"Success In The Music Industry" Formula 001

Appearing on TV for a interview or to premiere your music video does not make you a star or celebrity, the purpose of the station is to showcase the work of people. Under normal circumstances Radio/TV producers should rather call you the artist and book an interview with you. The media has to look for you, good music sells as soon as it produced. My deepest appreciation goes to Mr Patrick Hess, father, entrepreneur, freelance writer, and goofball, and Tom Hess is a touring guitarist, recording artist and a former member of the band Rhapsody of Fire from 2010 until 2013. Hess also toured Europe and US with the band HolyHell,and recorded the album "Apocalypse" which landed on the charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Practice to become a professional musician – Continuously work on improving your musical skills, but before you think, “That’s obvious. Tell me something I don’t know”, there are important things to consider. It’s not necessarily about learning more techniques, Improving your studio work session or increasing the size of your chord vocabulary. Think about what a professional musician really needs to know and do musically. Playing your instrument well at home is one thing, but playing well consistently in the studio or on stage is completely different, thus the training and practicing required to play well in those professional environments are also very different.

KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES For an artist to truly break out of Kumbungu, they must know what they are personally good at doing and find a way to delegate the rest to a team around them. This requires trust and knowledge. It's not advisable to delegate something you don't have a firm understanding about like who a recoding producer is, mixing engineer is, booking a show, how the contracts work, the revenues and expenses of being an artist, the selecting of a producer, song-writing, or whatever. All these areas are essential in success in the music business but there are only 24 hours in a day and hopefully a portion of that is spent getting rest. The remainder is devoted to babysitting (preparing ) the many details of being an artist trying to earn money and exposure. Sometimes you're stuck with having to do the work and movements because you don't have that person yet. The only way you will discover your strengths and weaknesses is to experience doing everything you are capable of doing and then taking an inventory of what you should or shouldn't continue doing when the opportunity for delegating becomes real.

TALENT This is probably the most obvious ingredient on the list, but one that is so completely misunderstood. Talent is a broad description mostly pigeon-holed into the artist's skill of voice or instrumentation. However, talent is a much bigger ingredient because it can encompass things like stage presence, audience connection, dance, songwriting, etc. This single word must really be broken down into segments that are part of the formula of succeeding. Instead of giving my personal definition of talent, it's enough to say that a total package evaluation of an artist is a better definition of talent and will allow more people to endorse the artist if we accept the diversity of perspectives.

EXPERIENCE There's no substitute for experience. I'm not talking just the amount of preparation you've put in for rehearsal. I'm not talking the amount of shows you've done necessarily. I'm talking how you've weathered the storm of the life of an artist. How many gigs went wrong and you overcame and still did the show? How many times were you rejected by the industry executive you thought for sure would sign you up or put you on a tour? How many times have you read reviews or comments online that make you out to be a joke for an artist, yet you still keep trying? This kind of experience is the "seasoning" of the stew. It's the flavoring that give your music and artistry it's reliability. Labels and venue owners as well as consumers of music all can tell when your experience is at a level of professionalism. It becomes obvious that you're not a microwave dinner, but more that you're a 4 course meal waiting to be consumed.

Your Recordings – If your music skills are good and your songs are good it might be all for nothing if your recordings suck. You do not necessarily have to invest huge amounts of money to record in a great studio, nor do you have to invest huge amounts of money in a great home studio (although it is nice), but you DO need the playing on your recordings to sound TIGHT (making everything rhythmically PERFECT, appropriate dynamic playing, etc.)

Do NOT make the mistake of thinking, oh this is only a demo, so tight playing is not that critical when making a simple demo... I assure you, IT IS! Virtually anyone in the music industry today who hears your music will immediately notice if the performance recording is not tight. And if it’s not, they won’t be interested. Why? Because your “demo” is supposed to show others both your songs and your musical abilities. The assumption will be that if your demo is not tight, then your live sound will be amateurish and putting you in the studio will cost a fortune when you have to play something 500 times to get it right.

WORK ETHIC I recently watched the movie about James Brown and his nickname of the hardest working man in show business was certainly well deserved. He tirelessly worked at his craft and held his team to the same high standards. Michael Jackson was an artist who is not recklessly working, but organized and committed to a disciplined routine of practice and was always getting better he was successful. It will show in everything they say and do on and off stage. People around them and observers afar will know that they're not dabbling or kidding around.

IMAGE / BRAND The appearance and what an artist talks about and stands for can all be critical in maximizing success. Knowing your platform and what makes you stand out among the competition regarding your image is very important. It's what makes your "stew" taste better than the next guys. Too many artists get obsessed with trying to replicate what is already popular in the music scene. You hear songs that sound the same, hairstyles that look the same, clothing that represents the culture of the scene they're trying to impact. The consumer of music likes originality, but also likes something they already are familiar with. Like food, it's ok to try a Rice and beans from a different restaurant or Zongo Joint and in many cases, you can acquire a new taste for the same basic Rice and beans that is prepared differently.

I'm sure my list could continue with words like passion, commitment, opportunity, networking, etc. There are a lot of adjectives and nouns we can add to the list to help define the keys to success. Depending on your end-game, success is something you should never declare for yourself. Never be satisfied with the level you're at for too long because it will disappear over time and you'll find yourself getting hungry again. just like the music industry requires. The appetite for good music and artists is insatiable. The ability for you to continue to adapt and adjust in the music industry is critical if you are to survive, and that may simply mean switching up the method you cook your stew and a few ingredients along the way