They
tell you to write a hit song, something catchy , something that people will
remember. Make it a love song, a happy song, a party song. They tell you to
record the song in the best studio in town, or not to. Maybe buy recording
equipment and record it yourself. Sure anyone can do it these days. They tell
you to make a “viral” video for the song. Once you get 500000 views overnight,
everything else will take care of itself. They tell you to book a show in the
best venue in town and people will come. They tell you to rock the social
media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Thumblr… But forget
about Myspace… They tell you to have a great plan, they tell you to get on TV,
it can be done easily.
What
they don’t tell you is that your first song is never going to be your best. It
is going to take years to become a great songwriter. It’s a skill you learn by
writing a lot. What they don’t tell you is that you need to make mistakes; you
need to learn from them. They don’t tell you that you need to play in every
dive bar you can find a hundred times before you become a great performer. What
they don’t tell you is that the best studio in the world will not make you
sound good if your song is not great, your playing skills are not up to much or
the sound engineer is not good. What they don’t tell you is not to waste your money
on Pro Tools, when there are other better value softwares out there that do the
same job. What they don’t tell you is that no matter how much you spend on
recording equipment, you still will sound crap if you don’t know how to use it
all. What they don’t tell you is that it takes years to become a great sound
engineer. What they don’t tell you is that nothing goes “viral” by itself. They
don’t tell you that the best venue in town charge €600 rental (that’s $820 for
my friends in the States). What they don’t tell you is how hard it is to fill
those seats. What they don’t tell you is that your boardroom like social media
plan will never work, as people want to hear from the real you, not the
imaginary artist you want to be. If you want to be on TV so badly, go crash and
burn in the “Voice” or other pop idol shows, where you are competing against
other badly informed artists that record labels sent in to build their profile.
What
they did not tell you was not to rush for the stars, but to build a sustainable
business and a career that lasts for years.
'They' say a lot of things...
J.P. Kallio is a singer / songwriter / coffee
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