Getting Paid to Be On Stage

You have an amazing voice, you put yourself out there, and you’re ready to be the next Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift. Yet the harsh reality is that most people completely don’t notice you, some of them dislike you, and among those who enjoy your singing, the majority of them give you a nod of approval which can’t pay the bills.

How then can someone realistically become a professional singer?

Becoming a professional singer isn’t just about being a good singer with a nice voice. It’s not about putting your dreams out in the universe and having the universe smile on you. It requires a lot of grinding, working with people, making connections and getting opportunities to showcase your passion and talent.

I have always naturally leaned towards music, creativity and being a certified drama queen. It’s just the way I was made. My whole family is musical, everyone can either sing or play an instrument. After church on Sundays, my aunt would play the piano while the rest of us would sing with the natural tendency to harmonise.

As much as I loved singing, I didn’t think I could make a living from it, so I did a diploma in mass communications and a degree in advertising in Melbourne. When I came home to get a job, it was just after the 9/11 tragedy and the world was frozen. No one was hiring.

I started to perform at pubs and clubs around town while going for job interviews. As time went by, I started earning enough to realise that I could do this for a living. The more I performed, the more the interviews started to feel like a drag and that’s when I realised that what I really wanted to do was to sing. So, after a year, I stopped trying to apply for a day job.

I’m not sure how far you are along your singing journey. Perhaps you’re just entertaining the possibility, or maybe you’re halfway through it, wondering if you’ve given up good career prospects for something unrealistic. Wherever you are along the journey, I hope to offer you some actionable takeaways that will help you go further as a singer.

For starters, let’s get rid of some common misconceptions that you shouldn’t be having if you want to make it as a singer without feeling miserable the whole time.

You’re Not Going to Get Rich

You have to accept the fact that you are most likely not going to get rich and famous. Realistically, only 5% of all singers could be rich and famous in their country. The percentage globally would be too depressing to calculate.

As a singer, you can’t do it just for the money. If you start your career trying to be rich and famous, you’ll find that you’re just hitting your head against the wall half the time. You need to love what you do, and the cherry on top is that you’ll earn from your passion.

For most Asian people, a steady pay check is a necessity, but you don’t get that in this business. Many people see singing as a side job, and most people still ask me to this very day what my real job is. So, you have to do it out of love for the craft, or you’ll get more frustrated than you need to be.

Your Voice isn’t Going Make You Famous

Everyone hopes to have a jaw dropping million-dollar voice like the competitive singing shows on TV. You watch a shy scrawny nerd who got teased by girls stroll up on stage and swoon the audience with his voice. You see a single mum who had given up on her dream, walk up on stage and belt out a powerful heartfelt song that both touches and draws you.

Yet the truth is that behind the scenes, the industry is extremely competitive. How many of the winners are top singers today? There are very few Kelly Clarksons and Carrie Underwoods out there who have continued success beyond their one minute of fame. Again, the reality is that the world may gawk at your talent for a week or two but they move on to the next, and you need to have more than a great voice to make it as a professional singer.

Apart from the many hours of practice on your own, you need to schedule the band and have many hours of rehearsals. You have to produce the whole experience - you need to think about the songs you want, how to arrange them, what journey to bring your audience on and what to say or do between songs. That’s just the singing part. Then you have to look at all the other areas like working with the venue owners, marketing the gigs and telling people about it.

You are switched on 24/7, and have to market constantly. Every time you meet someone, you have to tell them what you’re doing and share about your gigs. You then have to thank everyone after the show and follow up with them to stay in touch. Your art is your product, and you are also the advertiser, marketer, maid and every job in between. It’s a lot of work. It’s tough because public relations go against the nature of most creatives who don’t feel very comfortable marketing themselves in a certain way. Yet you need to do it if you want to succeed as a singer.

If you look at the internet sensations that turned into chart topping singers, you’ll realise that they are regular everyday kind of people. Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift didn’t do anything extremely new, they were doing what many other people were also doing. It’s never just about talent. It’s a lot about timing, what the market needs, what people are drawn to, who sees it, who likes it, who shares it, and who picks it up. Their talent is great, but there are many factors beyond a great voice that come into play. It’s not always about the art, it’s also about the bottom line. You have to make money for the record label and the people who take you places. Your voice alone is not going to cut it.

Success Doesn’t Come Quickly or Easily

People are drawn to going from nothing to something very fast. Especially in today’s world when people want things immediately. This is such an unhealthy misconception because you get thrown into an industry that is very cut throat and if you are not mentally ready for it, it can throw you off.

Charlie Lim is a singer-songwriter in Singapore, with a beautiful voice. He plays multiple instruments, can mix master and record. He’s great on social media, making contacts, getting sponsors and getting support financially. He does collaborations with different types of artists and juggles everything so well. Not many people are good at that many things, but those who are, are the ones who really succeed.

Getting known and earning enough can take quite a bit of time, especially when you need to master so many things. You really have to be both disciplined and passionate about your craft and sustain it even if you don’t see success knocking on your door in a year.

As I’ve mentioned in the previous chapter, you need to go beyond your craft if you want to make it as a singer. The key things you need to do beyond your craft will always be related to people.

Networking

While I was born as a 200% extroverted, attention loving singer, which I attribute to my middle child syndrome, I know that not everyone is that way. No matter how good your voice is, you cannot expect to get very far if you don’t network in one way or another.

I got my first public gig because my friend invited me for drinks to see her fiancée play at a pub. My friend got me a chance to jam, and after jamming, the entertainment manager of the pub, Kara Van Meira, who went on to be a writer and editor for Straits Times, offered me my first public gig at 18.

After singing various genres, I knew that my passion was more for jazz. I finally got a gig at a jazz club in boat quay called South Bridge Jazz Club. This opportunity came through networking because one of my friends who was a radio DJ brought me to this jazz club because his listener recommended it. I liked it so much that I approached the owner and started attending the jam sessions. Then he asked if I wanted a regular slot and that’s how I got my 4-year residency there.

“Talent and skill are just the entry requirements.”

So, you have to be exposed to and start networking with the right community. You need to keep forming new connections. Even when you have a regular slot at the same place, you need to keep doing PR. My friends joke that I’ve never worked a day in my life because all I do is sing, but as I’ve highlighted, there’s so much more that goes into it and the bulk of it involves dealing with people and networking. I always have to interact with the audience, so I end up knowing the people who come to my gigs.

Alter Ego

If you are a very introverted creative, then you need to have an alter ego. Many artists need an alter ego because they are naturally shy and introverted. When they get on stage, they need to be a different person. People like Beyoncé and Michael Jackson are all extreme introverts. When you watch interviews, you can see how shy and quiet they are. Yet they have created an alter ego that allows them to be bold and connect with people.

As an artist, if you’re naturally introverted then you need to have an alter ego because you have to constantly be networking and putting yourself out there.

Make sure you’re available on the platforms that your target audience use. I have had the chance to meet many famous people because the Jazz scene is small and only a few people are organising Jazz festivals. So the reality is that you have to be attending such events and being around the people who are in your genre or interested in it.

Reaching Out

You have to bring in the audience and market it to people. You need to not only build your network but actually tap into every possible resource when you can. Even if it’s the musicians or people around famous singers, if you can tap on them, they could open doors for you.

In Asia or Europe, you could share your link and videos to get slots in jazz clubs, but in the US, they’re not so open. In the US they are very network based and only give slots to people they know because they are drowning in applications.

I was visiting my Bulgarian singer friend who had just moved to New York. My Bulgarian friend told her acquaintance who was a pianist for other famous singers, and this pianist got me a slot in Birdland. Birdland is one of the top 10 jazz clubs in New York. People still struggle to get a slot in that club. The only way I could get in was through reaching out.

When I travel anywhere, I send emails to every person and musician I have come into contact with in that country.

You, of course, have to return that favour to other people when you can, which brings me to my next point – you need to learn to treat others well, no matter how popular you become.

Respecting and Connecting With Others

There is honestly no need to step all over people. Approaching everyone with sincerity and honesty is important. Of course, we are human and it’s okay to cheat a bit, but there’s really no need to be mean or to be an ass. Some people’s pride makes them unnecessarily rude. Treat everyone with respect just like how you would like them to treat you. In fact, if you can extend a helping hand, and do someone a favour, then you should.

You also need to be willing to share your connections and networks. You can’t always be out for yourself. If you keep doing the whole me, myself and I thing, you won’t get very far. I’ve even been lining up collaborations with someone I’ve not met face to face yet. We leveraged on both our contacts to open doors for each other.

It’ll also be very beneficial if you can connect to a mentor who can guide you, help you, push you in the right direction and show you the ropes. Dick Lee was a mentor to me, he put me in a lot of productions and had me as a guest singer at his concerts. A mentor can really offer you a lot of opportunities that you can’t get on your own.

You can’t go far as a professional singer if you don’t deal with the ups and downs well. Hopefully, some of my experience will help make it a little easier for you. I’ll address the key concerns that tend to emerge in this space.

Dealing with Financial Worries

Part of your worries would likely be financial unless you already have financial support. There were too many times in my life where I was hungry and broke. It changes so quickly from month to month. One month you could have 20 gigs and be rolling in a pool of money. But the next month you could have no gigs, be broke, miserable, and hustling to find work.

Mentally prepare yourself that your income will not be steady. Learn to stretch your dollar in certain areas or during certain months. Whether it’s cooking at home or being responsible by shopping less, do what needs to be done. Then in some months, you can live it out a bit more. You need to learn to balance.

Of course, to earn money, you may have to teach on the side which is why a lot of musicians are part or full-time educators. We all have to pay bills, you don’t get to skip that part. But you need to believe that doing this is worth the potentially comfortable life you could have had if you had just worked corporate all the way.

Decide on how much time will be spent to earn money and how much time will be spent on your passion. Balance them until the passion pays the bill, if it ever does. If you don’t have a family to feed then perhaps you could go all out on the passion project route, but if you do have a family to feed then you might want to dabble with both at the same time.

Dealing With Emotions

Then, of course, the next and most prominent thing you need to deal with is the crippling self-doubt. The number of times that I thought I was insane or questioned myself about what I was doing is countless. This self-doubt and constant questioning are part of being a creative.

So, how do you handle the emotional ups and downs?

“Know your driving force.”

If you know in your heart that this is what truly makes you happy and this is what you want to do then while it’s going to be rough at some points, you’ll be willing to deal with it when the emotions come along. Everyone changes and you need to make sure that your heart is still in this.

Sit down and ask yourself - at the end of the day, can you see yourself doing anything else? If the answer is no then there is no plan B, you go for this no matter what.

To me, there’s no better feeling than the rush on the stage and taking someone on a journey. Being on stage is like a drug. The satisfaction, adrenaline and ecstasy I get from being on stage and positively affecting people, is worth it for me.

Meeting people who genuinely get something out of it is so fulfilling. People tell me they had a crap day, a horrible week or that they were just ready to give up and throw in the towel or kick someone and then, they listened to my set and it changed how they felt and viewed things.

I’ve even had someone who was suffering from a significant loss tell me that if they hadn't had the chance to experience my performance and be taken on a journey that wasn’t theirs, they didn’t know how they would have gotten through it.

Music teleports people, it’s a little like time travel. People associate music with different points in their life. People have told me that some of the songs reminded them of when they met their husband, had their first date and other meaningful experiences. Older people would often come by and share stories of when they were at a dance or an experience that meant a lot to them.

Music is powerful, and it influences, motivates and inspires people. It brings me great joy to witness this and is definitely worth the downs that I encounter. All the hustling and financial insanity is worth it. There’s no doubt about it.

When I think of these people, I’m happy with this life that I have chosen. So, you need to know - what’s your drive? When you’re clear about what you want, then go all out for it, don’t waste time second-guessing once you know where your heart lies.

Dealing With Unwanted Attention

Finally, dealing with unwanted and wrong attention from strange and unpleasant people is something you have to be prepared for.

When you’re on stage, there’s a higher chance of strange people giving you more attention. Sometimes they come for a show or two and decide that they want to follow your posts and be where you are all the time.

Once, I received a mail filled with random newspaper clippings of Catholics, the Pope, and other religious images. They had circles, underlines, arrows and words in red markers all over the pictures. Yet at the same time, it came with a really nice note, so that was a bit confusing but overall creepy. You don’t know who is out there doing such things secretly. I only knew because he sent it to me. There could be such strange people sitting in your audience without your knowledge. This is part of the experience when you’re a performer. Sometimes it helps not to be extremely famous because you have a lot less of such experiences.

Mentally prepare yourself that something like this could happen and have some precautions in place by being more careful about sharing where you live or publicising any personal information about yourself.

While you’re cautious, don’t allow the fear of such people to derail you. Fear is your enemy, and it will always try to stop you from getting further in life. Fear causes you to live out an existence that you don’t want to. Yes, it’s scary, but as with all things, your passion is worth it.

Be honest and true to yourself about what will make you happier. Have courage and take time to make your decision. Talk to people if you need to and then go all out in the direction you’ve chosen without looking back.

1. Ask Honest Questions

Do you really love this? Is this just for the fame and fortune? No one stays the same, so sit down and ask yourself if you really love this, why you love it and whether it is worth what you have to give up.

2. Connect to the Community

Make sure you are hanging around in the right circles and are stepping out of your makeshift singing studio at home. Join Facebook groups that publicise events in your genre. Attend these events and mingle with people in these circles. Go to the bars that you want to sing at and strike a conversation with the manager to see if there are any potential opportunities.

3. Find a Mentor

Look for someone in the music scene and connect with them. See if they are willing to have coffee with you and subsequently see if they are willing to mentor you. Don’t be afraid to ask, and if you’re rejected that’s fine, but you won’t know untill you try.