If you’re looking to become a famous songbird who can release crazy popular tracks to a loving audience, chances are you already know you have talent.
Maybe you’ve been singing all your life or maybe you’ve been taking voice lessons in recent years and you’re finally ready to perform for other people or just record some music that showcases your vocal skills.
If these sound like you, then you’ve also probably been asking yourself or the internet how to be famous for singing.
So how can you actually do it? What does it take to be a famous singer today and what do you need to do to increase your chances of finding fame and admiration?
Go ahead and pop on your headphones and let’s talk about going from amateur to pro in the music world.
No matter how good you already are at singing, it will never hurt to get even better at it over time.
If we wanted to look around for famous singers who didn’t have any formal training, we could definitely find quite a few, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss formal vocal training, especially if you plan on signing in genres like R&B or jazz.
It’s true that vocal lessons can be expensive, but lessons like these aren’t just about learning vocal exercises you can use for the rest of your life or challenging your current skills.
You should try to look at voice lessons as an investment in your future career, and while experienced singers definitely won’t benefit quite as much from lessons as a true amateur would, there’s always, always room for improvement.
But improving your vocal skills doesn’t end with formal training, either. Taking care of your voice is just as important as giving your vocal muscles a workout on a regular basis.
You can find more comprehensive guides elsewhere online, but generally speaking, there are all kinds of things you can do to make sure that your voice doesn’t become irritated or even frayed.
Depending on the person, very acidic drinks and acid reflux can harm your voice and wear on your vocal cords over time.
Also, raising your voice consistently, and especially yelling, can do serious damage to your voice, and if you’re planning to make a living from that voice, then you need to take very good care of it.
But if you keep up with your vocal exercises and make sure that your voice stays in good shape, then you’ll always be ready for a potential audition, performance, or recording session.
There are plenty of different ways to prove that you’re a fantastic singer, including open auditions and public performances.
But one big problem with opportunities like these is that you need to be at your absolute best, or else.
Whether you’re just not feeling great that day or you get especially nervous singing in front of other people, if you miss a chance, it’s gone and you’ll have to work toward finding the next one.
All of these reasons are why we recommend that you make some music on your own terms. Demos have been around for decades, although in years past they were usually cassette tapes with super low audio fidelity.
But nowadays, both the process of recording and the process of sharing those recordings with others have been made so much easier.
It’s completely possible for you to record some great music right from your bedroom, all while only using gear that costs less than a hundred dollars.
On top of this ease of use, making some recordings is definitely the best way to showcase your vocal talent. Why? Because you can take as much time as you want to make sure that each recording is exactly right.
In fact, we would definitely recommend against doing each recording in only one take. Give yourself multiple chances to show off your voice and all that it can do.
As for the genre of the recordings, you should probably stick to the genre that you’d like to work in.
If your career plan is to try to become a session musician or a backup singer, then it might be better to make recordings across several different genres to prove your musical versatility.
But for a solo artist, it’s just better for branding if you know right from the start which genre you want to work in.
No matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of music you like to make, we can guarantee that there are tons of other people in your area who also have an interest in music and singing.
But how can you use this to your advantage? Well, collaboration is the key here.
Artists of any age and at every level of influence stay on the lookout for opportunities to collaborate.
For one, this is a great way to challenge yourself artistically, but collaborations are also just a great way to earn more attention from a different audience.
On the professional level, collaborations are incredibly popular right now, especially when they’re in the form of features.
Just hop onto the music streaming service of your choice right now and take a look at the most popular songs. You’ll probably find multiple tracks that include featured artists.
In many cases, this is a great way for one artist’s normal audience to find out about other artists who might work in a similar style.
But you don’t need to be a chart-topper to become a featured artist yourself. Get to know the artists in your area and see what your options are.
Ok, so before we close out, we’d like to recommend that you try to get in touch with labels, and like a lot of the tips we’ve talked about, this used to be a very different process years ago.
Now, there are so many small or even local indie music labels that you can just about guarantee that at least some of them will be accessible.
Reach out to them via email or through their websites and make your case for why you’d work for their brand. You just might be surprised to get some words of encouragement or even a record deal!
