read that piece from Bob here.
And the old NYT piece that sets out the theory that Gladwell developed is here.
But, go on from there and read Bob's piece about why making singles rather than Albums is the way to develop and then get your self noticed.
It follows on from the need for practice.
It's called 'focus'!
And by making singles and trying to make them amazing you'll also be putting in the hours.
Bob makes other points about why the Single is better than the Album in the modern music business - all of which are valid.
Concentrate on making music. Focus on making the best music you can. And release it when it’s ready, don’t hold it back as a result of some sales scheme. Once again, that’s major label thinking for dead bands. That’s how they sell the Stones or the Beatles or… All that hype about the "Exile On Main Street" anniversary set… Have you heard anybody talk about it recently? It’s set in amber. Whereas the music of a working band must be in the ears of listeners on a regular basis.
In short - practice forever, become great at what you do, learn to innovate and then make great music regularly and feed it to the world to build a long term rabid fanbase.
Simple, but not easy!
If it has any relevance in your genre and if you can muster enough fans to buy it, you really should make vinyl versions of at least some of your releases.
We try to do it as often as possible - fans love it and the very act of your material being available on vinyl marks you out as being serious and aids your music promotion.
The article below was another that I picked up from @BuzzSonic and looks at the resurgence of vinyl's popularity.
We live in the age of new technology. It seems the face of music, and the way in which we receive and listen to it, is constantly changing. CD’s can be listened to on thousand dollar sound-systems with multi-disk changers, or a stereo sitting in your mom’s kitchen. CD’s themselves are quickly on their way out, with the creation of MP3’s and products like the IPod. In the face of all this change, however, lies a huge contradiction to our generation’s seemingly constant urgency to go bigger, better, newer and shinier. This is of course, the resurgence in popularity of vinyl records.
Our site aims to tell you what you need to do to make it in music and I'm proud that we spend a lot of our time advising that you need to be good before you start marketing - a step that many people dishing out advice to musicians forget to address!
Songs need to be great, and you and your band need to have developed some skills and persona.
This article looks at all the varied advice that Suzanne Lainson has come across in her time and serves as a timely reminder that there is a LOT to think about - but, fundamentally, seek your counsel wisely and make sure that you spend the majority of your time on your art.
Being good is where it starts - without that everything else is pointless.
There are a lot of people who will tell you what you need to do to succeed in (or at least making a living at) music.
Unfortunately, people are recommending all sorts of strategies, some of it conflicting.I decided to make a list of many of the suggestions I've read.