Today was not a great day for me personally. I laid sick in bed the entire day. So I gave the blog writing responsibility to my Dad Mark Stoddard. He is a special marketing consultant for Classical Singer and he accompanied me on this trip. Today was the masterclass series (each school conducted two 30-minute masterclass. Mark, who is not a singer, presented a mini-workshop. Here’s his capsule of the workshop he taught:
5 Non-Singing Action Items to enhance your Singing Career
By Mark J. Stoddard
I’m in Beijing, China today at the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music, enjoying the experience of being with 12 professors from Julliard, NEC, Viterbo, DePauw, BYU, CIM, Temple, Longy, Houston, Minnesota, Carnegie Mellon, and Ithaca judge a stellar Classical Singer International Vocal Competition. The winners get to move on to Chicago in May, and they’ll have a great chance at winning it all – they’re that good.
While here they asked me to speak to the 100 or so singers and professors on what they can do to enhance their chances at a singing career. Let me share those with you. At least 4 of the 5 might be of assistance to you.
1. Begin with the End in Mind. It’s a challenge to every singer to honestly decide now where this voice will lead. That endgame will dictate the path you take. Will singing be:
a. A hobby (granted, a rather expensive one to get into)
b. A teaching career and a voice studio (one or both?)
c. Some professional work mixed with a voice studio and teaching at an institution
d. A stage career
e. Something else
Any of the above are just fine. All are honorable. No doubt the End in Mind can change, but it has to be YOUR mind, not someone else’s.
2. Learn the language of business. All of the choices above have a business component except (a). Learn now the language and skills of the business. For the Chinese students this is compounded by the fact the actual language of business is spoken in English and they were challenged to fully immerse themselves ASAP. English is a tough language but they won’t make it outside of China without it and the market inside China is too undeveloped for classical music.
3. Manage your Foyer. The grandest house in the world doesn’t show well if the first thing seen upon entering the front door is a dingy entry way. A grand staircase with clearstory windows and chandelier can make a smaller home seem like a palace. For any business, and for a singer’s business, that Foyer is with your promotional materials. In a singer’s case that is comprised of the essential:
a. Headshot
b. Resume, Biography, Vocal repertoire, Press Coverage
c. Website with video clips
d. Business Cards
I’ve written in past blogs on the rules and recommendations for each.
4. Learn the Marketing is not Magic, but Motion. Too many are looking for the quick fix. For singers that is the illusion of the magical agent riding in on a white horse to rescue you from you having to do your own marketing. Get over that. It’s not going to happen. You are NOT going to get an agent until the agent knows he or she are going to make money from you. That’s not going to happen until you have several contracts in hand that need further negotiating so the agent can get a fee. That means you finding work and lots of it. But first, you begin keeping track of every person who hears you sing; every business card you get; and recording them in your “house list” so as you grow your career you can invite these fans to come to other concerts, performances or to get a CD. Or to help sponsor an audition or summer program. Which leads to…
5. Perform Often. Sounds obvious, but by often I mean at least weekly. As Malcolm Gladwell documented in his best-seller Outliers, to master a craft or profession takes more than 10,000 hours of performance of the skill. That has held for Mozart, Beethoven, violinists tracked at the Berlin Conservatory, the Beatles, and many others. Every audition is a performance. One more chance to stand before a group and hone your performing skill. Every chance to sing at a wedding, funeral, bar mitzvah, concert, restaurant, in-home concert, benefit concert, local high school/university/community theater, etc. My book, Marketing Singers, has more than 50 venues that will pay you to sing besides the theater. Every place not only helps repay student loans, but gets you one hour closer to the 10,000 hour Golden Ticket.
In the end I challenged the Chinese students, who were all quite charming and were as delightful as the American and European college students I get to meet and listen to, to understand the oft quoted Success Formula:
• 60% of success is showing up
• 25% is showing up with the right attitude.
• 10% is showing up, with the right attitude, prepared.
• The rest is talent.
You are not your voice. Your voice is your product. Don’t take criticism of your product personally so you’ll never confuse your worldly talent with your self-worth.
Here are links to all the Blog posts from China:
Day 1 – www.auditionsplus.com/blog/?p=2976
Day 2 – www.auditionsplus.com/blog/?p=2986
Day 3 – www.auditionsplus.com/blog/?p=2991
Day 4 – www.auditionsplus.com/blog/?p=2997
Mark Stoddard, author of Marketings Singers, is a business leader, professor, marketer and consultant who has been helping singers get jobs for more than 20 years. On the singing front he staged more than 100 professional shows aboard cruise ships that employed classical singers, pianists and strings. He’s also coached singers on how to sell their CDs and other products, use the social media and how to negotiate contracts. Email Mark at mark@mjstoddard.com.
