Wannabe Rules

You're fighting for attention, people are overstimulated and don't need what you're selling, think about your approach just as much as your music. Unsolicited hype bounces off just like the ads you hate.

Just because you made it, that does not mean we're interested.

Famous people won't say they like your track because then you're going to spam the Internet with their quote, and the only one truly at risk is the person quoted, not you, no one knows you.

Social networking is easier than making music. Focus on the latter if you want to stick.

Self-promotion is easy, but unseemly. Giving fans trusted information is cool, but constantly imploring people to check out your track and come to your gig makes you look like an amateur.

First comes the music, then comes the fan base. If the people you know and have access to don't dig your stuff, don't ask for more, don't want to be on your mailing list, believe me, those with true power to push your career are not interested. Recording impresarios don't care what your music sounds like, only that it has an audience. Prove that it has an audience and you'll gain entrance. Furthermore, music is a business, and it's dominated by older people with experience who care less about music and are less in touch with it, they wax rhapsodic about the glory days of their youth, whether it be the Beatles or U2, they probably don't understand what you're making, but they do understand money, and fan bases lead to money.

Corollary to the above... Don't skip a jump, don't go directly to those who can push you unless you've got a stupendous voice and incredible material. In other words, don't try out for the Yankees unless you can hit every one over the fence in batting practice. You may have a connection to the head of the company, yet he's got no time, and because of the relationship he'll have to listen once, he won't again.

Odds of success are low. Just because you started, that does not mean you'll make it.

Dedication is necessary to make it, but just because you're dedicated, that does not mean you'll make it.

Labels are only interested in what they can sell. Study the market. If your music does not fit a mainstream radio format, a major label is not interested. These labels are businesses, not museums.

Don't be a member of the sour grapes patrol. JFK's mantra may be history in politics, but it rules in music. Don't ask what someone can do for you, ask what you can do for that person.

Clothes and appearance don't matter unless you're competing on a TV show, which are dying, or want to be a face singing other people's material. There's a business in that, but there are tons of people with good voices and good looks.

Playing gigs is a learning experience, not a money-making venture, certainly not at first. You learn from the feedback.

Getting gigs is like getting a job. You can't get a job unless you've got experience, and you can't get a gig unless you've got experience. People find a way to get a job, it's your mission to figure out a way to get a gig. Have you got a friend? Do you need to lie (everybody lies in the music business, get over it)? Be innovative without being a pest. And know that once you get your big break, you've got to kill/deliver.

Writing. It's much easier to make it if you do. Start immediately. Your initial stuff will suck. Writing is hard. Much more difficult that posting to Facebook.

Study the game. Read Don Passman's book. Check the Mediabase charts. Knowledge will ride hand in hand with your talent.

Be realistic. When you try out for Little League or soccer, you know where you stand. How come in music everybody believes they're a superstar an inch from success? You have a talent, discover it, it may not be music.


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