Finding Musical direction, What type of artist do you want to be?

I guess this is one of the simplest questions out there but one of the most difficult to actually answer and land on. What type of artist am I? Any artist or singer will have probably grown up listening to not many, and in our modern times, thousands of artists, music genres and so much beautiful music that if we could pack everything up into one bundle then that would probably be us, but music does have its segments and classifications, so where do I as an artist fit in? That is where Finding Musical Direction and defining what type of artist I want to be comes in as a very important topic

You have your list of favorites and you want to be all of them? Don’t feel bad, this has happened to many artists before finding our true direction, and the good news is, music is not a static subject, it flows and changes form as it moves forward like water in a river, so don’t worry if its not completely defined for the moment, you will get the chance to change with time, but to begin your music process you do have to sit down with yourself and really make a choice as to where you want to start off.

Do you want to be a Country singer, a Pop act, an R n B, a Latin, regueton a mix or fusion? Whatever your answer is will determine a variety of factors like, your audience, your fan base, the type of image you will project, (Imagine puff daddy singing in a country outfit… It would look weird right?) the type of events you will attend to get exposure, etc.

When entering the world of professional music production I always ask artists that the first thing that is needed is to have a clear picture for what your desire is at the moment with yourself as an artist and where you want to take your music. This is very important because at the end of the day you will have to live with your songs and probably sing them for the rest of your life and carry with you the image that you project, so taking the time (not to much obviously) to make a conscious decision of where you want to go with yourself is very important in the process of becoming a successful artist and not to mention how much time and money you will save during your production and recording process.

Many artists specially young talented singers are many times brought on board on a boat where music executives and other people make these decisions for them based on their talent and because they “know better” but can anyone really tell you who you are?. Some acts only realize they have become something totally opposite from what they wanted to be when they are already too immersed in their careers and this is something that can be good and bad, it depends on how it is handled by every artist, but I do suggest young acts to at least have someone they trust to help them see the big picture of what they may be getting into.

So how do I figure out what artist I want to become? Well this is very spiritual question and my goal is not to dive into that aspect right now, but I will give you some practical tools and ideas that will give you a little insight on what direction to take:

<center/P>First I recommend you choose at least three of your favorite artists, artists that you really admire and would be willing to follow their footsteps, so ¿where is my originality? That is why you are picking three because you want to really differentiate what it is that you like the most about that particular artist, mybe its his music because his voice may not be so great, maybe it’s the looks, maybe from the other it’s the voice that the first one is missing, once you have a clear picture as to what are the aspects of these artists you like , writ them down on a list and fuse them into the artist that brings together these traits, in this case you.

The above exercise will also give a producer a type of vision as to where they can take your project.

One you have an Idea of the type of music you want to make you want to see if that music is going to be articulate with the image you are going to project as an artist, because as I said before, every market has its own boat that sails with the passengers that like the ride in that specific genre of music, so if the music you are going to make is a good representation of the environment and the image of how you see yourself as an artist, then you are on the right track.

The third exercise its to look at the potential Market of the music that would result from your selection, because let me tell you from experience, I may have done much better market wise if I became a Regueton singer when I started out but I would not be able to live with myself. So you have to set your priorities knowing that if you want to get into lets say “Pop “ Genre, you will have to compete with millions of “Pop “ acts trying to make it and deal with the “Pop” world if you are successful, and if you can see yourself there now and in the future, well that is a good sign your on the right track.

To summarize we all start out with our energy wanting it all, but to have it all we have to focus on a path, see who we are as artists and were we want reach. Once you define the type of artist you want to be at the moment, the genre of music that you want to make, and the market you want to tap into then you have laid down a solid foundation to move to the next step which is picking the right producer that can help you score the touchdown.

If you find this article helpful don’t hesitate to leave a comment or give me your feedback, I love hearing from you and your thoughts, and if you want to check out my album just click here.