Hey all.

I was in the studio with the owner, Kurt, and he basically stated that the Grammy’s aren’t honestly credible, and that it was mostly politics and that people can buy there way into “earning” a grammy...

I have also heard rumors that some of the big name artists purchase thousands of their own cds to be number the first week of release...

I also finally told my boyfriend of my music dream (he knew I made music all the time, but I want to take it seriously now) and he believes that many of the female artist are sleeping their way to the top.

How true do you think these three statements are? The grammy one and the whole “putting out” one kinda hurt. How much does actual talent matter? How hard is it to make it in this biz?

There is a large contingent of artists who think the Grammy’s are less than ‘respectable’ as a winnowing-out of the cream-of-the-crop of musical art. They have alternative concerts during the award ceremonies.

Manipulation of sales is a common modus operandi for getting noticed, risky, but done. L. Ron Hubbard’s promoters, the science-fiction writer who fabricated a fictional religion, Scientology, allegedly bought his books to get on the New York Times best-seller list. The bookstores, selling out, ordered more, and found the new shipment already had their sales stickers attached, apparently the recycled books they’d already sold once, or more.

Companies run magazines that give bad reviews of the competition, and glowing reviews of their own product, artists, writers, food, clothes, whatever they’re selling.

High-fructose-corn-syrup (HFCS) manufacturers had TV commercials for a while where a character pretends to say, “You know what they about HFCS.” Another character says, “No. What do they say?” And the first character acts, pretends, as if they don’t know what they’re talking about. The 2nd character then goes on to compare HFCS to plain, fiberless white sugar, the substance HFCS replaced in most processed foods in the 1980’s. In the next decade, 1990-2000, diabetes increased 60%. Since diabetes is a diet-related disorder (not a germ; not a gene) something had to have changed in the American diet. What was it? And why is high-fructose-corn-syrup trying to deceive you about it.

Ok. Examples of deception in commerce abound, as in politics, male-female relationships, and anywhere else humans want to manipulate results. So these things do go on in the music biz. Once it was called ‘payola,’ where labels paid radio stations to play their songs more, to promote their artist.

Sex for promotion? Yes. Of course. Late night TV has ads for videos of “Girls Gone Wild” where “Girls Go Stupid” and take off their clothes for...well...it’s not clear what they think they are going to get out of this. There seems to be no shortage of them though. And the ads claim they’re ‘college girls.’ I always wonder what they do when they’re applying for a job with their new college degree and the guy across the desk says, “Hmmm? You look familiar. Where have I seen..Oh! Oh yeah! Now I remember!”

But if you don’t have the product, which includes ‘the look,’ the musical talent, and the songs to display that talent, people will take advantage of your naivete’ knowing they’re not going to do a thing for you. And as long as you keep delivering they’ll keep promising, until they don’t want to anymore, or you figure it out. Even if you do have the talent, there are people who would take your sexual gifts and not care about you and your dreams.

Someone advised, ‘Blonde hair and big boobs will get you in the door; but once you get in the door you’ll see lots of other blondes with big boobs and you’d better have something else to offer to make your way to the marketplace. www.garyeandrews.com

WoW! Thank you for such an amazing response. I expect nothing less from you, Mr. Andrews!

I was just a little disheartened at the moment. I am really trying to take myself seriously as in artist, and am taking big steps for me and to me (which may not be big for some) and there’s this little voice that keeps saying “Is this a waste of time?” But I’ve never been happier trying to do something in all my life. But I’m surrounded by rational people who feel I have no chance. I don’t know, but whether I make it or not, I feel I have to give it a real effort.

Thanks again!!!

Julia there is only one person who directly affects your success: you.  That means you need to be willing to work hard, not just at songwriting and performing, but perhaps taking guitar lessons or dance lessons or going to Toastmasters so you feel comfortable talking in public.  Define what success is for you (for me it’s to be ‘in’ the music every day) and then assess where you are and what you need to know, what skills you need to have, what tools you need, in order to move towards that goal.  Write a business & marketing plan (say, for 5 years) for yourself as well.

THe voice in your head is just repeating all the programming that everyone else has given you.  Doing what you love is not a waste of time… but you need to sticktoit even when it feels like nothing is ever going to happen and even when everyone else says there isn’t a hope.  Because that’s what being an artist is - struggling against inner doubts to grow.

www.vikkiflawith.com

you might find this helpful
-- http://theshysinger-songwriter.blogspot.com/2009/06/thanks-but-no-thanks.html

Hey Julia,

What I have to say pales in the face of the above advice and inspiration, but I still gotta say it.......DON’T GIVE UP..........there I said it.  Really, don’t give up on your dream, on your belief in your self, on the little voice that tells you, I love this, I want this, I am not happy unless I do this.  Some may try, advertantly or in advertantly, to discourage you, for what ever reason, yet for all you, we, and they know, YOU might be the next BIG THING.  Soooo.....Don’t Give Up, feed the dream and watch it grow.

Ron

and I’ll add… that being famous is not necessarily the best choice - it carries a huge responsibility and a lot of pressure and a lot of other people having a say in what you do.  You need to define what it is that will light you up inside and set out to do it every day, and see where it takes you.  Know who you are and what is important to you so you can make healthy decisions.

Going into any endeavor with other people means you’ll be exposed to a variety of individual ‘sets’ of moral character.

This demands you decide just how much of a compromise of your own moral character is worth whatever you think you’re going to get out of it.

For example, once upon a time, in Silicon Valley, where all the computer companies were located back in the 1980’s, it was common to be offered cocaine in a business meeting, as common as coffee in most other settings.

To snort or not to snort; that was the question.

Men (or women) will try to become the lover of an attractive woman (or man), or even an unattractive one. A study of infidelity (mentioned today on National Public Radio 89.1 FM) found cheaters were often in happy marriages or relationships, and cheated anyway.

It is up to the woman or man to decide whether to participate, or to let them know that ‘offer’ is not acceptable. If handled with dignity, it may be passed and not a problem with continuing the business relationship. Especially if your marketability is more lucrative than their lust. And a strange phenomenon occurs when a person accepts an invitation to enter into a liaison which is not based on true affinity; they immediately lose respect for the object of their desire.

It demands real character and studiousness to see your place and your way into the market, with these potential pitfalls and stumbling blocks, managing your relationships, while pursuing a vision that is realistic, well-planned, and weaving its way through all that is NOT in your plan without being shunted into a footnote.

Come with your eyes open, and you can make a happy life in any endeavor you choose to study, with few regrets.

Thanks a lot, everyone. I see your points. I have also read the shysingersongwriter blog before and it the blog really spoke to me.

I am very grateful for this website because it gives me the opportunity to speak with wonderful people who have similar dreams and desires, all loving music.

I’m not going to give up. Life feels so surreal when I’m writing at home and singing in the studio and I love it. I may even be ready to take another big step and perform. I just want to be known for talent and feel as though I have an honest shot without hindering my morals or character.

Thanks again everyone!!

Hey Julia,

Bravo, I truely believe you have that burning desire, just don’t go getting famous on us with out keeping us posted.  Don’t ya just love happy campers?

Ron

LOL! Thanks, Ron! If it ever happens, songwriter101 will definitely be thanked!!

I feel like I have really bounced back. I just came back from the best studio session I have had so far. I truly feel like I am coming into my own and getting to know myself and my voice and and becoming my own person.

All of your words, and just taking the time to read my post and respond, means so much to me and helped me through my small bout. I’ll never be able to say “Thank you” enough!

Julia --

All the above responses are wonderful, and valid.  Have faith in yourself, be diligent in pursuing your goals, don’t sell yourself cheaply, and honor the Muse (which, in this case, might be either Calliope, Erato, or Euterpe, if I remember anything about the Greek myths) or whatever inspires you.

As for “buying” success, I’ve read that it costs about $17,500 or thereabouts to buy one of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (maybe the amount is wrong) but that’s the deal—people these days generally buy their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  (Sometimes a record company or movie studio will pay the costs for it for one of their stars, but Donald Trump probably bought his own.)

Measure success by what makes you happy—when you achieve a goal you’ve worked hard towards.  And—as Gary pointed out—high fructose corn syrup is very, very bad for you.  Eat healthy, drink water, practice vocal scales, and write, write, write.

Good luck to you!
Leigh
www.leighharrison.com
www.myspacemusic/leighharrisonmusic

Tony Bennett says, “I run my scales every day.”

A singer in a cover-song band, Exposed, has been practicing hitting notes the guitarist or keyboardist play, scales. They tell her the songs she sings after the practice are ‘truer’ in regard to her ability to hit the notes.

My brother says the first recipe for what to drink was the right formula; hydrogen, and oxygen, H2O. Every cell in your body needs hydration. Breathe clean air; drink clean water; eat clean food.

And I’ll second that motion (and emotion), “...write, write, write.” Writers write. Otherwise they can’t claim to be writers. Everything you write is experience toward the next thing you’ll write. I’ll add, read, read, read. Everything I read has a way of slipping into my writings.

I once read of a pig found swimming in the sea, exhausted and sunburned. It drank some water and laid down to rest. They said, because of its unknown origin, and the danger of disease, it would likely be destroyed; even after surviving whatever ordeal left it out in the ocean. It ended up in a song, “Let Me Be In Tennessee,” as , “I’ll show you the shadow, We found in the sea, And we gave all we had, Although, we couldn’t get back our lost dream.” The more you experience, in your own life, and the life of the world, the human world, the natural world, or the unlimited worlds you can read about, the more you have to write about, and the more able you will be to write about it. www.garyeandrews.com

Unfortunately, some of what I know about the music industry is quite disturbing, but it’s alot of artists with no writing skills of their own that are more prone to do all sorts of unGodly things to get anywhere as an artist. Think about it, all of us dream about being a rich and famous movie star, we all think about being a rich and famous rock and roll star. So with record labels and executives and scouts truly having the pick of the litter of plenty of hight talented artists, the unscrupulous ones will make wannabe artists do things you can never imagine. Take that fat b@stard that discovered all of those boy bands like N’Sync and Backstreet Boys. when the cops finally caught up with him, he was living in Thailand screwing young Thai boys to his heart content. There are stories that he made members of these now famous boy bands do the most nasty things you can imagine. And if you think these guys would ever say anything, knowing that their peers would make fun of them, call them g** and all sorts of crap, think again! Another case in point, the R&B boy band B2K came forward with allegations that the guy that gave them their break molested them, made the boys take showers with each other and the sick list goes on. Fact of the matter is that there is some extreme Sodom & Gommorrah crap going on behind the scenes of music....and film! How far will you go to realize your dream??? Have you noticed that preteen and early teen stars like when JoJo, Britney, Miley Cyrus were really young and yet were being kinda racy in their videos? Being sexed up in photo shoots and what not??? The reason for that is record execs know the schoolgirl thing appeal to alot of guys, mainly middle aged men. The unspoken truth is that men silently want to sleep with young girls like this, and so the record industry use that and bring that image to these guys through videos, pictures and what not. Women got it hard but believe it or not, men may actually have it harder because a guy trying to break in the business may have to blow or bendover for another guy! This all sounds sick and twisted but please believe me when I say that if you get mixed up with the wrong execs, your very moral fabric may be ripped to shreds.

Good luck

wow...julia I know exactly how you feel...and all of these guys are on here, mr andrews especially, have posted some great advice...but like Ron said dont give up!
and ill say dont let your boyfriend make you feel like you cant do it or shouldnt do it...you guys arent married so dont let him direct the way you want to go...if he cant handle that, sorry to say it, but maybe you will eventually have to move on from there...

anyyways, just like the other person, hummingbird said, put together figure out what you want, put together a game plan and go for it no matter what....

thats what I am having to do as well...

Good luck! I hope to see you famous and doing what you love!

Just my two bits.… but being famous is a different goal from being a respected musician, in my book.  I think you get to the place of respect by a) striving to learn your craft and consistently get better at what you do (a life long journey), b) effectively networking and ‘paying it forward’, c) being intelligent enough to educate yourself about the business & recognize opportunities, d) (back to ‘a’)being prepared so that when opportunities come your way you are ready for them.  Yes there are many sharks and users out there, however I have also found there are many lovely, generous and creative people out there too.  Be true to yourself, know what you need for your own happiness, and do your thing.  Be prepared to work your way up.  If you’re a singer/songwriter, play out and/or start a band.  If you’re an aspiring pop singer, take voice, take dance, take songwriting, take acting.  Have skills outside music that you can fall back on in lean times.  Don’t expect to be handed success on a platter, work hard and enjoy the little things you see along the way.  Find friends and partners who support you in your journey towards fully realizing your potential and in your daily practice of creativity and art.