Bands and the Ten Year Overnight Success

Making the Band, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, Nashville Star, Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious, Rock Star. These shows have each provided a deceptively simple route to stardom, the equation a simple one: fun-work-commitment+airtime=fame. The oft-repeated mantra by these televised youth of “really wanting it” being a legitimate reason to become successful perpetuates the ever-growing notion of quasi self-celebrity. Don’t write songs, can’t sing live, have not stage presence, and have no idea what you’re getting into other than you want to be famous? Television seems a surefire way to 15 minutes for most and an unsteady path to an actual career for some.

And I know what you’re thinking: Why do these shows demote the work you’re putting in? All these show do in influence tone-deaf, delusion people who think being a star is their fate. And the ones with talent? How dare they make it look so easy when you know it’s not.

But whi! le slagging all television musical talent is a popular and understandable view, the actuality is slightly more obtuse. Yes, the contestants on these programs earned their varying degrees of recognition through a television show, but the long-term implications for a career still favor bands like yours. The Danity Kane girls of Making the Band, American Idol finalists Chris Daughtry and Kelly Clarkson â€" all had been diligently laboring toward a career in music long before their respective appearances on the reality shows that “launched” their careers and could more truly contemplate the greatness of the opportunity because of their previous, personal efforts.

I’m sure that you notice the pattern that the individuals or groups that survived past their first album are overwhelmingly favor those who had actually been working to make themselves known beforehand. Prior to the lights and cameras they played near-empty bars, recorded demos, toured or auditioned.! In fact, they’re doing just what you’re doing now. Intr! insicall y, they understand how much work goes into “just performing” or “just touring” and performed for a number of years before their big chance came to fruition.

Though preparation doesn’t lead to guaranteed success (Taylor Hicks, for one), it does have advantages: knowledge of how to work a crowd, songwriting ability, stage presence and studio experience. These factors also begin to separate the intangible-those that have the drive and ambition to succeed versus those that want the riches and fame, and want the work done for them.

So while hyped televised opportunities provide instantaneous notoriety, the recession from the spotlight is just as rapid (think Dance War: Bruno Vs. Carrie Ann and Fame). The hard work of pounding the pavement continues to produce real results and real fans, the ones that will support you even when your face fades from view. And while old-school work may not be the trendy way to become famous it’s certainly longer-lasting. After all, the average career length for most music “celebrities” “discovered” on television is fifteen minutes and I’m sure you’ve recorded EPs longer than that.

© 2008 Refugee Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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