Make Your Own Kind of Music

There Has Never Been a Better Time to Be a Singer

Ten years ago, the technology at your fingertips was barely in the imaginations of its creators. Now you can be known worldwide and get your music distributed to millions of listeners and fans from one physical copy. As a recording artist you no longer have to rely on major record labels. As a performing artist, you no longer have to rely on a venue to stage a concert for thousands, or even millions. The Web can give you a worldwide fan base and unlimited opportunities. You can also record your music at home or on the go with home studios or mobile devices more powerful than a professional studio a mere decade ago. You can merchandise your brand and capture the power of your music as an experience, rather than a product. The music industry is open and ready for the revolution of YOU, Inc. if you want to participate.

We’re now in a world where you are in charge. You are in control of the creative and business direction of your own career. The numerous middlemen who guarded the gates between you and your dreams are falling away. Any genre has a place and anyone can be a star.

Unfortunately, the best techniques for taking your career into your own hands are scattered all over the Internet and in books, magazines and other media. Much of the best information only exists in the lives and experiences of music professionals who have problem-solved from scratch but haven’t shared how. At ILoveToSing.com we run into these challenges and are, by necessity, navigating and deciphering the confusing worlds faced by singers. We are combing the best sources and filtering the information to you through this site and other services to help you achieve your goals of global recognition and personal control of your career.

Here are a few things we’ve learned about your possibilities:

There Are Unlimited Choices

In the past there were only so many venues for you to be played on the radio, on television, perform on stage, or shelf space in stores display and sell recordings. Audience’s choices were limited. But today, choices are unlimited. This changes everything.

New entertainment options such as Pandora, YouTube, Facebook, video games, and other media have swept away traditional career models and not just for mainstream performers and recording artists. This is good for all kinds of singers. Plus, because the means of production and distribution are in the hands of people like you—you can make music yourself, the way you want to express it. We’re all waking up to realize we can find an audience on the Internet, even a big one. This shifted the power from the established players to you and that changes everyone’s business models.

There is A Niche for Everyone

The limited number of radio and TV stations in your town was once limited but the options have exploded into a universe of niches. People can easily find others that share their interests no matter what that is, and no matter where in the world those people are. But this doesn’t mean niches are small. For example, there are millions of Broadway fans and while you’ll never hear music from “The Great White Way” in mainstream radio rotation these days, niche broadcasting plays nonstop theater tunes.

Any area of singing works the same way. No matter what genre you sing, fans can find you and hear your songs or watch your videos. As a singer, all you need to do is reach out to them.

What Will Set You Apart

In our world of overabundance, can an singer truly provide something “original?” Maybe. So, what do you aim for? RESONANCE. Do you strike an emotional chord in your listeners? What an artist does is give voice to that which everyone else feels and experiences but does not know how to express.

As much as technology develops and changes the world in which we live, and in many ways changes how we think, feel and interact, there are some things at the core of the human soul or psyche that will never change.  So you must ask, “Does my song move something in me? Does it strike a chord of emotion?” If it does there is a strong chance that it will resonate something in another as well. Artists provide reflections. Artists provide narration. Singers are the artists who “give voice” to what others feel.

What All This Means to You

1.  There is room for every singer.

2.  You no longer have to go through gatekeepers to get your music to an audience.

3.  Traditional media are no longer the only ways to get heard. There are more ways to win fans using a broad array of other media that don’t have the same barriers to entry.

4.  Music hits are never going to be as big as they were in the past, because people aren’t forced to select their music from a small set of options. Astronomical success was an artificial by-product of limited choices.

5.  Because of the unlimited choices, you must compete for your audience’s attention, but there are countless niches for you to make your own kind of music.

6.  Talent, quality, publicity, resonance, and genre are all that matter to your fans. No longer do you need to be “signed” to a major label or company.

Making your music successful is now your responsibility. Unfortunately it’s not enough to just post an MP3 to your MySpace page or get your album on iTunes. Everything that label or managing company would have done for you in the past is now in your hands. You are responsible for getting recorded, distributed, noticed, sold, seen, heard, played and publicized.

Fortunately, you have outstanding tools, services, and resources at your fingertips to help you do it yourself. You have global distribution, unlimited promotional opportunities, and countless new ways to get your music to millions of people all over the world. So stop worrying about a contract with a “higher up” in the music industry. Get out there and start focusing on finding your own unique voice. Future fans are out there and there is a place for you to make your own kind of music.