Managing Your Singing Career
By Tom Gauger
As a professional singer singing on many sessions including, FOX TV, UPN TV Station ID’s, O’Charley’s and numerous others, it is not always easy to manage one’s singing career - Balance that out with the hectic day to day and family time, it’s not an easy task, especially when session singing isn’t always 9 to 5. Even as an up and coming session singer, it’s often difficult at best, to maintain a full calendar, paying the bills, and making time for friends and family. So how does one go about managing their career when breaking into the business? How do individuals break down their days and weeks into workable goals as they try to enter the jingle singing and session singing world? Those are great questions, and with the time remaining, I will try to incorporate some ideas that you can work into your singing career to try and improve your odds of not only obtaining session work, but do it in such a way as to maintain emotional harmony.
To begin with, most individuals don’t really sit down and create a to do list, not to mention any goal setting of any kind and tend to work from a half-hazard approach. Let’s start with workable goals and game plans to get started on the right foot for success. I’ve always thought it incredibly important to write down a to do list not only to keep myself motivated, but to actually know and remember what the heck I’m suppose to get done this day or week. If you haven’t done so already, take time each day and set your goals and to do’s in order of importance. I actually write the telephone number right by the name of the individual to be called so I’m not looking for any numbers making calls.
When I started ReelMusician.com, there were many loose ends and ideas that were not totally figured out. I often spent hours over a cup of coffee not only relaxing, but brainstorming and eventually, ReelMusician.com was born and has become widely known as the jingle singer’s resource for breaking into the jingle singing industry. Make it a habit of getting out to Starbucks, your front porch, somewhere where you can dream and brainstorm. Whenever I start on an individual’s jingle demo reel, I’m constantly looking at musical ideas and marketing avenues of best success for a particular singer and their working jingle demo reel – It’s one thing to produce a jingle demo reel and another to look long-term at the singer’s career path and helping them to achieve their goals. Make it a practice to take time out for yourself, relaxing with a cup of coffee and brainstorming.
As a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency, I worked diligently every day making phone calls and setting up booking dates for various country artists – many household name acts. When I first became an agent there many lessons that I learned and many incredible booking agents to learn from. While I realize that many of you reading won’t get the opportunity to work at an organization such as William Morris, I am equally aware that no matter your circumstances, that you can learn from the day to day marketing of one’s music, mistakes, successes and from others who are approachable and who are willing to give you some time and insight. I should make an important side note here, that just as when you give your resume to ten supposed experts, that you will receive ten different comments and ways that you should change your resume, you will have to watch out for all of the “experts” in the music industry as well. Take in as much information as you can and then sift it through what I call the ego colander. Is the individual real or are they looking to impress you with their knowledge and “wisdom.”
As you approach music
industry professionals about your singing career, what kind of demo
tape are you running with? Is it smokin like the
What does your press kit, bio pictures and CD sleeve look like? Is it quality or look and read like a member of the band or a friend put it together? Make sure that everything you include, going to any music business professional, look and sound like the cream of the crop. There is just too much competition out there to be running with sub par material. There are a multitude of resources for this kind of thing. If you need more ideas you may visit ReelMusician.com for artist press kit writing ideas, what to include, what not to include, and various artist resources.
What are you doing to maintain your contacts and music industry info. You better have a good rolodex system – one that allows for changing entries and overwriting. You want to keep up to date information with changing contacts and numbers and most previos conversation material close at hand. You can do this hand written, but as you know, it is a heck of a lot easier to maintain in the computer. The only problem I find when I talk to individuals, is that they don’t continue to create entries or update them even with the help of the computer. I say whatever works, use it – Just make sure and have a filing and rolodex system in working order.
In closing, so much more could be written, and perhaps in future articles I will enhance this topic, but for now, keep at it, make sure you have set your goals with a to do list for each day and week, working with the best possible singer demo and press kit materials to go along with it and keep at it!
Mr Gauger is a former talent booking agent
with the