As a lifelong sales and marketing professional, my job has always been to present a product or service to the targeted customer and then get them to buy it. That's essentially the underlying goal of any artist. They are selling a product to a buyer (the fan).
Like any product or service in the market, you have to really analyze the marketplace and understand the opportunity. Too often, young artists and parents are looking at things through emotion more than logic. Hearing your child's voice melt your and other people's hearts is very emotional. It's very easy to get sucked into believing they are a prodigy or the next big thing to hit the music scene. This is often why American Idol showed auditions of people who said their friends and family really believe in their ability. To us, it was laughable, but to that singer, it was their entire foundation of belief in their voice. Mom and grandma love it, so should you.
I manage all of Spencer's social media. I have the opportunity to read hundreds of messages and emails each month from other artists aspiring to become popular or have a career in music. The one common theme I have noticed is the extreme need for them to have Spencer's approval of their music, lyrics, or youtube videos. They candidly say they are very shy and nervous when they perform and want to know "the secret" to overcoming that. Many are waiting to be plucked mysteriously out of their insecurities and into stardom. The sad truth is that most artists can sing in the shower or in front of a small setting, but freak out about auditioning for their school choir solo or putting up a video online because they are afraid of haters.
I mentioned this in an earlier post about how important it is for an emerging artist to look at themselves like a politician. Every single setting you're in is an opportunity to "sell" your product to the customer. This means whether you're singing/performing or simply going to the store in your home town. This concept is probably the most difficult to learn as a young artist. It isn't about the music and performing as much as it is the other 90% of your time. Being on stage and performing is the result of what you do after learning how to be a good salesman off the stage. Sure, seeing an artist perform great on stage will sell them to a potential buyer, but keeping that buyer returning for more is the long-term goal.
I won't go into specific marketing strategies in this post, but I want to more address having the artist understand that they need to think of themselves as a salesman or politician. They need to adjust their performance or presentation of themselves to every setting and demographic in the room at the time. That means if it's a room of adults and older people, they need to talk, perform, and be what the adults and older people will be willing to buy. Sadly, this is perceived as 'sellling out' or compromising true artistry. But let's take a moment to assess the goals here.
If the artist wants to be a one-hit wonder, then by all means, focus all your energy on what's popular now and what your buyers will consume today. But the career minded artist will consider that they have to adjust who they are as an artist depending on the timing, setting and opportunity.
For example, suppose a sports team asked you to sing the national anthem at the opening of their game. An artist should be able to disconnect that the national anthem isn't their genre or style, but the upside of "selling" themselves to a captive audience is a "career" minded decision. They shouldn't be so picky to disregard an opportunity or audience of potential buyers simply because it isn't what they prefer most. Conversely, some opportunities and settings may not be the best for your long-term career. This is where it is very important for the artist to have experienced advice provided for them (a manager) who understands the road they are on and the best way to manage their political career (so to speak).
Take Spencer for example. He is a pop singer who sings positive music. Simple enough, right?
Now take the public school system he sings in at times. He goes to elementary schools, middle schools and sometimes has high school ages in the audience. When performing a live concert, you don't just sing back to back without stopping in between to talk. You have breaks between each song. In his case, to catch his breath sometimes cause he dances. But in those breaks, he will usually talk about something. Whether it be the song he just sang or the one he is about to sing or even about a platform he represents (bullying, food for the hungry, etc.) Being able to cater that message to the audience at hand is being a politician. Being able to connect with the audience at their level and within their culture or way of thinking is extremely important if you are to make them buyers (fans). So, Spencer has to spend considerable time before each performance making sure he understands "who" will be watching.
He does this same thing for media interviews. Who is the reader, listener or viewer of the interview? What do they care about? What topics should he avoid and which ones should he talk about? What does he want to "sell" in that 10 minute interview? It seems clinical and very strategic, but when you're trying to build a career, you have to think this way if you want to succeed. It's no different than if Spencer were playing basketball. He would make sure he understood the opposing team's guards since he will be defending against them. He needs to know what approach he will take to execute his game plan when he's in the spotlight. His background in sports has really helped us in preparing him for bigger venues and being in the limelight at times. We go through the playbook. We study game film (watch past concert footage) and really make sure he is politically ready to face the customers he will face.
So, again, without getting into specifics, the biggest point here is that beyond the skill of singing or performing, there is an underlying objective that the artist needs to keep working toward, and that is being able to "sell" themselves (the product) to their customers (the fan). Having a marketing and P.R. team only goes so far to sell an artist. I can create a great campaign, music video, or even photo shoot. But the artist's own mouth and public appearance will say more about who they are then the created media we can develop to "sell" them.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
THE VOCAL PERFORMANCE
There will always be a singer who, when listening to them, gives you an emotional jolt or goose bumps. Everyone seems to have their favorite vocal artist they can find in this category.
For an artist trying to carve their own path, it can be very tricky to be an original. Sadly, the radio is full of sound-alikes. The business side of the music industry requires a certain quota of cookie-cutter music that consumers just seem to ravage and, well, consume. Because of that, it can be very easy for an artist to emulate what's already on the radio and pin a badge of pride on themselves since they can pull off sounding like Whitney Houston or Justin Bieber. It's a very, very tough balance.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Hearing an emerging artist do a cover of another song often reveals that the artist aspires to have the vocal abilities of the original artist. That's a compliment to the original artist. It's like watching a player study the moves of their sports hero and try to execute them during a game.
Finding your voice and sound is as difficult as predicting the future. This is especially true with the young voice. No amount of practice, skill, or intention can prepare you for what the voice will eventually become. There are simply too many physical characteristics evolving that nature itself must deal with before knowing what a voice can become. For that matter, it is a high financial risk to invest in a young artist but also has a high return if you're in it for the long-haul.
Just watching Spencer from an up-close and personal perspective, it's easy to realize how much a male voice changes over a few short months. Notes and range vary as do the ability to pull off skilled maneuvers with notes and range. Girl singers face the same challenge. The oftentimes airy head voice they use to sing at a young age becomes awkward sounding as they grow older if they don't find their chest voice.
That being said, dealing with the balance of technique and method versus performance quality is tough. Hitting the high note or finding the low note in the midst of also enunciating lyrics is something that can be truly difficult to pull off. That is where practice and experience can create the authentic voice.
Another issue is that what is popular on the radio and among peers can heavily influence what a young voice tries to emulate. If R&B is a genre that seems to be hitting a lot of youth at the time, singers will switch their vocal performance to sound like that. If it's country, then "Open up them doors and let the light shine in".
Working with Diane Sheets in Nashville (vocal coach to some of country and Christian music's most known artists), we have learned a lot about understanding Spencer's voice. She was very passionate about making sure we did NOT get him formal training. She said the biggest turn off is to hear a vocalist who sounds trained. They just are too rigid and too mechanical about their singing. You can just hear it. They don't flow. She said that Spencer has a natural singing method that she wants to preserve and not mess with. The challenge, however, is that he had some bad habits that could damage his vocal chords in the long run. To that, she was very particular about fixing. She didn't want to address his ability to sing runs or hit glass-breaking notes. She wanted more to ensure that his voice was conditioned to handle doing 5 concerts in a week without going hoarse.
So the first few meetings we had with her, it was very enlightening to understand things from her perspective. She is a professional vocal coach who deals with professional singers who are earning their living using their voice. She looks at it from a non-creative standpoint (to some extent) and more from a "This is your tool that will earn your living, and you need to know how it works and how to make sure you don't break it." standpoint. She was not concerned about whether he sounded like so-and-so or could hit notes in the rafters. She was more concerned that he learn how to use the tool for a lifetime of use.
I have to take an aside here, because I grew up with the belief that unless I sounded like the best singers I knew, I wasn't a good singer. So I spent years doing my best to sound like certain singers and never really thought much about what it may be doing to my vocal chords. So I had a bias of being concerned that Spencer learn the technique to pull off sounding like so-and-so.
Diane quickly picked up on this perspective and asked Spencer to name the artists he admired most in music. One artist he mentioned was Adam Levine, of Maroon 5. Diane was quick to point out that Adam's voice was unique because he didn't have to do the vocal acrobatics that Christina Agiulera does to perform a song or Mariah Carey does to scrape the ceiling of high notes and runs. Adam is a "straight" singer which hits each note and just performs (interprets them) with rhythmic excellence. He doesn't have to do all the gymnastics and contorted maneuvers to sound good.
When she explained it that way, it removed a huge weight that society placed on Spencer to have mad skills as a singer.
Further to this, when we had intimate conversations about Spencer's career with the Grammy and Dove nominated and winning producer that has been the executive producer of Spencer's music so far, he explained another reality about the world of music.
He told me that if you lined up 100 of the top selling artists in the world of music, about 5 of them may be insanely talented with vocal abilities. The other 95 having figured out how to write amazing lyrics and melodies, or are just amazing performers. This reality made sense to me. Look at Bob Dylan, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen. All of them are highly successful artists, but none have the vocal prowess that creates a standard to achieve. All of them have used other skills to engage an audience and the fans they have. Bob wrote amazing music, Madonna reinvents herself every 7 years to remain intriguing and Bruce puts on 4 hour concerts that blow your mind because of his energy.
So, when considering a young person's VOCAL PERFORMANCE, there needs to be some reality injected. Don't get too carried away with excellence or sounding like so-and-so. It's more about making sure the bases are covered (tone, pitch, dynamics, etc.) and that their confidence when singing is authentic. They sing in the range they are technically able to sing within without damaging or hurting themselves in the process of eeking out the note. Then, let nature do it's part of the physical development of the tool. Puberty is cruel, especially when it comes to the male voice.
I'd rather listen to a singer who is comfortable and confident performing a song in their natural voice, than to hear them try to pull off sounding like someone they are not.
For an artist trying to carve their own path, it can be very tricky to be an original. Sadly, the radio is full of sound-alikes. The business side of the music industry requires a certain quota of cookie-cutter music that consumers just seem to ravage and, well, consume. Because of that, it can be very easy for an artist to emulate what's already on the radio and pin a badge of pride on themselves since they can pull off sounding like Whitney Houston or Justin Bieber. It's a very, very tough balance.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Hearing an emerging artist do a cover of another song often reveals that the artist aspires to have the vocal abilities of the original artist. That's a compliment to the original artist. It's like watching a player study the moves of their sports hero and try to execute them during a game.
Finding your voice and sound is as difficult as predicting the future. This is especially true with the young voice. No amount of practice, skill, or intention can prepare you for what the voice will eventually become. There are simply too many physical characteristics evolving that nature itself must deal with before knowing what a voice can become. For that matter, it is a high financial risk to invest in a young artist but also has a high return if you're in it for the long-haul.
Just watching Spencer from an up-close and personal perspective, it's easy to realize how much a male voice changes over a few short months. Notes and range vary as do the ability to pull off skilled maneuvers with notes and range. Girl singers face the same challenge. The oftentimes airy head voice they use to sing at a young age becomes awkward sounding as they grow older if they don't find their chest voice.
That being said, dealing with the balance of technique and method versus performance quality is tough. Hitting the high note or finding the low note in the midst of also enunciating lyrics is something that can be truly difficult to pull off. That is where practice and experience can create the authentic voice.
Another issue is that what is popular on the radio and among peers can heavily influence what a young voice tries to emulate. If R&B is a genre that seems to be hitting a lot of youth at the time, singers will switch their vocal performance to sound like that. If it's country, then "Open up them doors and let the light shine in".
Working with Diane Sheets in Nashville (vocal coach to some of country and Christian music's most known artists), we have learned a lot about understanding Spencer's voice. She was very passionate about making sure we did NOT get him formal training. She said the biggest turn off is to hear a vocalist who sounds trained. They just are too rigid and too mechanical about their singing. You can just hear it. They don't flow. She said that Spencer has a natural singing method that she wants to preserve and not mess with. The challenge, however, is that he had some bad habits that could damage his vocal chords in the long run. To that, she was very particular about fixing. She didn't want to address his ability to sing runs or hit glass-breaking notes. She wanted more to ensure that his voice was conditioned to handle doing 5 concerts in a week without going hoarse.
So the first few meetings we had with her, it was very enlightening to understand things from her perspective. She is a professional vocal coach who deals with professional singers who are earning their living using their voice. She looks at it from a non-creative standpoint (to some extent) and more from a "This is your tool that will earn your living, and you need to know how it works and how to make sure you don't break it." standpoint. She was not concerned about whether he sounded like so-and-so or could hit notes in the rafters. She was more concerned that he learn how to use the tool for a lifetime of use.
I have to take an aside here, because I grew up with the belief that unless I sounded like the best singers I knew, I wasn't a good singer. So I spent years doing my best to sound like certain singers and never really thought much about what it may be doing to my vocal chords. So I had a bias of being concerned that Spencer learn the technique to pull off sounding like so-and-so.
Diane quickly picked up on this perspective and asked Spencer to name the artists he admired most in music. One artist he mentioned was Adam Levine, of Maroon 5. Diane was quick to point out that Adam's voice was unique because he didn't have to do the vocal acrobatics that Christina Agiulera does to perform a song or Mariah Carey does to scrape the ceiling of high notes and runs. Adam is a "straight" singer which hits each note and just performs (interprets them) with rhythmic excellence. He doesn't have to do all the gymnastics and contorted maneuvers to sound good.
When she explained it that way, it removed a huge weight that society placed on Spencer to have mad skills as a singer.
Further to this, when we had intimate conversations about Spencer's career with the Grammy and Dove nominated and winning producer that has been the executive producer of Spencer's music so far, he explained another reality about the world of music.
He told me that if you lined up 100 of the top selling artists in the world of music, about 5 of them may be insanely talented with vocal abilities. The other 95 having figured out how to write amazing lyrics and melodies, or are just amazing performers. This reality made sense to me. Look at Bob Dylan, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen. All of them are highly successful artists, but none have the vocal prowess that creates a standard to achieve. All of them have used other skills to engage an audience and the fans they have. Bob wrote amazing music, Madonna reinvents herself every 7 years to remain intriguing and Bruce puts on 4 hour concerts that blow your mind because of his energy.
So, when considering a young person's VOCAL PERFORMANCE, there needs to be some reality injected. Don't get too carried away with excellence or sounding like so-and-so. It's more about making sure the bases are covered (tone, pitch, dynamics, etc.) and that their confidence when singing is authentic. They sing in the range they are technically able to sing within without damaging or hurting themselves in the process of eeking out the note. Then, let nature do it's part of the physical development of the tool. Puberty is cruel, especially when it comes to the male voice.
I'd rather listen to a singer who is comfortable and confident performing a song in their natural voice, than to hear them try to pull off sounding like someone they are not.
THE "COVER" SONG
Reality TV shows like American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice or X-Factor have built their entire audience and contestant list from featuring cover songs every episode. It is a glorified karaoke contest with millions of fans at home singing along. It's a clever way to judge skill and ability while having a baseline to compare against the original artist. The only problem is, we see contestants trying to improve upon a known product that consumers have already had sometimes years to ingest.
While I don't approve of the gratuitous sexual aspects of the tv show Nashville, I do appreciate the realistic storylines and characters which are smack-dab in the midst of various stages of a career. In one episode, a song-writer was crooning a new song in his livingroom with his guitar while another artist watched him "create" on the spot. The artist shook his head and said that he finally understands what kind of artist he is. He told the song-writer, "You are a true artist, because you can create amazing music from nothing. I am a true performer, because I can take someone else's creation and perform it well."
That statement stuck with me. It occurs to me that some artists are not truly innovators of music, but just performers. They are able to take someone else's creation and make it sound authentic. This is the essence of the COVER SONG.
Many artists are passionate about singing "covers" of other artists because they are able to "sound similar" to those famous artists. Many fans hear those cover songs and become interested in that artist. Youtube is full of artists that sound like someone else, but in the business side of being an artist, a few things will happen when you build your hopes on using cover songs to start a career. You will either become a well-known cover artist or band, or people will move on to the next cover artist who creates a fan base doing what you've done. Singers like Tori Kelly and Joseph Somo, for example, have huge fan bases from their covers, but they've taken the approach of NOT sounding like the original artist and making their own version of the same song. This is a very useful method of growing beyond the karaoke track method most artists are content doing.
However, there will come a time in a career when creating original music must happen, and that introduces a whole different set of challenges and hills to climb.
My son, Spencer Kane, has gone through some frustrating live concerts where he is annoyed by fans not reacting and just staring at him when he thinks he's pouring out everything he has on stage. I've taken him aside a few times to remind him that he is not a "cover" artist and most fans are seeing him perform his original music for the first time, so they don't know words, can't get excited about what's coming next, etc. They are more evaluating whether he is a true artist or not. There is no relatability for them. For that reason, he started putting a few covers in his live set and that added some relatability that fans could connect with and sing along. It actually helped them relax and have fun. I told him until he has a radio hit that fans come to the concert to see him perform, it will always be a "cold call" sales job to a degree. At least they are a captive audience saying, "I'm here, now entertain me."
A good friend and multi-Grammy and Dove nominated and winning producer told me some great advice about Spencer's career. He shared that it is very important for Spencer to understand that every performance is like a politician speech. Every business meeting is a politician fundraising event. Every press interview is like a politicians interview. The audience (fans) are like constituents that need to believe in the politician. They need to be convinced that politician cares about them and their ideals, passions, and goals. In that sense, doing cover music makes the artist more likeable to a lot of fans. But it's a delicate balance when people finally get to know the artist and keep hearing the same stuff over and over. They get bored and want something new. So in that sense, the cover song can be a great door opener, but as soon as you have "sold" yourself to the customer (fans) then you need to show that you are more than just a door opener type act. I want to get back to that politician metaphor in later blogs. So remember that.
Covers can be a curse too.
Some artists will simply never have a performance that is strong enough to exceed the original artist's version. Simon Cowell said it often on American Idol about contestants that would take on songs from divas. Unless you are able to exceed the original artists version, it can be a mess, or in a more kind way, just "ok".
When dealing with young people (kids and teens) who are trying to make it, cover songs are the most logical step, but even then, song choice and lyric content are critical to having authenticity. This is probably the most critical part of dealing with young people in the industry, song choice and authenticity.
One thing that we've learned is that "industry" people (labels, managers, venue owners, etc.) are quick to spot authenticity. Does the artist come across as authentic or as a puppet? This was perhaps the hardest lesson to learn when developing Spencer so far. Does he come across as authentic?
Authenticity in cover songs is tough to pull off. Matching the emotion, interpretation of lyrics, the energy or lack of energy in the music are all part of being authentic. A lot of young kids have skill in their voice. They can do "runs" or "adlibs" that seem authentic. Compared to sports, it's like they are able to do the spin move on the court before making a layup. You can tell they've practiced the moves (vocally). Or in some cases, you can spot voices that are "trained" with coaches, because they hit each note, they visually take their breathing cues on time and their mouth moves properly. This isn't bad, but it can come across as being a "trained puppet" who lacks authenticity. It doesn't mean you shouldn't practice or get training, it simply means that how you perform after having those can make a huge difference on authenticity. Sometimes kids who are voice trained with certain techniques are unable to come across as authentic because of song choice of covers.
For example, it seems that most kids feel that if they can pull off R&B like vocals (runs, adlibs, grunts and groans) they are supposed to be gifted artists. They choose R&B cover songs that have amazing melodies and require serious skill to sing, but they forget that some of those songs are about adult themes that just do not ring true when a kid sings it. So regardless of the skills shown, they can seem "inauthentic" because the lyrics just don't work.
I filmed a music video for a 16 year old female singer once. She was a trained gospel singer (church singer) who obviously had church choir solo vocal quality, but she was singing a song about going to a club and getting into it with another girl about a guy. It was everything I could do to film that video without wanting to grab her parents and say, "Why is she singing about a club when she's not even old enough to get into one?" I just didn't believe her performance or the song. It featured her vocals nicely, but it just didn't work. Unfortunately, the parents spent thousands of dollars on her album, which was full of "inauthentic" songs, and she never continued pursuing singing after her album never sold much and her concerts dwindled to nothing because the "cute" factor went away when she was trying to be Beyonce.
The fact is, choosing a cover song is hard. It should be. Most kids choose songs they know their fans listen to or a song where they can feature their skills. That's a short-sided view with short-sided result potential. It's not going to build long-term success, but it may create short term hype.
Looking back at some covers Spencer has done over the years we realized that he simply did them to show skill and neglected to realize that he wasn't authentic. Now, when he chooses a cover, he tries to find topics in music that the listener would believe he could sing about and be genuine. Simply, age appropriate.
So, what's the bottom line here? In order of importance:
While I don't approve of the gratuitous sexual aspects of the tv show Nashville, I do appreciate the realistic storylines and characters which are smack-dab in the midst of various stages of a career. In one episode, a song-writer was crooning a new song in his livingroom with his guitar while another artist watched him "create" on the spot. The artist shook his head and said that he finally understands what kind of artist he is. He told the song-writer, "You are a true artist, because you can create amazing music from nothing. I am a true performer, because I can take someone else's creation and perform it well."
That statement stuck with me. It occurs to me that some artists are not truly innovators of music, but just performers. They are able to take someone else's creation and make it sound authentic. This is the essence of the COVER SONG.
Many artists are passionate about singing "covers" of other artists because they are able to "sound similar" to those famous artists. Many fans hear those cover songs and become interested in that artist. Youtube is full of artists that sound like someone else, but in the business side of being an artist, a few things will happen when you build your hopes on using cover songs to start a career. You will either become a well-known cover artist or band, or people will move on to the next cover artist who creates a fan base doing what you've done. Singers like Tori Kelly and Joseph Somo, for example, have huge fan bases from their covers, but they've taken the approach of NOT sounding like the original artist and making their own version of the same song. This is a very useful method of growing beyond the karaoke track method most artists are content doing.
However, there will come a time in a career when creating original music must happen, and that introduces a whole different set of challenges and hills to climb.
My son, Spencer Kane, has gone through some frustrating live concerts where he is annoyed by fans not reacting and just staring at him when he thinks he's pouring out everything he has on stage. I've taken him aside a few times to remind him that he is not a "cover" artist and most fans are seeing him perform his original music for the first time, so they don't know words, can't get excited about what's coming next, etc. They are more evaluating whether he is a true artist or not. There is no relatability for them. For that reason, he started putting a few covers in his live set and that added some relatability that fans could connect with and sing along. It actually helped them relax and have fun. I told him until he has a radio hit that fans come to the concert to see him perform, it will always be a "cold call" sales job to a degree. At least they are a captive audience saying, "I'm here, now entertain me."
A good friend and multi-Grammy and Dove nominated and winning producer told me some great advice about Spencer's career. He shared that it is very important for Spencer to understand that every performance is like a politician speech. Every business meeting is a politician fundraising event. Every press interview is like a politicians interview. The audience (fans) are like constituents that need to believe in the politician. They need to be convinced that politician cares about them and their ideals, passions, and goals. In that sense, doing cover music makes the artist more likeable to a lot of fans. But it's a delicate balance when people finally get to know the artist and keep hearing the same stuff over and over. They get bored and want something new. So in that sense, the cover song can be a great door opener, but as soon as you have "sold" yourself to the customer (fans) then you need to show that you are more than just a door opener type act. I want to get back to that politician metaphor in later blogs. So remember that.
Covers can be a curse too.
Some artists will simply never have a performance that is strong enough to exceed the original artist's version. Simon Cowell said it often on American Idol about contestants that would take on songs from divas. Unless you are able to exceed the original artists version, it can be a mess, or in a more kind way, just "ok".
When dealing with young people (kids and teens) who are trying to make it, cover songs are the most logical step, but even then, song choice and lyric content are critical to having authenticity. This is probably the most critical part of dealing with young people in the industry, song choice and authenticity.
One thing that we've learned is that "industry" people (labels, managers, venue owners, etc.) are quick to spot authenticity. Does the artist come across as authentic or as a puppet? This was perhaps the hardest lesson to learn when developing Spencer so far. Does he come across as authentic?
Authenticity in cover songs is tough to pull off. Matching the emotion, interpretation of lyrics, the energy or lack of energy in the music are all part of being authentic. A lot of young kids have skill in their voice. They can do "runs" or "adlibs" that seem authentic. Compared to sports, it's like they are able to do the spin move on the court before making a layup. You can tell they've practiced the moves (vocally). Or in some cases, you can spot voices that are "trained" with coaches, because they hit each note, they visually take their breathing cues on time and their mouth moves properly. This isn't bad, but it can come across as being a "trained puppet" who lacks authenticity. It doesn't mean you shouldn't practice or get training, it simply means that how you perform after having those can make a huge difference on authenticity. Sometimes kids who are voice trained with certain techniques are unable to come across as authentic because of song choice of covers.
For example, it seems that most kids feel that if they can pull off R&B like vocals (runs, adlibs, grunts and groans) they are supposed to be gifted artists. They choose R&B cover songs that have amazing melodies and require serious skill to sing, but they forget that some of those songs are about adult themes that just do not ring true when a kid sings it. So regardless of the skills shown, they can seem "inauthentic" because the lyrics just don't work.
I filmed a music video for a 16 year old female singer once. She was a trained gospel singer (church singer) who obviously had church choir solo vocal quality, but she was singing a song about going to a club and getting into it with another girl about a guy. It was everything I could do to film that video without wanting to grab her parents and say, "Why is she singing about a club when she's not even old enough to get into one?" I just didn't believe her performance or the song. It featured her vocals nicely, but it just didn't work. Unfortunately, the parents spent thousands of dollars on her album, which was full of "inauthentic" songs, and she never continued pursuing singing after her album never sold much and her concerts dwindled to nothing because the "cute" factor went away when she was trying to be Beyonce.
The fact is, choosing a cover song is hard. It should be. Most kids choose songs they know their fans listen to or a song where they can feature their skills. That's a short-sided view with short-sided result potential. It's not going to build long-term success, but it may create short term hype.
Looking back at some covers Spencer has done over the years we realized that he simply did them to show skill and neglected to realize that he wasn't authentic. Now, when he chooses a cover, he tries to find topics in music that the listener would believe he could sing about and be genuine. Simply, age appropriate.
So, what's the bottom line here? In order of importance:
- Lyrics are believable for the age of the singer
- Vocals are sung in an original way without trying too hard to sound like the original artist. Make the vocals your own.
- Choose songs that the primary audience (fans) know the words to and can sing along.
- If possible, find an arrangement or create an arrangement that differs from the original so that it presents the artist as innovative more than trying to be a sound-alike.
It's not easy to find songs that meet all 4 criteria, but when you can, it will make the artist stand out above the thousands of other artists doing the same song. Even then, sometimes there are factors that will not cause the song to be so amazing that fans jump on board as much as you'd like.
Friday, November 22, 2013
WHAT'S THIS BLOG ABOUT ANYWAY?
Well, for most of my childhood and adult life, I've always been involved in music in some form or another. Whether it was school choir, family night at home using a comb to sing Michael Jackson's song "Ben" for my parents and siblings, performing on stage in musicals as an adult, earning an invite to the school of music at IU, or simply crooning at karaoke, I've just been a music junky. Mom used to play albums on the console stereo as she cleaned house and introduced us to some oldies like Andy Williams, Perry Como or the amazing Lou Rawls. With older siblings, I had my indoctrination of top 40 hits from Casey Casum every week and learned the edgy and scary sounding hard rock from my older brother when he blared it loud in his hidden cave of a bedroom in the basement.
But when I was introduced to Jesus in my early teens during a rough period of family matters, music took on a different role at an inner heart level. I understood the amazing emotion that connects me to God through music and to other people. Most people call it "soul", but whatever it is labeled, there is an aspect of music that transcends daily life and reality. Some artists and melodies just hit us the right way and connect us to times, events, people, or emotions that we may bury or tuck away because they are hard to handle. That first kiss, the song from our wedding, that hard break up, that experience in church where we sensed God's presence like never before, that song played at a funeral of a loved one, the TV theme song we rattle in our head from time to time, or even the period music from centuries ago that still grips on to our imagination and carries us to another time and place. All music has some intellectual and emotional connection for us that somehow causes us all to find a common ground.
For the past 10 decades in America, it has become a commercial industry that many of us have tried to navigate personally or through someone we know. In my case, it has been both personal and through my own son that I've become part of an industry that is ever evolving and, because of technology, rapidly changing the way consumers obtain the creative products of artists all around the world.
There. I've laid a pretty basic foundation of where I've been in this universe of sound and hopefully given you a basis for why this blog is important for me to write. So, let me set some objectives of what I hope this blog accomplishes for me and anyone who reads it.
FOR ME
But when I was introduced to Jesus in my early teens during a rough period of family matters, music took on a different role at an inner heart level. I understood the amazing emotion that connects me to God through music and to other people. Most people call it "soul", but whatever it is labeled, there is an aspect of music that transcends daily life and reality. Some artists and melodies just hit us the right way and connect us to times, events, people, or emotions that we may bury or tuck away because they are hard to handle. That first kiss, the song from our wedding, that hard break up, that experience in church where we sensed God's presence like never before, that song played at a funeral of a loved one, the TV theme song we rattle in our head from time to time, or even the period music from centuries ago that still grips on to our imagination and carries us to another time and place. All music has some intellectual and emotional connection for us that somehow causes us all to find a common ground.
For the past 10 decades in America, it has become a commercial industry that many of us have tried to navigate personally or through someone we know. In my case, it has been both personal and through my own son that I've become part of an industry that is ever evolving and, because of technology, rapidly changing the way consumers obtain the creative products of artists all around the world.
There. I've laid a pretty basic foundation of where I've been in this universe of sound and hopefully given you a basis for why this blog is important for me to write. So, let me set some objectives of what I hope this blog accomplishes for me and anyone who reads it.
FOR ME
- I get overwhelmed daily with the amount of information I come upon in managing my son's career and just feel it is a great way for me to journal my discoveries along the way and hopefully keep record of what to do and not to do going forward.
- I find writing to be cathartic and hope to be published one day.
- I know so many people trying to make a career of music for themselves or their kids that I find it important to share the realities we have faced and see others facing along the way.
- Hopefully continue to build a good network of friends doing the same as me with their child.
FOR YOU
- Provide some truth to the muddy waters of this industry and all the things you can be sucked into believing about the journey.
- Provide some resources you can go to for helping along the way.
- Provide some insight into the cold reality of the "machine" we call the music industry.
- Give some advice from a marketing perspective, since that's what I have done professionally for 25 years.
- Make you smile at least once while reading a blog.
- Be a personal resource to answer questions you may have that I haven't covered yet in blogs.
If these goals can be achieved, I'll feel like this effort is worthwhile and keep posting.
Please feel free to give me feedback if you want. My email is phox6801@gmail.com. So send me a message if you want :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)