During the course of looking for artists to manage I have encountered many female singers that fall into one of three categories: acoustic, electro-pop-dance or rock chicks.
Females have an advantage of commanding attention on stage in a way no male can. The can wear clothing and makeup that is far more interesting than male clothes. They have a different set of boundaries to their behaviour, stage show etc.
This article is not intended to be sexist but to acknowledge that there are some special challenges for female singers. I think there is some value in defining these challenges, examining them and considering some approaches that will mitigate the problems. Please note this is a generic article and being non specific I will make statements that are generalities.
Much of the electro-pop-dance music competes in the same market as Lady Gaga or Rihanna who have enormous production and marketing budgets. It is not an impossible market for locally based artists to crack. It appears that the best entry to this market is done in partnership with a DJ/Producer like the Madison Avenue partnership.
Without a partner who is a good musician and capable producer the female singer is trying to hire these skills that can become very expensive and it is difficult to find someone who will put their heart into it when they are just a hired gun.
Based on the idea of following the business practices of other successful acts, I suggest the female singer doing electro-pop-dance music find a partner with a home studio and serious musical skills.
Tip: You can teach a nerdy guy to dress well far more easily you can get a good dresser to become a better musician. A socially inept guy is more likely to spend time working on his music than be out partying.
The next problem is that much of a musician’s income comes from live performance. A gig with just you and your DJ/producer may look and sound like a karaoke show. To play live with any credibility you need to recruit some live musicians that could include guitarist, percussionist and a couple of female backing singers bringing it up to a 6 piece show. (Female singers, 2 backing singers, DJ/Producer/keyboards, Guitarist and percussionist.) Big enough to look like a real band and have credibility as a live show.
With your first dozen or so live gigs, partner with one or two acts like yourself and promote your own shows in venues that are agreeable to people promoting their own shows. These venues are NOT DJ dominated clubs. You want to make 100% of the door, not be a 20 minute diversion during the night.
There is a lot of competition in this market space and it is difficult to be outstanding. It is easy to write some words, put some music to them and find some musicians to put some other backing in an acoustic or folk style. That is why a lot pf people do it.
The nature of this music tends to work best in smaller more intimate venues. This fact limits the earning potential. The earning potential for this sort of act is lowered by too many acts working cheaply or for free. It is thus not something a pub has to pay a fair price for.
Build a business model that can succeed as a cottage industry. List yourself on www.ReverbNation.com etc. and start a blog. Becoming Internet savvy is nearly as important as singing in tune. Collect e-mail addresses and develop relationships with fans.
Search “musician revenue streams” on Google and see what comes up for alternative sources for your musician based business. There are many ways to diversify your income to make a living out of this. I know someone who makes more money selling signed posters of herself world wide from her web site than CD’s. Be creative with your merchandise ideas.
If you join a band as a female then you have to put up with all the boy’s shit and if it is a democratic band then you are still doing what the boys want. You are out voted. (I know this is a generalization about male rock musicians and some really do respect women.)
If you form a band they you are dealing with musicians who either want to be paid for everything (that is usually not economic for a start-up rock band) or you find that too many males are not prepared to follow a woman. The band becomes leaderless.
A good leader can join a band and guide its direction without anyone realizing they have taken command.
If your brother or long term boy friend was a key figure in the band then that changes the interpersonal dynamic and contributes to the stability of the act. Maybe you should get your brother to start taking bass lessons or start dating guitarists and bass players? You may find one where it works on a musical and personal level. (The psychology of people who want to play bass also makes them good organizers.)
If you have a boyfriend/brother in the band, the first time one of the guys says: “I’d like to **** her in the **** with my ****.” He will reply: “Not cool man! That is my sister/girlfriend you are talking about.” One of the boys will impose boundaries from inside the "boys club".
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Of the options above I would think joining a band would be better but only the tough will survive. It really helps if you grew up with brothers, especially if you were the only girl in the family. Growing up with brothers teaches you how to handle boys.
WARNING: This is just the way I think, with a brain that has been pickled in a bath of testosterone for decades. This approach may not be suitable for you. I will assume I don’t play any instrument well but, like many chick singers, I am a pretty girl with a nice voice. You may find this scenario useful, or not.
The biggest enemy to the female singer is their “use by” date. Get too old and you miss the bus so I have to make it happen quickly. You have to start young and go hard. If you are working a full time day job to meet the rent etc. then you are making slow progress in the music business while getting older - cut your costs, invest your time in practice, writing and performing. Here's my plan:
before being ready for to invest in a release quality recording. Take the advice of your manager when working out who to use, how much to spend and when you are ready for this step.
ACOUSTIC SINGER SONGWRITER - Writing songs and singing them to an acoustic guitar than getting some musicians to back you is so easy that anyone can do it. Low barrier to entry means heaps of competition. This is an intimate style that does not translate well to large venues. Small venues have limited earning potential.
ROCK BAND - If you can deal with boys and all their $h!+ then perhaps you should join the best a rock band you could find. Just remember your career is tied to these boys and you will have to put up with them for a long time so set the ground rules early. Be very direct in what you say, don’t be scared to offend, guys get over it quickly. Every time you change bands you are starting again, so stick with them.
ELECTRO POP DANCE - Partner with a DJ/producer, that could be good if he is willing to treat you as an equal. This might be the line of least resistance. You might do this as a “side project”.
THE ALL GIRL BAND - Why are there so few of them? Is it too much like herding cats? If you can work with other girls you might think about harmony singing. Think a female version of Simon and Garfunkel or Corrs.
THE DISCO/FUNK BAND - Think Kylie in "Spinning Around" or Sophie Ellis-Bexter. This is difficult and expensive so there are very few people competing in the same market space as Kylie. Because of the spectacular show you can put on with this kind of act there is considerable potential for large earnings from live gigs.
I would be quite keen to manage this type of act because it will scale up to large venues and has good earning potential. It could do very well in the charts and there is not much competition. There are thousands of rock bands out there but when was the last time you even heard of a modern disco band other than Kylie or Sophie Ellis-Bexter?
JAZZ - A niche market with good potential for corporate gigs. Have a look at Sally Street as a model of how well a local girl can do. You won’t become a rock star doing this but you can have a long career.
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Your looks are your one of your most valuable assets. The best ways to trash them are smoking, excess sun exposure (no sun baking), excess drinking and drugs. You wouldn't go bush bashing in a $1M Ferrari so don't trash your $1M looks.
I have had quite a bit of feedback on this article. The most interesting and unexpected of which came from a male to female transsexual musician. Looking at the YouTube video she looked and sounded amazing. (How did she change her voice?) I would never have believed she was once male. However, she e-mailed me about how after transition she had to use very different strategies to get males in her new band to follow her arrangements and do things. (While it was quite a long e-mail, she would not give me permission to publish any of it.)
Other feedback acknowledges there are many immature, sexist, male rock musicians not all are like that. I agree. There are certainly enough to be problematic from time to time.
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Copyright © 2010 Mark Ellis