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Liner Notes
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20 Reasons Why
Musicians Get Stuck at the Local or Regional Level
by Randi Reed
Ever wonder why some
talented local musicians never get that elusive record deal? Or why the
careers of some signed artists or American Idols stall out just past
the starting gate? It's not just "bad luck." Here are 20 common reasons why
some artists never make it to the next level:
1. Poorly-defined goals. Even if they're too modest to say so in
public, successful artists have a solid answer for the question: "What are
your goals in the industry?" (Need help with goal setting? Check
this out.)
2. Band members with different goals. In order to succeed, you have
to be on the same page. It's tough to stay on track if some band members
know what they want and others want different things or don't know what they
want at all.
3. Lack of musical focus. Creativity is good, but in the mainstream
music industry, only artists with multiple past successes have leeway to
gravitate toward other musical styles. Here's why: Different musical genres involve
different networking contacts and working methods. Artists whose styles are
too diverse have difficulty achieving consistent contacts and working
methods...and it takes consistency to break a new artist. (Newsflash for
artists who think playing a lot of different styles makes them unique: it
doesn't. We see artists with this "unique" talent all the time. In fact most
artists can play or sing in more than one style, but publicly they focus on one
they do best.)
4. Poor work ethic. The old saying that harder you work, the "luckier"
you get is true.
5. Waiting to be discovered. People who are "discovered" make it
happen instead of waiting.
6. Ineffective artist management, or not listening to good management.
It sounds simplistic, but it's where many artists go wrong. In order to
be effective, your management has to know what they're doing. And if you have
good, experienced management but don't follow their advice, they can't
help you.
7. Working with people who don't have contacts in the industry at the
next level.
Ideally, the people you start with should be constantly building better
skills and contacts along the way. If that doesn't happen, you'll need to
work with people who have contacts at the next level.
8. Signing with a label with inadequate funding or poor distribution.
If you want a record deal, the goal isn't "a record deal." The goal is
the
record deal with the most potential for long-term success.
9. Lack of a live following. Especially in rock and country, no draw
means no deal.
10. Artist "settles" too much; recording quality, image, stage presence,
photos, and demo packaging, and overall presentation are all just "OK."
Successful artists are more than just "OK" and never settle. Nor do
their managers.
11. Poor networking skills. Successful artists constantly seek new
networking methods and know how to use them.
12. Hanging onto ineffective band members. Many artists have trouble
separating business and friendship, at the cost of their careers.
13. Dated musical style. (Sounding like 1990's Pearl Jam or 'NSync probably
isn't going to cut it.)
14. Dated image. If you still dress the same way you did 5 to 10 years
ago or have the same hair style, it's time to freshen up. If you're fond of
the clothes, wear them on your own time--not when you want someone to invest
money in your music being the hippest, happening thing since sliced bread.
15. Lack of radio-friendly songwriting (or lack of access to
radio-friendly original songs). No hit potential, no deal.
16. Bowing to peer or family pressure not to change. Doing the same
thing, the same way, brings the same results. So in order to improve
something, change has to occur; it literally can't stay the same. Change
isn't necessarily a bad thing: if you put icing on a cake, the cake changes
but is still the same underneath. If it's bad icing or you do something
stupid when frosting it, the cake falls apart. (Fortunately, that doesn't
happen too often.)
17. Drug or alcohol issues. Many artists with easy access to drugs,
alcohol, and groupies at the local level have the distorted impression that
they've "made it" and lose motivation to go any further.
18. Spouse / child obligations. Putting together an entertainment
career is expensive and requires a major time commitment. The same is true
of spouses and children. We're not saying it's impossible, but it's
definitely more difficult.
19. Impossible to work with. Being impossible to work with doesn't
always mean the artist isn't a nice person; we know one very nice artist who has
had seven managers in the past ten years. We like this artist just fine as a
person, but in order for a team to become successful, it needs time to gel.
With a rotating litany of band members, managers, and agents, that's not
likely to happen.
20. Not understanding how the industry works. You have to know how
the game is played in order to move the right pieces. |
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