(This commentary is taken from the REPORT: 5 Do’s and Don’t’s in Nashville which is part of a larger ebook entitled, “Heartaches, Heartbreaks, and Making It in Nashville” - you can get a FREE copy of this report by signing up to the NashvilleHype! Newsletter)
Don’t: Listen to those who say you’re easily going to be the ‘next big thing’ - they’re liars. There’s no way in the world you’re easily going to be anything.
Being a songwriter or artist is HARD WORK. Don’t let anyone ever fill your head with dreams of the big-time. Not that you can’t make it to the big-time, but it takes a lot more than one person’s word to get you there.
Often times artist will meet a backer (someone who will pay for recording) or a ‘manager’ (I use this term loosely) who will make some pretty big promises. Most of these promises have nothing to do with real market realities. What are those realities?
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You have to be young – 14 to 23 is the going age for females, 19 to 28 for males.
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You have to be good-looking – or at the very least, photogenic.
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You have to be thin, or if male, in good health.
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You have to stand out among the crowd of sound-alikes – more on this later.
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You have to have a good ear for songs – being great at everything else will get you nowhere without hit songs – they don’t hear a hit, you’re down 90% already.
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You have to have a full team of support behind you – managers, publicist, publishers, stylist – and at least one person at the label in a position to do something (this can be the most difficult part – you can’t imagine how many people with powerful titles have little or no real power!)
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You have to have a LOT of spare cash – you’re going to need it for your own marketing, PR, photo’s, etc. Yes, this is even AFTER you’re signed.
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You have to have put in the hard work, the road work, the hundreds of ‘real’ shows – sorry, Karaoke queens at the local bar need not apply.
I’ll give you an example of a group that fits each of these points – and will ultimately be signed. I’ve had them on NashvilleHype! several times, The Hewitt Sisters. These are pretty harsh realities – so don’t fool yourself! If you don’t meet these criteria, it’s not the end of the world, but you have a serious uphill battle to climb here in Nashville. But let me remind everyone like I do so often, there’s a whole world out there waiting, wanting to be entertained! And you can make a good living entertaining those people.
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