How to become a popular musician

First of all, when answering the question about how to "become popular and rich", it is worth noting that the path to success in America and, let's say, in Belarus are completely different. If in America there are many stars who have become famous thanks to Youtube and an unexpected benefactor in the form of a producer or, in the case of Lana del ray, rich parents, but in Belarus things are somewhat different.

I don't know any musicians who have become popular and commercially successful thanks to the same youtube, although, of course, there are a lot of users from our country on this portal. But what if the soul still rushes to the musical Olympus?

In today's information society, as well as the Internet space, in my opinion, it is quite difficult for a young musician to break out and become commercially popular.

There are several reasons for this, first of all, the Internet in the form of social networks, lastfm, Internet radio, youtube and other services provides familiarization with millions of musicians, and thousands of tags, which leads to the fact that the musician may simply not be heard. Yes, this state of Affairs can be called excellent: there is competition, and, therefore, the output, as a result, should be a good musical product.

However, many musicians whose music can be heard on the above servers are exclusively Amateurs, often without musical education and basic knowledge of musical notation. Fans for whom music is just a hobby and they just want to share their own creativity with the public, often on an altruistic basis.

There are a lot of such fans, which leads to the fact that musicians who are aimed at success, and therefore monetary rewards, must try very hard to be seen and heard.

So what should a young musician from Belarus, who is confident in his own talent and a happy star, do? And if we have a good electronic label Foundamental Network, which produces a really decent music product. But what if our musician is not a fan of electronic music and likes, say, the popular five years ago direction of Indi rock? Things are more complicated here.

First, as you know, if a musician wants to become commercially successful, first of all, he needs to be released on physical media, subscriptions on the Internet, selling tracks for 0.99 cents on Itunes is of course great, but, unfortunately, this does not earn money.

In addition, we can also assume that our musician performs well live and therefore offer him a tour. But, unlike Solodukha (and we believe that Alexander Antonovich will succeed), our musician will not collect the Minsk Arena, and the DC MTZ is also unlikely.

Then there are various clubs and pubs where a novice musician will have to play either for a penny or for the applause of the audience and free alcohol.

But I was a little ahead of the curve. Here is a musical group that plays good songs in the style of Indi rock. They gather every week at a" point " near the Gorky Park metro station, where you can ask for additional drumsticks and a microphone for a fee.

And what should I do next? After all, you want to be heard. Advertising your favorites on social networks gives you little popularity – most often, only friends, musicians with similar tastes and similar problems subscribe to the public pages of such groups. The share of fans is about 5%.

The quality of audio recordings posted on the Internet is not very good – there are no funds for a good Studio, because the recording is made "artisanal" way, in an empty room, if you are lucky, upholstered with sound-proofing material.

Of course, there is a possibility to place video clips of your own production on youtube, but, unfortunately, without competent PR, such videos will disappear into Oblivion.

You can also place information about the band and a couple of audio recordings on bandcamp, but will this give the same result? In addition, posting information about the group on lastfm and a lot of tags added to the information about the group may add popularity, but it will not give the necessary funds on the way to success.

But, let's say, information about the band is posted on the Internet, the band rehearses three times a week on the spot, boasts a demo album, a good vocals of the lead singer and languid eyes of the bassist.

The group writes a list of pubs/bars/clubs in Minsk, where they may suddenly wink or even smile with luck and goes to talk to the owners or art Directors of these institutions. After giving out records or giving links to public pages on the Internet, the group is waiting for calls from institutions that have just opened a new star in the Belarusian musical sky.

Then, of course, they can be invited to perform at cover parties or even in the Graffiti itself, which definitely promises success, but the story may go differently and their only chance will be a bar in the DC MTZ, with questionable listeners and bands.

And this, in principle, the story could have ended. But, there is another option, the search for success in Russia. Try to get to know the art Directors of Moscow or St. Petersburg clubs or pubs.

Then performing at small concerts and perhaps at one of them, luck will smile brilliantly, and the band will be noticed by the producers. And there and before the glory and recording of a really worthwhile album is not far away.