ARTICLE::Career: Music Industry: Recording Artist

Career: Music Industry: Recording Artist

By: Nichole Jackson

In order to be recognized for your talent, you have to have drive and ambition as in any other career pursuit. Approach a career in the recording industry as you would any other common profession because a record label is a business that was primarily set up to make a profit based on another’s musical talent. In order to be a phenomenal singer, much rehearsal is required and involving a vocal coach in your sessions who can teach you how to take care of your voice is a key factor in prolonging the life of your product i.e. your voice. Spend as much time as you can honing your craft because despite how naturally gifted you are there is and always will be someone better who could possibly come along and knock you off of your pedestal. Talent has a diverse definition when it comes to singing, either you have an extensive vocal range or your voice is distinctively unique. This is where artist development comes in; you as a singer are a product so you are in competition with all the other singers on the market. So it boils down to whether you are known for a quirky personality trait as well as singing, a triple threat or appeal to a niche demographic target market that hasn’t been tapped into before. These are all the aspects that a record executive will be looking at when decided whether to extend to you a record deal. They also take into consideration which audience you appeal to and whether you are a reliable investment. Gone, are the days of record labels spending vast amounts of money on artist development. These days you are expected to present yourself as a pre-formulated marketable product. However bear in mind that singing career essentially is a gradual process which starts by gaining local, regional, then national and later international recognition of your talent. Therefore you have to market or ‘shop’ yourself as those in the industry like to call it. In this day and time we are well into the booming technology era and our lives revolve more and more around the Internet every day. Social networks are a perfect platform upon which to launch your career as many influential people in the industry scope these for talent daily. Soulja Boy launched his career on You Tube, Sean Kingston on MySpace; try it might just land you in the right circles.

 It is commonly assumed that when an artist is signed they receive a million pound deal, if you were like most of the public and thought that then you were misled and misinformed. Upon signing a deal you are given an advance which is expect to cover recording time, costs of touring, video, wardrobe and other miscellaneous costs involved promotion. You are expected to make a profit from the advance money therefore a percentage of that profit plus the original seed money returns back to the record label while you pocket the rest. That’s how the music industry works. It is also a good idea to formulate an entourage that can do all the grunt work while you focus on the most important part: your voice. You will need a manager/agent and a lawyer in order to launch and further your career this entourage will save you a lot of work. In addition it makes you look more professional. There are a lot of great singers out there so you have to put in the effort to prove to record executives that you are different from the rest and that you can make them a profit. Learn and familiarize yourself with the business aspect and the lingo associated with the industry so that you possess the upper hand when directing the path of your career.

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