Inspire to Be Inspired

Realities of Shooting For Stardom

As humans, we have an innate desire to see how a thing works. Some things, human-made, are put together from components to ensure that they do work. Other things seem to just happen, and then it’s science’s job to reverse-engineer the process to see how they happen.

 

Your TV? Made in a factory, designed to be amazing. Your knee? No less amazing, but we didn’t understand how knees really worked until someone cut one open and had a look around.

 

So, when it comes to wonderful music, which of these categories does that fall into? It’s made by humans, so it would seem to be more like a TV. On the other hand, the factory that made your TV makes thousands a day. Meanwhile there is only one Kanye West.

Some bands make a virtue out of not being skilled musically, but it’s not something to base a career on. Out of the gate, it’s important that you’re ready to learn. You’ll need to be – if you don’t practice, you’ll be no better a musician on Day 90 of learning an instrument than you were on Day One.

 

Charisma

 

Again, not everyone in the music industry has this, but it will serve you well if you’re trying to break through. Say you get booked to play a show. If all you say between songs is “Thank You! That was [song name]. And now another song. This is called [different song name]”, people will forget they saw you. Stick in their minds so they want to see you again.

 

Equipment

If you’re trying to become a carpenter, it’s better to have a saw that works than a razor blade duct-taped to a shoe. Similarly, if you want to make music, better quality instruments will help.

 

If you want to sound good, the Epiphone 339 Guitar (read review here) will get you further than a cheap stand-in. Apart from anything else, if you keep hitting bum notes you get frustrated, and it affects your enjoyment. The right guitar will allow you to concentrate on what you can control.

 

Persistence

 

No matter what genre of music you’re into, there is at least one artist around who has been bubbling under for years. Then, with one hit, they become huge overnight. There is a reason it’s hard to trace who first said: “It takes years to become an overnight success”. You might spend a very long time appearing on a bill below “Puppet Show”, so you’ll need to be patient.

 

Humility

 

An article that references Kanye West and then advises humility may seem to send mixed messages, but bear with it. The truth is, if you want to make it big, you might need to ditch all sense of pride for a while. If someone asks you to contribute to their mixtape, don’t dismiss it out of hand.

 

Even if they’re just getting started and you’ve been around for years, it could be the making of you. No two acts have the same career trajectory. Are you going to get precious if their “overnight” success helps you get the recognition you deserve?
Music is such a wonderful thing because it brings people’s creativity to a wider audience. Be glad that it happened instead of bitter that it didn’t come about the way you wanted.

 

There have been various lineups of the Beatles, but just the one iconic one. We know that when people try to replicate what these acts have done, it stands out a mile. In fact, many of us would rather hear something truly original that isn’t much good, than a passable replica of something astounding.

 

In fact, if you want proof that great music isn’t something you can just put together from components, watch any TV show where they try just that. They find a singer or a group with undeniable talent. They make them look like a star. They pay for successful songwriters to supply them with material. Promote them using tried and trusted methods.

 

What do they end up with? Sometimes it’s Fifth Harmony, usually it’s fifth-rate. So if you’re trying to start a group, or make your current music career fly, there is no blueprint. There is, however, a lot of stuff you can make sure you have. When people are looking back and analyzing what made you special and unique, these are the things they’ll talk about.

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