Too Sexy But Not Too Successful?
by Lang Bliss
Remember when that song, “I’m too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt …” was huge? I was writing for BMG at the time and there were “encouragements” to write a hit like that.
I was about ready to “ralph,” and it made me start thinking about what success really is. Well, I just got a dual question from an artist that reminded me of just that. They asked:
“How do we expect to be successful artists if everyone else around us is trying to be? Is it really possible for everyone to be the next Slipknot or Mariah Carey? How does that work? Secondly, what if you’re an artist who writes metal, folk, and techno songs – could you combine that material into one successful album?”
Well the first question, I think, really gets to the core issue of how bad do you want to do this thing called music? I don’t mean to sound cold-hearted, truly; I’ve been pursuing a career in music for 25 years and I’ve had times when I looked successful, and more times when I didn’t.
You can’t really worry about the odds if you have any intention of staying committed to your pursuit. In every field, whether it’s music, baseball, law or plumbing, there will always be other people going for it. Certain fields will have more people trying to succeed in it than others.
So if you want your success to be based on less competition, this question makes a lot of sense. But if you’re driven by passion and you just have to do it, then the argument of other people doing it as well just falls to the ground.
No, not everyone can be the next Slipknot or Mariah. But once again, you don’t do it to be THEM, do you? You want to do it because you love it.
Leave the success of your pursuit out of the equation (at least for the beginning), or you’ll get frustrated when you don’t see enough of it. Let your passion be the motivator and learn all that you can about how to be successful. Then just do it.
But don’t compare yourself to others; you’ll always find someone else who’s doing it better. And with too much of that info, you’ll want to quit.
Question 2: Yes, by all means! Come up with a whole new style combining all of those elements; that sounds cool to me!
Lang Bliss, Live Music Producer
Re-Posted with permission from On Stage Success
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