Hey guys I really want to become a famous artist and I sing really well could someone help me out?
Mod note: Edited title for clarity
Start with YouTube work your way up. That's what I'm doing.
@Seanrockss - Cool! You may want to start with covering more well-known songs especially if you do not have much experience writing music.
Do you play any instruments? Have you tried recording yourself? Do you have any friends that are musical that could collaborate with?
Lots of things to consider!
I play the guitar and there's this person I know who I could collaborate with but she said no soi don't know I really need help!
My guess is that like the rest of us here, none of us are on a time line. Take your time and allow yourself to perfect your skill. First, I believe it’s important to define for yourself (everyone has their own goals) , why you’re creating music in the first place, and what you’d like the impact of your music to be… and to who? What does your perfect listener look like? What message do you want to put out them in your music?
Even if we were the best singer/songwriter/musician, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have an audience that benefits from the music and they can trust that we care about them.
In my case, I started writing songs because I had 2 strokes and nearly died. My intent was to engage in something that will strengthen my cognitive skills. Figure out what your “Why” is, then identify what you need to learn and do it better.
When I started, I didn’t even know what proper song structure looked like. I didn’t know what a DAW was or what to do with it. There are a LOT of moving pieces in the music industry and we should constantly be on a learning and perfecting mission, and those will always look different for each person.
Many years ago (before I began writing songs), I had a commercial photo business and I spent time on stage with many of the most famous Country artists in the 80s. Talking with many of them off stage taught me the successful ones knew that “We NEVER arrive - It’s an ongoing process to stay current, put out good music, and give back to others.”
Then, what will it look like if you become a “Famous Artist”? What does that mean to you?
When I wrote my first song, it was on a whim to write a song for a book trailer of one of my books. I was surprised that anyone even liked it and it helped to sell books. In the beginning, I was excited with each new song. Yet, I incorrectly thought that every song was a hit.
When we decide to learn, practice and perfect our work, we’ll see a progression in our skills. The more we learn, the more detail we’ll put into the final version. Looking at my songs, a lot of them are good. Yet, when we are honest with ourselves, we’ll probably weed some of them out and not distribute them. I figure that maybe 1/3 of my songs are distributable.
I’ve found that “Good” is not defined by me. I have a YouTube music channel and I put my songs there first as a test before I decide whether (or not) to distribute them. My songs that get a lot of positive attention are the ones I put out for distribution. Don’t be afraid to test your work and see if it resonates with people.
If it does, do more of that. If not, learn from it.
Like I said, we’re not on a timeline. Just be sure to make the time you put into it count. Figure out your goals and don’t try to accomplish them all at once. Multi-tasking was designed by people that want to see others fail.
Starting and working with a plan is the best help you can give yourself. There are MANY artists out there and a huge number of those are light years ahead of me. Yet, I’m not in a “Competition mode”. I’m still amazed that my work is out there and starting to get attention. Every day is an opportunity to learn and perfect what we do. Hopefully there are some ideas here that will help you focus and develop a plan.
I appreciate this response @anthonymdavis. I do agree that it's important to set goals early on and recognize that it is impossible to have a hard time-line when it comes to "success". I try not to compare myself to others, I just focus on constantly improving/refining my craft.