10 Essential Tips for Making a Living with Your Music

If you really want to succeed in the music industry you must have plans towards a sustainable livelihood from the first day get into the artistic world.  Making music and making a living from your music are not the same thing. When it comes to getting your music into the marketplace, you have entered the domain of Music Business Economics. From my observations over the years, the following  list of professional habits are shared by most successful musicians who truly have what it takes to succeed in this totally unpredictable business of music.

1. Find ways to get ordinary people who love music, to love your music.

We live in a time when everybody and their sister can and does make their own music. That doesn’t mean however that your music has what it takes for record labels to invest their money and time developing, promoting, and marketing that music. Try your music out on music fans like you solicit opinions from record label Reps. These talent scouts of the music business are always following tips they hear from their street connections. But remember, your music must truly stand out in some significant, original, dynamic, and creative way. A huge percentage of the independently produced CDs out there contain regurgitated ideas that were ripped off from some other more gifted musicians. Prove to the industry that ordinary music fans in your city love your music. You can find this out by giving away samples of your music on the street, or outside a music venue where an artist similar to your music style is playing. (Be sure to have your contact information on the CD or whatever your music is on.)  Also, put songs on your website, your MySpace page, or any of the newer social networking sites. The fact is that if people love something they let other people know about it. So, you can find out quickly if your music has what it takes by bringing your music to the people.

8 Ways To Convince People To Buy Your Music

If you want to be a success with your music industry career, you must master the arts of discharging effective publicity, promotion and marketing for your business. You also need to be conversant with writing good promotional materials. From simple e-mail promotions to fan newsletters, from Web pages to full-blown advertisements, drafting persuasive and motivating promotional material is crucial. Here are some tips to get you started.

Focus only on your clients or prospects
Talk directly to the people who would buy your music products and services. Carefully and completely answer their questions and objections. Buyers are skeptical. They want to know what's in it for them. Always focus on the buyer and what he/she wants to achieve (not on what you sell). First, find out what people want, need and desire. Second, show these people how your music products and services give them what they want, need, and desire. Good promotional writing convinces people to buy because it clearly shows that what you sell is what they really want.

5 Steps to becoming a great Singer

Legendary Singer, Toni Braxton

In less than 5 minutes, you will discover the greatest secrets of developing a star quality voice- that voice you’ve always dreamt of. I hope you are not one of those who believe becoming a good singer is all about talent, you either have it or you don’t? That is one of the biggest lies I have had to help my students get off their mindsets. As a vocal coach who has trained over 1000 voices in about 10 years running, I can authoritatively tell you, everybody created by God can sing; what we can sing and how much we should sing are the only differences. If you take the next few sets of advice I’m about to give seriously, you will definitely be on your way to building a beautiful and commercially viable singing voice.

A. Discover your unique Vocal Identity

Who are you vocally? Can you give a concise description of your voice? What qualities make your voice sound unique? The first and most important step you must take on your way to building a star quality voice is discovering who you are vocally. For every unique person there is a unique voice. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to sound like who you are not and whom you are never going be. When you have a proper understanding of your kind of voice, you can effectively decide what to use it for- the kind of songs/music to be singing. Is your voice soft, husky, whisky, light, bright, tough, weak or rocky? It’s when you discover who you are vocally that you can really improve on your singing. Take some time to record yourself while singing over and over again. Play it to yourself and listen sincerely. What brand of voice do you hear, what do you think that kind of voice should be singing? Will you take a sincere decision or go ahead with your fantasy of becoming e.g a hippop superstar when you have soulish and tender voice. Embark right now on a journey of self vocal discovery. That is the foundation upon which every other thing will hinge as you work towards building a great voice.

3 Secrets to Pass any Singing Audition

Have you ever wondered why very talented singers fail during singing auditions? Perhaps you’ve had the experience; a situation where people you can sing far better than scale through an audition while you can’t even make it through the first stage. What is the problem, what could be wrong? Could it be that the judges are biased or they just didn’t like you? More often than not, these are not the reasons you were asked to use the door. There are basic understandings you must have when preparing for an audition. These skills are grouped into the three secrets I’m about to share with you below. If you adhere to these pieces of advice, I can assure, you will never be turned down from any singing auditions.

Tips for Coping with Stage Fright

Stage fright is inevitable; it is a normal thing for a performer. It gives you a push to the top. There are two types of fright:

The Performer’s anxiety where the singer is in doubt of how good the performance will be while the other type is where the performer has a phobia for the crowd, does not want to be in limelight (for this type of fright the person has no business with being at the forefront of entertainment).

How to Choose your Style of Music

This is a question that virtually everyone who craves for a career in music would ask. What’s my style of music? Would it sell? Would the public like it? And many more questions…

There’s one thing you must know. You can create your own concept and style of music and still be relevant in the entertainment market. Don’t be scared to launch out with your brand of music. Although, popular music also called Mainstream tends to sell more and brings fame easily but the musician is faced with a lot of competitors because mostly everyone wants to sing the style that ‘sells.’

Enough said; here are ways to choose your own unique style and still sell:

     Build a style that compliments your voice, personality and interest. Your voice has to do with who you are,  your likes and dislikes.

Basic Breathing Exercise for Voice

Learning to improve your voice is a gradual process.The process will become automatic, but it takes daily practice and often several years of study, depending on the individual.There are varieties of voice exercises to strengthen and shape your voice. Here is a 15mins breath control exercise for sustaining: 

Bend over at the hips, not waist, so that your spine is straight. Be sure not to lock your knees straight, but instead let them soften with a slight bend. Feel your face, arms and body relax. Be like a rag-doll. Inhale so that you feel an expansion low in your body, even into the thigh area and low back.

 

Now stand up place your hands criss-crossed in front of you on opposite shoulders as in the picture below. Be careful not to tense up and lock your knees. Relax your stomach and pelvic muscles. Breathe in, feeling that same lower body expansion, but no movement in the shoulders. Repeat slowly, 10 times.