How to make it in the music industry: becoming a singer/songwriter

 How to make it in the music industry: becoming a singer/songwriter

Do you write songs? Are you hoping to one day become a professional performer who writes their own stuff? Well, this guide may be your first steps to achieving that dream! Learn the steps you need to take in order to become noticed and be able to create a following for you and your music. 

First of all, there are two notable ways that can help you get into the music industry - being an independent artist or signing to a record label. There are some other ways that you can make music but these are the main two. One of these, however, is becoming less popular as time goes on due it no longer being needed - this is the option of record labels. Due to social media and the internet, it is a lot easier for many artists to be able to release their music without needing the aid of a record label. Despite this, a record label can still be helpful as they are able to provide very good publicity which will cause more people to become interested in your music. 

Either way that you choose, you need to start off with your ability. The first step of making it in the music industry is to start writing songs as often as you can and try and finish them - if you struggle with finishing songs, it could be helpful to find a music partner who is good at developing ideas who you could work with to be able to finish/polish your songs. One important aspect of being noticed is to try to make your music different and unique and something that people can easily recognise. A really good example of this is "Livin' On A Prayer" by Jon Bon Jovi where it starts with the guitar being played into a talkbox which is a sound that nobody had ever really heard before which meant that it was easily recognisable even after only one listen. Another helpful thing of this is having it during the introduction as this means when it comes on the radio, people will immediately recognise what song it is (which therefore helps publicity as well). People often struggle with inspiration for their songs, in order to combat this, every single time I have an idea for a song (whether it's a lyric, a metaphor, a theme, part of the instruments etc.), I write it down on my phone or record it in order for me to be able to remember it and I can then later build upon this. I also keep all of these ideas in one place so I don't lose any of them. If you are still struggling with inspiration and simply cannot think of any ideas, what can be helpful is to use AI to come up with random lyrics and then choose something from it and build off of it or you could just narrate your day in a song - you could even choose your favourite book/film/tv show and write a song from a character's perspective in that or choose a song you like and write a song from another perspective from within the song. You must finish these songs to a point where you remember them off by heart in order to be able to perform them whenever needed. 

Another REALLY important thing in music is NETWORKING. What do I mean by this? I mean making as many friends as possible within the music industry so you have as many links as you can. This gives you a huge advantage over other artists as it means you will have scenarios where you may need someone to play guitar for you and you'll think of that person you used to know a few years ago and then ask them to do it. It also means that these people may become really big in the music industry and end up own a recording studio or label or something and you have an easy connection to them where they'd be more likely to allow you to play for them as you know each other. Networking is one of the most important things that you can do to help out your musical career. 

Writing music takes a lot of determination and resilience as it can be frustrating when you can't come up with ideas or nothing seems to sound right. This is why you have to persist and it can be helpful to work with others or just have someone who you can show ideas/songs to who can give their opinion and even suggest where the idea could go or a development on your song. 

Once you've begun writing your own music and you have a good repertoire, you can use this set of music to play at different venues (e.g., pubs, cafes, etc.) but it's important to also mix it in with some covers so people are interested as there's the danger that people will just tune you out if they don't know anything you're playing. You can also start recording your music. A modern misconception of recording is that you need an entire recording studio which is becoming less and less true - obviously, it is helpful to have a recording studio (something a record label would be able to provide) however, it is uncommon to be able to record things at a recording studio for free or for a small price. This is why it is much better to use a tablet and get a music software on there (e.g., Logic, Garageband etc.) which you can use to record, edit, mix and master your own music. An example of this is the artist "BoyWithUke" recorded and edited his entire first album using only a tablet with garageband on it. When it comes to releasing your music, there are multiple places you can do this - some examples include "Ditto Music" or "CD Baby" which you need to pay some money and they release your music on all platforms. 

Another aspect of becoming more noticed among the public is promotion. This can be done in a variety of ways (such as playing your songs at different venues) but one of the main ones is by using social media. You can do this by making an account on Instagram and Youtube (etc.) and upload posts and videos about the shows you're doing as well as the times that your music is coming out and updates on how many streams your songs are getting. The more posts you do, the more likely it is that your posts will reach the right people who will be interested in what you're doing and the type of music that you make. Also, posting about all of the gigs that you're doing will be helpful in the sense that it means more people will come to see and then it will mean that the places you play will want you to come back as you bring more people in which brings them money (especially if it's a pub or cafe). This could result in you being payed by the venue for playing there which will allow you to be able to make more of a living off of your music. 

Once you've built your following, don't limit yourself by your audience. People often don't like change and so it can be scary to a lot of artists to change what they're doing. It is always a big risk which can either go terribly wrong or it could be the best decision you've ever made. People will either love it or hate it. What you need to do is what you want - for example, you may have began doing folk music and built an audience off of that but you've realised that now, you want to start doing pop music instead because that's the direction that you want to take. You should do it because otherwise, you might grow to resent the music that you make due to it not being what you enjoy doing and this is a steep slope as it would lead you to caring a lot less which will come across in your music and so put people off. An example of where someone has completely changed their musical genre and it's hugely worked out for them is Taylor Swift. She began as a country artist and her audience grew as she'd found a niche that nobody had thought of before: teenage girls who like country music. Her music appealed to more people than this demographic, but this was the main target audience. However, after her first four albums, she decided to take the risk to switch from country music over to pop music because it's what she wanted to do. Her record label and many around her told her not to do it as it was too much of a risk but she did it anyway because she wanted to and it was like a second breakthrough for her career because it opened up her music to many more people and it was probably the best decision she's ever made for her career as the pop album (1989) is currently her most popular album yet. Taylor Swift is also a good example as she's not only switched genres once but she did it again. during the pandemic. She wrote a lot of songs during the pandemic due to having a need to have something to do and not feel useless or unwanted. She ended up writing two folk albums. Again, this was another huge success for her and her career. Taylor Swift is proof that, although it's scary, switching genres can also be the best decision you make. 

In conclusion, in order to make it in the music industry as a singer/songwriter, you need to first work on your ability and the amount of songs that you have written and perfected to remember off by heart. This can be helped by having a music partner to offer advice. Once you've written music, get to recording it using any software you have available - a tablet is often ideal as you can use garageband which is free and it's easy to edit songs and add in midi instruments. You can release your creations using different music recording companies such as "Ditto Music" and "CD Baby". You also need to play your music (along with some covers) at different venues such a pubs and cafes. Another thing that you need to do is to promote your music so people hear about it as there's no point in releasing music if nobody knows about it. Finally, once you've built your following, remember to not limit yourself by what your audience expects or what you've done previously as this could make you grow to resent your music which will put audiences off as it'll likely come across in your music. I hope you enjoyed this article about making it as a singer/songwriter, have fun writing your songs and thank you for reading!