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Because your fans want to love your professional sound
music industry assistance |
I heard a story recently about an artist who thought her big powerful voice will be enough to help her move along in her career. She was able to get a recording contract but her label wanted her to write songs. She had some difficulty in song structure but with a little help, she succeeded and continues to be a success. Truth is, many artist are given the opportunity or eventually desire the piece of the pie that gives them the opportunity to write. Likewise, many writers find themselves having to also sing their creations and record them for others to hear or appreciate. They don’t have to be great in singing but usually can carry a tune. With this in mind, the goal is bringing attention to the art. New artist and new songwriters both benefit from building a fan base. At this point, there is no desire to sell downloads or marketing anything in great amounts but just getting the social love will make the creator feel sense of accomplishment and appreciation. If you are a new songwriter, one of the best ways to get yourself “out there” is connecting to social media. I will admit there is a trick and a craft to social posting but being consistent with your craft allows for development and discovery. Social trackers like content so be yourself and share with the world.
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In my voice-vid or plog (Is that a term I just created merging a podcast with my blog on Youtube?), I recently shared the necessity of collaborating with other people. The fact of the matter is, and I’m sure I’ve seen the signing in this block before, you cannot be successful in business by yourself. Since the art of music is essentially a business and because songwriters as well as artist producers DJ ease into nears and anyone else in the business wants to make money they have to connect networking collaborate with each other all regular basis. In my Meetup Group on share the value of connecting with each other. My hope is the participants will develop long standing friendships that will eventually create business partnerships. Some of the best ways they can do this is by exploring the world that lives outside of their own walls. By joining writer groups and doing jam sessions with others, they are very likely to “happen upon” great doors of opportunity and growth. Do not become a songwriting, self-created “castaway” living in your own space and creating in your own world without developing your skills and knowledge through others. If it is true you can learn more by doing, then by all means, definitely do more. I was visiting the local large university with my niece who is exploring graduate school programs. While waiting in the lobby of a newly designed library, I reviewed their “jumbo” television ads. One two of the ads had to do with music… one for the Serata DJ mixing console and the other was for their radio station. Mid-year, the university was having an interest meeting at one of their campus buildings. I immediately thought to myself “who might be interested in that now” and took a picture before I left. It is true that most don’t even listen to local college stations but I am still in support of servicing them with product. The reason is many students who work at the station will eventually work in commercial radio. I know of one young lady who is a pioneer in her local market. I am sure she supported local artist then and she does a smashingly great job doing that now (not to mention all of the national artist she gets to connect with). Let’s face it, most new artist want to get to the end of the game with all of the fame without first nurturing their home market and local fans. It is important to build that foundation so when you are successful, you can look back at all of the support you got along the way. They say the celebration of the New Year brings so many dreams and ambitions for starting anew. Many individuals desire to save more, spend less, lose weight, eat healthy… the list goes on and on. I, like many others, have made the decision to try something new to enhance your experience with this blog site. Knowing that all people are not the same it is important to speak a message that all can get through different platforms and although I don’t profess to know all things and be all things, I think I might have something that could be missed by individuals that don’t have time to read. I don’t want to call it a podcast because it will not be officially on that type of platform. I will however start out by using Youtube and possibly placing or posting the link on this site as well. This way you can hear from me and share the information as you see fit. The initial plan is to start with a series and have them pre-release on certain dates. Following that, I will probably do the next set and see how effective the process will be. Wish me luck and if you have anything you need support or help with, remember, I am not too far away. Well here we are at the end of another year. It really seems to move so fast! When you look back over the last ten or eleven months do you feel you have checked some things off of your list? Did you create a list? Did you make yourself a promise to get things done and you have not done these things yet? How does that make you feel? What can you do today that you have been putting off? I want to urge you to do two things for me because I know it can be super overwhelming but whatever you want to accomplish takes thousands of baby steps. Take five minutes today and write down a goal. Next, you have to outline the steps, those baby steps, you will take to get to the goal. After that you have to move your feet in the right direction. I have a few workshops outside of my Meetup group and in the workshop I had this past fall I met a young man who shared a variety of songs he had created in his home studio. He admitted he did not sing at all and needed to collaborate with someone. Now his goal was to have someone sing his songs and help him. What do you think I had him do for homework or baby steps? First he was to connect to either my Meetup group or the local NSAI group to meet others. Second, I wanted him to make sure to create a song split sheet and secure any other protection for his creation. What would be a good third step? Have the singer record the vocals. By breaking it down into steps and helping educate the student, he has opened doors of opportunity for himself. Someone is not signed to the NFL in the first round because he looks good… he gets that opportunity because he took the baby steps to get to the top of the list. We have to put in the work to get the reward so start steppin. I think I mentioned to you in one of the earlier posts that I started a new Meetup group to try and get people out of the closets of writing. I say that because being a creator can make you feel closed in and so isolated. Well as it turns out, I started two groups… well really three. The two main ones had to do with music but one was genre specific where the other was not. The plan was to give people an opportunity to collaborate and meet others on the same path. I also created a third group that was not related to music at all. What do you think membership was like? Well the genre specific group only had about 20 members. During the first meeting, I had “two and a possible” which means a lady got lost trying to find us. From that point forward, I could not get the twenty people to respond to opportunities to perform or to even chat during group discussions. Needless to say, I deleted the group. The second group had over fifty members… not too bad. First meeting had five people but I scheduled it on a bad day. They are following through and communicating very well. What do you think the last group was about? It was about getting healthy after 40! Totally off topic but has over 200 participants! What do I take from that? More people are interested in getting healthy. I think many musical people constantly push their projects, hopes and dreams to the corner so much that they don’t take time or make an effort to commit. I know, I know we have to put food on the table and provide for ourselves and our family but I don’t mind telling you that I was bummed about it. As the title says, I am not going to let it get me down so back to the drawing board with marketing and promotions. I know they are out there in need of help so the search to bring a group of collaborators together continues. In my meetup group vlog, I remember sharing the importance of networking and connecting to as many people you can to get to your next goal. I had the personal experiences of being introduced to people in circles that I don’t normally associate with.
Recently one of my students told me he went to Atlanta with his family for a professional ball game. During his visit he went to visit his wife’s fusion who took him to another producers house who just happened to be entertaining none other than Jermaine Dupri. Just like that he was in the presence of a producer who could give him great advice. Chance encounters are opportunities for great relationships. Stay open to resources untapped and keep tapping In addition to writing songs, booklets, connecting with producers and helping others along the way get on task; I have started a new Meetup group (which seems to be a struggle sometimes) and teaching songwriting classes. Each time a conduct a get together, I am reminded of why I do what I do with sharing information. So many people only have part of the big picture and need to connect with people who can help them with the rest. The problem is… they don’t know how to find these people and they don’t know who they can trust. There is nothing like having the beginnings of a great song or music project and have someone come a long and steal from you! Or the individual thinks they have the next best song, share it with friends on Facebook, and get a lot of love that does nothing for them but stroke their ego. I am so amazed at the number of people who either want all the attention too soon or are hiding in the back room hoping someone will bust open the door and take them along for a ride.
I think too many talented people do not focus on their talent enough and just don’t know what to do and where to start. If that sounds like you, please stay open to support, criticism and positive influences. I am here to help and want you to succeed. Some wonder if phrases about associations are true and I would dare to say they are! What are the reasons behind this, you say? Even from a young age, your family can hinder or nurture your growth. First take a look at the people in your immediate circle and think about those influences they have or have had on you. Can you think of one person that always seems to have a positive vibe about them? How does that person make you feel? Now think about a person that tends to complain a lot… about everything. How do you feel after spending time with them? The company we keep will not only impact how we approach our day but they can transfer energy to you unknowingly. If you don’t believe me, pay attention to how “charged or drained” you feel after spending time with someone. You don’t have to avoid or increase your time in their company but pay attention and guard yourself.
In addition, the company you keep can have an impact on your success. If you are the only person with goals and ambitions with your music, then everyone around you is either waiting to ride your cloud up or will be working on other clouds in other directions. You need to surround yourself with at least a few people who are on the way to your destination so they can share their knowledge and network with you. Remember, the music business is a business and no business can function alone. Start spending a little face time with others riding a similar cloud to the top. Together, you can create the energy for a perfect musical storm. According to the definition of the word "undercurrent" we find either an underlying feeling or influence contrary to the prevailing atmosphere or a current of water below the surface that moves in a different direction. I think that in becoming the musical professional we desire to become, we deal with a lot of undercurrents, designed to both help us survive and keep us off course. Not many of us can accord to fully focus on what we want to do in music but we must constantly redirect our passion and steal opportunities every chance we get. If we are guilty of treating it like a hobby, those undercurrents will inevitability pull us out to sea. After that happens, we might fail to find out way back on course. Treat your passion like it is your life raft... stay above water and keep swimming towards the goal.
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AuthorWendy, AKA Ka-Je Projek, is a professional coach, counselor and published songwriter who has collaborated with various producers over the span of her music career. She prides herself on helping others live their best life by pushing towards their dreams and goals. Archives
January 2019
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