It’s no secret how tough the entertainment industry is, especially for young aspiring artists trying to break into the commercial mainstream. Odds of winning the mega lottery are better than breaking into the “big time” anywhere in the entertainment industry. For every artist making a good living in the business, there are thousands if not millions of aspiring artists struggling just to get by.
While many young artists tend to look at the term “artist development” as some negative form of insult to their current talent level, reality is, an artist is always in a constant state of development, or should be, even late in a successful career when it’s time to commercially reinvent themselves in search of a new or expanding audience.
The foundation of Artists Development is knowing what separates those who make it from those who don’t and going about the business of developing a successful career, not so different from a career in any other industry.
Like coal, applied pressure can turn coal into dust or diamond. Trying to advance a career requires placing yourself under pressure, at risk of failing. That pressure will turn some into diamonds, but most, into to dust.
I once heard long ago, that “success happens when preparedness meets opportunity.” Throughout my career, I have found this to be 100% true and accurate. Opportunities for great success are rare in the entertainment business. For most, the opportunity will pass by unseen. For others, they see the opportunity, but are in no position to take full advantage of the opportunity.
But for a rare few, they are well prepared for the opportunity when it comes, and they are ready willing and able to fully exploit the opportunity. This is the basis of Artist Development, to position a young aspiring artist where they are ready to exploit opportunity that will be created for them by their team.
ARTIST BASICS
In terms of the music business, everyone can sing, but not everyone is a recording artist. Some basics must exist…
- Artist equals performer – someone with the ability to not just entertain others, but make others feel what they feel.
- The artist must be able to translate lyrics in both a live and studio setting, which are very different performing venues.
- The artist must be creatively unique and advanced, as well as savvy in the business of music.
- The artist must know who they are and have a vision of what their own future looks like.
- The artist must be able to work well with others, to assemble a team willing to help them get where they are trying to go.
- And most importantly, the artist must be driven to succeed. They must be able to handle rejection and keep moving towards their goal.
Developing a successful recording artist career begins with the artist. It’s their ship and where it goes is mostly up to them. However, artists development involves much more than just developing the talents of the artist to a commercially competitive level. It means developing the right team around the artist to help create a success.
A TEAM
“The harder I work, the luckier I get!”
Ten years is the average time span for the so-called “overnight success.” When a new artist breaks into the mainstream, the view from the outside looking in appears to be an “overnight success,” a Cinderella story.
But the view from the inside is very different. Not only did it take years of calculated development and preparation for success, it took a whole team of people working together in concert to make that success happen.
In short, the right team can create an “overnight success.” It all comes down to developing the right team, the right plan and the right execution, all behind the right artist at the right time.
Every successful music career has numerous moving parts, from the artist, to producer, management, booking, marketing, PR and promotion and the right record label. It is the task of the team to put these moving parts in place and strategically coordinate those pieces for the overall benefit of the artist career.
Today, opportunities are greater than ever due to the digital era. But this only means that this too must be part of the strategy, planning and team.
MOST IMPORTANT
In developing a successful career, developing the right team is essential. In terms of developing the right team, TRUST between all team members is critical. Talent, experience, planning, execution are all vital parts of any successful artist career. But none of it matters without trust between the team members. Only a well-orchestrated team effort can bring about the best odds for success and trust is the foundation to any successful team…
No different that the artists we work with, Pro Go Music Group is also in a constant state of development, learning new things we didn’t know yesterday, finding new opportunities that may not have existed yesterday and developing our team members to give our clients the greatest chances of success.
We only succeed when our clients succeed. Our success is dependent upon the success of our clients. We’re in this thing together!