← Back to podcasts

Positioning Yourself In The Singer’s Marketplace

2120 - Oct 2021

1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO POSITION YOURSELF?…IS THAT LIKE BRANDING?

Well, in todays’ world of Branding, there are many resources online and many very well written books where one can learn how to become a “Brand” and that is all very useful. A Brand, among other things, defines what you stand for as a person and as a commodity out there in the world of customers. However, long before you get to that stage, there are many decisions that you have to make that can be very confusing for some people. There are literally millions of all kinds of singers in this abundant world. 

To position yourself, you first have to ask deep questions about who you are as an artist? 

And the next question becomes…who am I in this creative landscape and where might I either fit in or blaze a trail of my own? And next the question is how do I take my first steps toward the goal of becoming a singer who is out there doing my thing? How do you stand out?  What exactly is "My Thing”? What are you interested in pursuing as a singer? What are your goals? What do you actually see yourself pursuing? Do you want to be a professional singer and make a name for yourself out there in the professional world? Not everyone who wants to sing wants to be a famous professional and some want to pursue that no matter how long it takes!

There are so many questions that are going to be asked and answered along the way and I thought I would focus on some of the beginning decisions that are necessary to go forward with some insight and at least a general plan. 

2. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT SOMEONE HAS TO ASK THEMSELVES?

Well, if the singer wants to position themselves in the very professional arena of successful singers, they have to know exactly what they are presenting to the Marketplace. And, they also have to know what area of the Music Business they are interested in. 

The music business is vast and until you are clear about what route you really want to take, it can be very confusing. You can begin by asking yourself some simple questions such as…What is my favorite music? Where would I like to perform? Where would I feel comfortable as an artist? What kind of musicians would I like to have on stage with me? Who would buy my kind of music? Who is my potential audience? What age group and style of person would be interested in my music? What would I wear? How would I want it all to sound and look? Of all the possible kinds of music that I could sing, what kind of music would I be able to sing and feel the most comfortable? What kind of music could hold all of me, my feelings and thoughts and beliefs and artistic expansiveness where I feel the most freedom? What kind of music makes me feel like everything all lines up? Am I going to try to write this music or am I going to need to find a songwriter who I can collaborate with or do I need someone to provide songs for me? What will bring the most joy to me and to my audience of fans? Who do I think my fans might be?

3. OF ALL THESE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ASKED, IS THERE ONE THAT ALL SINGERS HAVE IN COMMON?

Yes there is one thing they all have in common. Of all the many different kinds of singers on all levels and types in my long career as a teacher, whom I have met who actually want to pursue singing, there is one thing that they all have in common, they all have to decide what kind of music they really LOVE to sing.

Long before you are trying to brand your product, that is the one most important question that has to be answered. You have to really know what that kind of music is and you have to be in love with it! If you are going to dedicate all this time and effort towards a goal such as this, you really have to love what you are doing and you really have to love the music that you are singing.

I have met singers who have wonderful voices who can sing all kinds of songs from all different genres and who cannot make up their minds about which kind of music to sing and I always ask them: What kind of music really speaks to your soul? What music moves you all the way to your soul?

And Yes...I have also met many singers who know who they are, and they already know what kind of music they want to do and only that kind of music is for them.  Besides the professionals who are already doing the music they want to do, and who know who they are and what they are devoted to, there are many others who are just starting out and they are not that certain. No matter who they are, I always encourage them to deeply consider what kind of music makes them the most happy.

4. DO MOST OF THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH ALREADY HAVE PROFESSIONAL CAREERS?

No actually, I always have a broad range of students who are pursuing all different goals and types of ambitions. Many are professionals but many are not. I also teach all different age groups from children to older adults who just really love to sing or who used to sing and want to return to that again.  Some of the people I have trained have come to me with no ambitions of being famous for singing in the world. They might work in a club-date band or sing in a choir and do solo work, or they might sing in a wedding band, a traveling group specializing in Barbershop Quartets or Oldies or Tribute Bands. They might work in voice overs or make children’s records…the list goes on and on. There are many ways to be in the world as a singer and never leave the 50 mile radius of your home! Through the years, I have taught all different kinds of singers at all different levels who have a vast range of goals and ambitions. And again, they all have the same thing in common: they have figured out what they really want to sing and are pursuing that.

5. IS THERE A WAY TO HELP SOMEONE DECIDE WHAT THEY WANT TO SING WHEN THEY DON’T ALREADY KNOW?

Well the first decisions have to do with what you envision for yourself. Who are you inside? What kind of music do you really love?

Now sometimes the answer gets people confused because they love all kinds of music and they actually don’t have a vision. There is an exercise that I have always given to singers like that. 

I tell them to picture themselves going away somewhere like a vacation spot for an extended stay and they can only bring recordings with them of seven different artists or seven kinds of music that they love. For the entire trip that is the only music that they will listen to… no exceptions. This exercise narrows the music field down to a manageable amount. And, almost every time I have given this assignment, the way becomes very clear. Either you end up with a mixture of styles and it becomes a collage of music that you would either write or collect for yourself. Or, one of the recordings just seems to stand out from all the rest and a person discovers a path ahead. I have never seen it fail. What you find, if you pick only artists that you love and none other, is that the music you really want to do is somewhere in the seven recordings. It’s truly amazing. Sometimes, people just cannot see what is right in front of them and this is one very helpful assignment to clear the way toward that discovery.

It is important to remember that not all singers are interested in pursuing world wide fame and fortune from their singing. Many singers who have other professions besides music or who are retired from business careers, are out there singing on weekends for the love of it and some are having part time singing careers to fulfill their joy and artistry singing in the many clubs and lounges across the country because they love it and they find it fulfilling socially. To me, all these singers are contributing to themselves and to their audiences and enriching the lives of all the people they sing for. This is a very substantial part of the Singer’s Marketplace as well as the professionals we all choose to follow and listen to.

6. SO, LOOKING FURTHER INTO THE IDEA OF POSITIONING YOURSELF, WHAT ARE THE NEXT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Well, step one. Once you have the music defined for yourself, you have to know your outcome. 

There are other things you need to ask about your customers and about your ultimate goals. What is your Ultimate Goal?

It is very useful to write out your ultimate goal and what is your intention in placing yourself in your chosen corner of the market for your singing. Write it out with extensive elaboration. This is your blueprint. You want to either make this a plan that is very clear in your mind or written down very clearly somewhere where you can refer to it again and again as your plans unfold.

Where are you headed as an artist? What is your final destination? Where do you want to be in the next several years? What are your short term goals? Your long term goals? It is hard to follow a plan if you haven't clarified a plan for yourself.

You want to get really clear. In your plan as you envision it, are you a soloist? Are you the lead singer in a band? Are you a background singer in a band? Do you see yourself feeling comfortable singing for commercials and doing voice overs? Do you wish to be a recording artist? Are you going to be happy doing sessions and club dates? Would you like to travel or would you prefer to stay within a fifty mile radius of your home base? Do you see yourself singing on Cruise ships, dance halls, hospitals, lounges, or even stadiums? Dream clearly and dream big. Why Not? Design your outcome and make sure you love the vision you are creating.

Like I said earlier, you need to know who your customers are. Who are your future fans or who are your future audiences? You want to ask yourself: What group of people would want my voice, my image, my message in their homes, in their lives? What people would be interested in my point of view and who would want to buy that? Who would be interested in that kind of style of music, in that kind of sound recording? If you have already made a recording, does that recording fully represent you and what you are trying to convey to the listener or to the person who may be thinking of hiring you to sing?

7. WHAT COMES NEXT? WHAT IS STEP TWO?

Step Two is to make that career plan more specific based on your desired outcome. Once you know where you are going, it is so much easier to make a career plan and apply tactics strategies to make that plan a reality. Once you identify all of that and you know who would buy your voice, your music…you then want to seek out all the other singers who sell what you sell or want to sell. Who are your colleagues and who are my competitors. That is how you find your own part of the MARKETPLACE. You don’t have to sell to everyone.... You do, however, have to sell to your own particular corner of that marketplace. 

Those other artists are your competition and your teachers as well. What are they selling to the marketplace? They are in a unique position to help you define what you are doing. Your competition is your greatest teacher, comrade and ally. What you are looking for in the vast marketplace of the singing world in the corner of that world that you have now defined for yourself is…What is missing? What is not being sold that you can sell that cannot be duplicated by anyone else, especially by your competition. What is the unique thing that you can offer through your singing, your voice, your image, your persona and your reality that simply are distinctly your own? Now you are beginning to approach the idea of positioning yourself and that will ultimately lead to what is eventually going to lead to you branding yourself. 

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES PEOPLE ATTRACTED TO ONE SINGER OR ANOTHER?

I truly believe that upon hearing someone sing, a person feels a relationship to that sound and the singer creates that sound or they don’t. I think everyone has had the experience of hearing a person sing for the first time and upon hearing that sound they become connected to that singer forever. It is out of that relationship to you and to your voice and the sounds you make when sousing that a relationship and a bond gets formed and it is from that that they become fans and also customers. You create that relationship through that through the sound, through the presentation of that sound , through the presentation of your persona and through 

The musical genre that you are singing. As you develop as an artist and you continue to define and redefine yourself as an artist, your audience and your fans become more and more drawn to you because you’re offering something which simply cannot be found somewhere else. The unique and magical essence that you bring to the table is yours and only yours. And people will position you in their minds in relation to how you position yourself in the marketplace. As we all do, we will listen to the singers who touch our feelings and beliefs in a special way that makes you feel that they are singing to you and to your own personal story.

9. SO WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE STARTING THIS PROCESS?

Positioning yourself is about finding your position, your point of view, and finding a selling strategy and a willing audience. Positioning yourself is about making yourself a strong clear identifiable presence in the middle of thousands and thousands of artists. There is a lot of soul searching and in depth self study when you are pursuing this path. 

The strange thing is where exactly is your place? Where do you fit in and where do you stand out? Try not fitting in all at the same time?

Advice? Yes, dream big, stay goofy and ask for the Moon…Why Not?