How do I make it in the music / arts industry? Teach me!!!
1. Define what "make it" means; make sure being happy is part of it.
2. Study. Not just the theoretical part, the X's and O's. Study successful artists - what makes them tick, what makes them hungry, what their day is like. Study your favourite song - what makes it good, what makes it special, what's the formula of a good song and why a formula is sometimes redundant. Study the industry - who are the movers and shakers? What can I offer it? How can I give it something that only I can?
3. Practice. Everyday. Even when you don't feel like it. The best athletes are the ones who hit the gym an hour before everyone and stay an hour after.
4. Be a songwriting beast. Don't write 3 songs and try to make them amazing. Write 100 songs. Write till your mind empties out, then go into the world and harvest more wonder and then write again. Only then will you find the golden tunes. The world doesn't have to hear all 100 anyway. Same goes for any other medium.
5. Make mistakes. Make as many as you can. Be a mistake machine. Learn from each one.
6. Kill your pride.
7. Be a do-er, more than a talker. Let the Facebookians talk and get the likes, for their satisfaction only lies in that domain. Go create art - that's the highest form of satisfaction.
8. Love your peers - they are NOT competition. The scene is too small for your petty fights. Support them even if they don't support you. If they grow, it means the scene grows, it means you grow. We're all on the same team.
9. Know your rights - know how much you should be quoting, whether or not a booking agent or client is being unfair to you, or whether you're being unfair. Don't be afraid to ask. Some people are still ignorant about artists rights - we need to set a precedent by educating them.
10. Nin-Jiom Pei Pa Koa
11. Serve. Serving is an honour. Don't serve your ego - Serve the music, serve the song, serve the people around you that make the show work, serve the sound engineer or the follow-spot guy or the wardrobe assistant, serve the art.
Making art is such a privilege. It's the coolest job ever - you get to change lives, unite people, mend relationships, bring people to their feet or to tears, tell stories that spawn their own little universe where people can find comfort and solace in. That's a high honour, and a high responsibility. Friggin cherish it.
2. Study. Not just the theoretical part, the X's and O's. Study successful artists - what makes them tick, what makes them hungry, what their day is like. Study your favourite song - what makes it good, what makes it special, what's the formula of a good song and why a formula is sometimes redundant. Study the industry - who are the movers and shakers? What can I offer it? How can I give it something that only I can?
3. Practice. Everyday. Even when you don't feel like it. The best athletes are the ones who hit the gym an hour before everyone and stay an hour after.
4. Be a songwriting beast. Don't write 3 songs and try to make them amazing. Write 100 songs. Write till your mind empties out, then go into the world and harvest more wonder and then write again. Only then will you find the golden tunes. The world doesn't have to hear all 100 anyway. Same goes for any other medium.
5. Make mistakes. Make as many as you can. Be a mistake machine. Learn from each one.
6. Kill your pride.
7. Be a do-er, more than a talker. Let the Facebookians talk and get the likes, for their satisfaction only lies in that domain. Go create art - that's the highest form of satisfaction.
8. Love your peers - they are NOT competition. The scene is too small for your petty fights. Support them even if they don't support you. If they grow, it means the scene grows, it means you grow. We're all on the same team.
9. Know your rights - know how much you should be quoting, whether or not a booking agent or client is being unfair to you, or whether you're being unfair. Don't be afraid to ask. Some people are still ignorant about artists rights - we need to set a precedent by educating them.
10. Nin-Jiom Pei Pa Koa
11. Serve. Serving is an honour. Don't serve your ego - Serve the music, serve the song, serve the people around you that make the show work, serve the sound engineer or the follow-spot guy or the wardrobe assistant, serve the art.
Making art is such a privilege. It's the coolest job ever - you get to change lives, unite people, mend relationships, bring people to their feet or to tears, tell stories that spawn their own little universe where people can find comfort and solace in. That's a high honour, and a high responsibility. Friggin cherish it.
