Every artist knows, in order to be successful they need to be memorable!
There is an increasing pressure on the artist to develop themselves fully and completely, not just to write and produce outstanding original music, that’s a given. It’s not just to become a captivating performer, that’s a given too. Every artist who wants a career in the music business recognizes THEY are the business and as a result they need to go beyond the music and learn how to sell them self as a recognizable and memorable brand.
In the past, the main emphasis on the artist was to create the music and the record label or artist manager concentrated on how to market that music to the world.
Today, artists are expected to build their audience from the ground up, turning to social media, noticing what’s trending and engaging their fan base however possible.
I recognized early on in my career as a vocal producer and vocal coach to countless developing, emerging and established artists, the goal is not to be the ‘best’ singer or the ‘strongest’ performer, instead, I concentrate on helping artists find what makes them identifiable first. We then build skills around those qualities so the artist can empower themselves with what lights them up and making sure they can represent these qualities from the moment they walk into a writing room, a recording session, a rehearsal space, an audition, a performance and most certainly when they engage with their audience.
Every successful artist throughout history, has something recognizable, something undeniable and the most importantly something memorable about who they are. They allow these qualities to permeate everything they do, everything they say, what they wear, what they post on their socials and of course everything they create.
We all have come across crazy, talented singers and have watched amazing performances but have you ever noticed, after the show, you can’t remember the artist's name. You remember they were talented and you remember being entertained, all important things but if the artist didn’t standout in some way, it’s impossible for people to become a massive fan! In fact it’s harder and harder to truly standout in what has become an increasingly competitive and over saturated industry. Being memorable is key!
Strategies for being a Memorable artists are being someone who is interesting on and off stage, having something identifiable to the singing voice and speaking voice, making sure to connect to the audience on all kinds of interests, hobbies and passions.
As an artist myself, I recognized the struggle to define who I was. I invested thousands of dollars and years of training my vocal and performance skills but did not spend enough time developing myself. I didn’t know who I wanted to be as a unique artist. I had no idea how I wanted to connect to the audience. I had the skills to be able to shape and mold my vocal performance to suit any genre. I was able to change my vocal tone to suit any song and could sound exactly like what the producer wanted but I had no idea what I truly wanted my music to sound like.
Recording from the age of 16, I made at least 20 full albums before the age of 30 with various big-name producers in Toronto and Los Angeles. Many of my songs received national radio success and I have had several songs placed in TV shows. There was a buzz around me with the industry raving I was the next ‘big voice’ and the National Post stating I was ‘Canada’s Mariah Carey’. Even with all my small successes, the audience couldn’t figure out who I was because I changed so much from project to project. For example, in the span of 1 year, I released a pop project ‘If I Could’ under EMI and a jazz album ‘Quiet Nights’ under Universal. The audience couldn’t latch onto anything to become the massive fans I needed.
After well over a decade of pursuing an original career, I found myself disappointed, frustrated and exhausted from trying to please everyone else. I picked myself up and took my ability to be versatile into the corporate show scene where I have had a phenomenal career performing for small and large audiences all over the world. But deep in my heart I knew if I had access to strategies that could have helped me become a memorable artist, I could have had a much bigger career.
When I founded LVS 6 years ago, I made a commitment to coach the entire person, not just the voice. I have carefully designed my professional development programs to focus on strategies for artists to be able fill the gap between where they are and where they want to be, and on who they are and who they need to be to truly standout and be memorable.
We hosted our first ever emerging artist contest, ‘Becoming,’ last year to expand our commitment to reach more artists across Canada. An industry panel including Andrew King from Canadian Musician Magazine, awarded four Standout Artists including @Rachelcousins @Bukolamusic @caitinchambers and Tik Tok sensation @JESSIA Join our mailing list for your chance to submit to ‘Becoming’ in August, 2021.
It feels great to be able to create a place where artists of all contemporary genres can be a part of a supportive community. My unwaverig commitment to each artistis to truly define what makes them memorable.