Working in the Creative Industries: A Research Portfolio

The music-related profession I have chosen to assess in this essay is an artist that creates original music, plays it live and records it professionally for a commercial release into the public music market. I will be going through a checklist of the requirements needed to succeed in this career pathway in the music industry, whilst simultaneously referring to several real-world examples to back up my points as evidence.

To enter the profession of a Professional music artist/Live performer, it could be argued that both academic and professional qualifications are not strictly required to both enter the succession and succeed. This can be supported by examples of a number of artists who have achieved commercial success in their original music with little to no academic or professional qualifications music-related, such as the hip-hop rapper Kanye West, who achieved heavy commercial success with his 2004 debut album “The College Dropout” equating to a number 2 debut on the US Billboard 200; sales of 441,000 copies in its first week; domestic sales of 3.4 million copies by 2014; and achieving certified 4x platinum status by the RIAA by 2020. He achieved this having recorded, wrote, and produced the entire project on his own with no prior academic or professional qualifications, as he himself stated in a 2005 interview to Charlie Rose: “I always tell people, College is a choice. High school is a necessity, but College is a choice (…) sometimes you need just need a couple years after high school (…) to get yourself together” (1).

 As compelling of an argument as this may seem, it could be equally argued that having Academic and Professional qualifications can greatly aid somebody trying to enter the profession of an original music artist/Live Performer, as it allows you to not only network and gain connections throughout the extent of your education whilst gaining such academic and professional qualifications, which may perhaps enable you to gain easier access into the professional music industry as an Original Artist/Live Performer due to such connections (for example, if you already know professional producers, studio owners, live sound engineers, tour managers, etc) this may expedite the process of finding success in your profession as both an original recording artist and live artist. As well as this, by having academic or professional qualifications in something music related, it could allow an original artist to better hone their craft in both their chosen instrument whilst also learning new ones to add to their repertoire, therefore broadening not only their level of listenability, but also their potential target audience – with a wider range of sounds in their music (due to such prior education and qualifications) it will appeal to a wider group of listeners. This can be exemplified by Elton John, who from the age of 11, attended the Royal Academy of Music in London for 5 years. John has credited this education he received from an early age for his style of music, which incorporates elements of classical piano into his songs. As well as this, from this professional education, John learnt how to sing through work with the academy’s choir, which supports my previous statement of learning to hone new instruments – in this case his voice – to appeal to a far wider audience. This led to a commercially successful career with longevity: with more than 300 million records sold worldwide (80 million in the US alone, making him the 6^th-best-selling male solo artist in history); 1 diamond album, 32 platinum or multi-platinum albums; 21 gold albums; the world’s biggest selling single of all time with “Candle in the Wind 1997” selling 33 million copies; all spanning over a 5 decade long career. Both arguments illustrate how the gaining of Academic and Professional Qualifications are not strictly necessary for the entering and success of a career as an Original Artist/Live Performer, but having such qualifications and education could greatly catalyse the process’ of entering the profession and potentially succeeding.

To succeed within the profession of an Original Arist/Live Performer, it helps greatly to have some personal qualities and attributes which may lead to such large-scale commercial success. These include being open to change and input from exterior sources which may lead to a change in your sound or image and may contribute to your success as an original artist, especially if they are from experienced individuals in the music industry. Not only will this lead to a wider range of achievable sounds or images which will potentially increase your target audience size, allowing for greater access to commercial success; but it will also gain you a reputation within the music industry of someone who is affable and easy to work with, which may lead to more people wanting to work with you and shape your sound, further contributing to your success as an original artist in the music industry. As well as this, personal qualities may also include being confident in your own ability as an original songwriter and performer without being too immodest; to be creative and create new things to appeal to listeners in your music that may differentiate you from other artists (this may also attract attention from those within the industry like record labels, allowing for more potential success.)

The skills needed for success within the profession as an Original Artist/Live performer are that you need to be proficient on your chosen instrument or instruments, effectively knowing it inside out in order to maximise its capabilities so as to achieve the most diverse sound in your music, which will thus lead to attracting a broad and diverse listening base, and subsequently greater success within your profession. This essentially equates to thorough and rigorous practice on your chosen instrument. This can be perfectly exemplified by not only my previous example of Elton John and his military like practise routines he experienced during his education at the R.A.M, but also through Dutch-American guitarist Edward Van Halen, who has spoken numerous times about his rigorous practise schedule on his chosen instrument – in this case both the electric and acoustic guitar -, with he himself claiming he would have a guitar in his hands almost 18 hours a day, everywhere round the house, constantly playing and learning his instrument to the maximum capability. This later reflects in his massive global success not only with his band Van Halen, but his being cemented as one of the best guitarists who ever lived, re-defining what was considered possible on his instrument, creating new and innovative sounds that attracted a large fanbase to the music he created. This clearly magnifies the importance of knowing your instrument well and being well-practiced on it in relation to your music as an Original Artist/Live Performer.

The Knowledge required to be an Original Artist/Live Performer can include how to act onstage. Depending on your style of music, as well as image, it may require different types of stage presence. This may help attract more people to listen to your music due to you having a distinct and recognisable image and onstage presence, which can potentially lead to greater success within the profession. A good example of such is David Bowie, who throughout his career was consistently changing his image and sound, at a rate almost between every album. This meant that both his music and onstage look (he often took on personas such as “Ziggy Stardust” and “The Thin White Duke” was always fresh and new, attracting new fans and widening his audience, therefore allowing for greater success as both a recording Original Artist and Live Performer. This is distinctly shown by his estimated selling of 100-140 million records worldwide: winning of six grammy awards and amassing of 68 top 75 singles.

The duties of being an original artist and live performer can range widely. One such example of a duty is to respect and follow the terms of any contractual obligations you have for both live performances and recording your original music. This links to a responsibility that may entail about being a live performer, which is to keep yourself in good playing shape (based on your chosen instrument of course) to put on good shows for your audience. As an example, if you were a singer, it would mean keeping your vocals in good condition to keep up with what may be a potentially rigorous touring regime; or if your live show includes dance routines etc; it would be your responsibility to stay in good physical condition to perform onstage at your best, therefore allowing for greater success within the profession.

 As well as this, it is your responsibility to turn up to rehearsals with either your band or backing band, musicians, dancers etc on time, and be in a suitable condition to do your job to a professional standard in order to maximise the performance given to your fanbase, thus allowing for greater success for you as you gain a reputation as a true industry professional who takes it seriously and puts all their effort into their work, potentially attracting more business from within the music industry e.g. record contracts, touring contracts etc. This is well exemplified by pop singer and dancer Michael Jackson, who having performed professionally as a music artist and live performer from the age of 5 with the Jackson 5, and went on to reach global stardom with his 1979 solo breakthrough album “Off the Wall”, followed by the mega-success of 1982’s “Thriller” and 1987’s “Bad”: With “Thriller” being the best-selling studio album of all time with sales in excess of 70 million records. All this as well as the 1987-89 Bad Tour which grossed a total of $125 million, making it the second highest grossing tour of the 1980’s, spanning 123 shows, 7 legs and attracting 4.4 million in total attendance. Also, this was Jackson’s first tour as a solo artist, showcasing his phenomenal dance routines because of such rigorous practise and rehearsal, another reason he could keep up with such a rigorous tour regime was through keeping his voice in perfect condition throughout, allowing for his massive success as quite possibly one of the biggest artists of the 20^th century.

Both the financial and legal issues that could potentially impact the profession as an Original Artist would be most likely anything to do with the contracts you sign up to, such as recording contracts, live performance contracts etc. The issues that this may entail is if a clause in the contract or a statement is not followed by either the promise or the promiser. This may include subjects such as performance obligations on a tour promoting your music, especially of such a tour is sponsored heavily; you may have a contractual obligation to the booking agents, venue owners, possibly linking to merchandise as well. As well as this, if you have signed a recording contract with a record label, then it may be part of the contract, based most likely on your current sales, popularity etc, that you have to sell a certain number of copies; get a certain number of streams; or sell a certain amount of merchandise, possibly to aid sponsors of a tour you could be on.

As well as this, if you’re in a group/band, there may arise legal issues, concerning royalties based on who wrote songs, as well as who performed them live and, in the studio, and who gets the royalties based on songwriting credits when played live in a concert situation. Also, other issues could potentially arise over who in a band/group owns the rights to logo’s, band names etc; and this would have to be clearly laid out in any contracts concerning these areas.

Some potential marketing and promotional aspects of this profession would include sponsors for a tour if the artist was to embark on one; a good example of this is the Rolling Stones, whose “No Filter” tour from 2017 to 2021 was sponsored by car manufacture Jeep. Another good example is previously mentioned Michael Jackson’s 1987-1989 “Bad” tour that was sponsored by Pepsi. Such large sponsors can help elevate and widely promote both an artist’s music and live performances, leading to greater potential marketing. As well as this, social media marketing through TikTok, Instagram and other platforms should be encouraged for an original artist to gain a name and popularity for themselves, allowing for greater success.

The profession of an original artist/live performer may present personal issues including stress from performing, or being on strict timetables for studio recording of original material you may wish to release. Also, there may be added pressure from any management (e.g. if you have signed a record deal and your numbers are not up to expectation etc.). Way to deal with such personal issues may include spending less time focusing on the business side of your profession when you are not required to, instead focusing on mental wellbeing to keep a clear mind (take time to relax, socialise, go to the gym, yoga etc).

In the career of an original music artist/live performer, you may be presented with opportunities for career progression and development from different areas of the music industry. This may include new opportunities for different professions and roles you could potentially engage in. For example, through spending lots of time in the studio as a recording artist, you may be presented with opportunities to enter the role of producer for other artists who may be upcoming and need experience in the studio environment. Of course, such a role would require prior experience working in a studio environment. As well as this, further career progression may come in the form of collaborative work with other artists which may aid your popularity and audience size if you collaborate with a larger artist, leading to more attention in your work and therefore potentially greater success in the profession within the industry.

Bibliography

1. www.youtube.com (n.d). Kanye West in 2005 – Charlie Rose Interview. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNbyZWcp5Pw.