With just Tyler James, Vince Kidd, Bo Bruce and Leanne
Mitchell left after a long and gruelling process, The Voice
ends this weekend. One of them will walk off with
£100,000 and a recording contract, but what does the future hold
for the remaining three? We speak to Mark De-Lisser, one of the
voice coaches on the show, about how budding artists can turn their
talent into business.
De-Lisser has been involved with the Voice from a very early
stage, auditioning thousands of contestants and whittling them down
to the core group who proceeded to the blind audition stage.
People with a musical talent, but who don't make it on to a
talent show such as The Voice, will ask themselves how they can go
about making a living out of it. De-Lisser says it's about looking
at all the opportunities, not just focusing on how you can make it
on to the biggest stages.
"You have to look at all the options. As a singer you can do
session singing, you can teach, or you can get involved in function
bands - they are not what they used to be and you make money
through this," he says. "Many young musicians don't get that, they
just want to be on the massive stage, but you have to hone your
craft and develop as a musician and you have to work up a
repertoire."
In music, as in any other business, networking is key. "You have
to experience and get to know the whole industry, so you discover
who to speak to and what events to attend to advance your career,"
says De-Lisser. "You have got to get out there singing and
performing regularly, the final four were all out there singing and
gigging. You have to get what I call gig fit"
Reality today is that you don't need a management company, a
record label or an agent to star. It is possible for artists to
record their music at home, get it mixed and mastered, share it
through media channels and sell the albums online - essentially and
run it as a little business. "All the social media channels, like
Twitter and Facebook are brilliant and you have to put yourself out
there, and keep going, he explains. "Some musicians produce their
own music and sell singles and albums and people are buying them -
with all the technology available now you can do that."
His tip to anyone out there with a musical talent is to keep and
eye at what's in the charts, do a copy of whatever song is heading
for number one and put it on your YouTube profile. "Once the track
hits number one traffic to your site will rocket as people search
for the song," he says.
Treating your musical career as a business means you can't
ignore the commercial side. "It is important. Anyone trying
this has to understand the figures and how to price yourself. Ask
yourself how long you want to stay in the business, don't price
yourself out of the market, charge a decent amount that you can
live on and then gauge what people think before adjusting your
price. You have to have a commercial sense," says De-Lisser.
The terms of the artists have changed massively too and
De-Lisser says the reality that faced manufactured bands is no
longer. "We're moving away from the manufactured thing, it is about
talent and where you want to go and what you want to do. Find out
where you want to go, management companies today ask what the
artists want, so it is more on the terms of the talented artists,"
he explains. "Look at Adele, she stayed true to who she is, she won
six Grammies and it is about staying true and believing what you
want to do."
Even though De-Lisser is already scouting for talent for the
next series of The Voice, he will be watching the final with a keen
eye. But he won't say who might win. "I am so proud of all them,
I've seen them form auditions right the way through, their progress
has been incredible and some of them have had some great journeys,"
he says. "No matter who wins the final I will be a very proud
man".
For more information about Mark De-Lisser click here, www.markdelisser.com or follow him on
Twitter @markdelisser.