Do you want to learn how to become a professional singer?
Get paid to sing?
I’ve spent over 16 years earning money from singing. I haven’t had any other job but music since 2007.
When I started out, I was a pretty average singer. Now… I’m much better. I’m still not the best singer in the world but fortunately, I don’t need to be.
Neither do you.
Being a professional singer is about business and singing. And, when it comes to money, the business side of things can often be more important.
The way you interact with clients and agents. The way you promote yourself. Even the way you sing, rather than how good your singing is. That’s what stands between you and getting paid to sing.
Once you reach a minimum standard of singing, the rest is all about attitude and business skills.
So, let me show you how to start letting your singing voice pay the bills.
How to sing like a pro
When you stand up in front of a band or an agent to audition, they hear something you don’t. They hear something your family, friends and the average audience member doesn’t.
They hear if you sing like a pro or if you sing like a talented amateur.
Talented amateurs are hard work for agents, studios and bands. The rigours of singing for many hours per day, many days a week, are very different from singing a few of your best songs at a showcase.
The first and most important step is to start training your voice, properly. Professionally.
Why you need singing lessons
Have you had professional singing lessons?
Are you confident:
- That you are already singing with perfect technique?
- That you could sing on stage for 3 hours a night, 7 nights a week?
- That you won’t lose your voice?
- That you won’t strain to reach high notes?
There is a famous saying, it goes roughly like this: “The more you learn, the more you realise you don’t know”. Even after years of international experience and singing 7 nights a week, I still invest in singing education to this day. I’m still learning and always will be.
Artists like Adele and John Mayer lost there voices and needed surgery to repair the damage. Anything you can do to sing with perfect technique is essential. And this means getting a great online singing program or a tutor.
It’s not just about health. Singing lessons will improve your vocal range, your tone, your volume and power, and make singing easier than you could ever imagine.
I wish I’d known this when I started out. My story is one of mistakes. I’d like you to avoid those mistakes as you strive to sing professionally.
How NOT to become a professional singer
6 months after finishing university (I studied philosophy by the way, not music!) I scored my first full-time singing contract. 3 Months in the French alps, singing at the ski bars. Skiing everyday, singing every night and earning good money too. A dream job.
Before starting that singing contract in Jan 2006 in France, I’d previously been performing once or twice a week – maybe 4 hours singing total. On contract I was singing up to 20 hours a week.
What happened?
By the end of 3 months, I’d killed my voice. It took months more to recover fully and I could barely even sing for 30 minutes a night before having to stop.
It was humiliating.
I never got work with that company in France again. I’d blown out a dream job. I had NOT proven that I was a professional singer. I was just a talented amateur, I could sing, but I couldn’t hack the pace in the real “business”.
My family told me, it’s ok, you had your fun as a singer, now it’s time to grow up and get a real job. And I did have to take a desk job again to pay the bills. I’d failed.
You may have guessed already, this story actually has a happy ending.
How to become a professional singer the right way
I realised that if I was serious about becoming a professional singer, I’d need to get singing lessons. And I did, every week, for months.
My damaged voice, that could barely sing 30 minutes at a time, was being worked back to health. With proper training I was learning how to support my vocal chords properly to avoid strain. To improve tone. To improve my vocal range.
Only 1 year after returning from my contract in France in shame, I was switching out my full time job to work part time and support myself mainly as a wedding singer. 6 months later I was a full-time, professional singer.
I’ve never destroyed my voice or needed a regular job again.
I learnt my lesson. The most important step to being a pro singer is to train and sing like a pro singer. This doesn’t mean having the best voice, or the strongest voice, it just means singing with professional technique so your voice can hack life in the music business.
You may be at the start of your singing career and think you already have a pretty great voice. But, take it from someone who thought the same before ruining his voice: You still need to improve.
5 steps on how to become a professional singer fast
We’ve all seen the x-factor hopefuls. Seemingly shooting to stardom in no time.
Of course, x-factor is not a strategy that just anyone can implement. It’s a pantomime. A show.
The good news is, if you are serious about earning a living as a singer, you can. It won’t happen instantly. But, if you follow the process and work for it, it can happen surprisingly fast.
1. Singing Lessons – Yes, again. They are that important.
I’ve already talked at length about the importance of singing lessons.
Online course are a good place to start and for continuous development.
4 benefits of taking an online course:
- Flexible: Do as many or as few hours per day as suits you. Train when you want.
- Cheaper: Much cheaper than a tutor.
- Convenient: Practice at home.
- Refundable: Many online courses have a refund option if you don’t like them, refund and try a different one.
In addition to a course you can follow from home, having a tutor you can meet in person or on Skype is invaluable. The thing is, tutors cost a lot. So getting the basic techniques down with an online programme and then using a tutor to fine-tune your skills is the most cost effective option.
If money is not an issue, getting an online program and a tutor will help you get 2 angles on the same topic and build your skills.
If you want to get started for FREE, we have a free guide that will help you drastically improve your vocal range and work on a more professional singing technique.
I’ve had many tutors and used plenty of singing programs during my singing career. Many teach different methods. It’s understanding all the options and applying what suits you best that makes you a stronger, unique singer.
With Singing Lessons Online being so easy to access, can you really afford NOT to takes Singing lessons?
2. Promotion: Promo pack & Website
Your promo pack proves to others that you are a great singer and suitable for professional singing work.
Do you need a physical, or a digital promo pack?
There are still a few old-school agents who want to receive a printed pack. This number is dwindling rapidly. It’s easier and more efficient to focus on a digital promo pack. Once you have the material together you can build that content into an effective website.
The difference between a promo pack and a website.
The gap between promo pack and website is narrowing. If you are serious about being a professional singer it’s worth getting your own website, rather than using a social media platform to host your audio and photos.
It is often acceptable to send just a cover email and a website address when you make an online application – but make sure your email wording sells why the reader should click the link and look at your website.
A good promo pack/website should include at least:
- A video of you singing live
This shows you can really sing, without studio magic to cover up pitching errors etc. Hosting on youtube is fine. Just make sure the sound is clear, doesn’t distort and that your vocals are prominent in the mix.
Your video can be embedded into your website and you can email the link along with any application.
- Studio recordings
This shows your voice at its best – after editing. Ideal when for applying for studio/session work.
If you want to do this cheaply, get a decent home studio microphone and a USB interface to plug it into your computer. Use a backing track (Can be downloaded for a few dollars) loaded into software like garage band, and simply record your singing over it.
If you can afford it, paying for an hour of real studio time will get you a higher quality demo.
Your finished MP3 can be attached to email applications and embedded on your website.
- Head shot and live photos
A good, professional headshot is essential as it will probably be the first thing a prospective employer will see. Live photos are good to show experience, but not essential for all singing jobs.
Choose the best photo for your homepage. Put the other photos in a gallery page. Remember to send at least one photo with an email application.
- Biography
Your Bio is like a CV. It lists your prior experience and a little about your musical skills.
I once read a CV which opened “I always get a great response when singing karaoke at my local pub”. Suffice to say, I didn’t read the rest of the application.
Start with your greatest achievement. If an achievement doesn’t sound impressive, don’t list it. After all, if you have a good video/audio demo, it’s better to focus on that rather than write a patchy bio.
State your vocal range on your application. If you don’t know it yet, find out in about 1 minute using this video:
- Cover letter/email
This is a brief, personalised introduction stating the job you are applying for and why you are a good fit for the job. Be concise. Avoid fluff. Lead with some strong benefits as to why you are a great choice.
Describe your uniqueness in one sentence. Make it easy for the reader to get a sense of what makes you special, instantly. Otherwise, they may not read the rest or even listen to your demo.
Use your one sentence tagline on your homepage too.
3. Networking
Once you have a good promo pack and website together, you need to get it to the right people.
Be proactive. Apply for everything. You may just get lucky.
But, sending off piles of emails to every ad you see is only part of the story of successful networking.
If you make good contacts in the industry, getting your application to the top of the pile will be much easier.
A lot of jobs never get advertised. It’s a “who you know” industry. Once you get on the radar of some of the main people, they’ll call you rather than putting an ad out.
Finding an agent is often essential to getting your application seen by larger companies. So, you need to contact plenty of agents and get registered with them. Once you work for them once and do a good job, they’ll normally start getting you more work.
There is almost certainly a musician network in your local area. If you are just starting out, heading to jam nights and meeting other local musicians and singers is a very useful way of making contacts.
Ask those new contacts who to talk to about getting work and ask them to refer you. An agent is much more likely to read your application if you have been referred by someone they trust.
4. Get your singing reviewed
If you are not getting auditions or gigs, ask yourself why? Ask other people why. Any problem you may have can be fixed. You shouldn’t expect to be instantly successful. I certainly wasn’t. But the more you learn about yourself, the faster you’ll progress.
Some criticisms may be hard to swallow.
But, if you don’t open yourself to critique it will be very hard to succeed.
Singing is a tough business. Not everyone’s opinion should be valued. Ignore people who call you shit because they are jealous you are on stage getting attention. Go beyond family and friends who tell you you’re the best singer in town. It’s great to have a support network. But are these people experts?
If you want to become a professional singer, it’s the opinions of other singers, musicians and agents you should focus on.
If you get a rejection, ask why? If you work with an experienced band at a jam night, ask them what you could improve on with your singing. You might be surprised that something very simple could be holding you back and you’d have no idea, until you ask.
If you ask for an honest review, most people are constructive in their criticism. So, don’t be afraid to ask. Sometimes the harshest criticisms are the strongest lessons to teach you how to become a professional singer.
Take that honest feedback and improve on your weaknesses.
5. Don’t give up
Actually apply. Apply for everything, you can always turn it down, it’s just nice to get picked.
Value what you do and who you are. If someone is clearly trying to extort you and not pay fairly, reject the work.
That said, sometimes it’s worth taking low paying and less interesting gigs to start with, just to get experience on your CV.
My first contract on ships was somewhat underwhelming – working on a car ferry between Hull and Rotterdam, two rather dirty port towns.
But, that one month contract was a stepping stone to almost 3 years working cruise ships and sailing the Caribbean, Alsaka, Asia and Europe. It was worth it.
So, don’t get disheartened just because you have to start from the bottom, or because you get some rejections. It happens to everyone trying to become a professional singer.
Brush it off and keep focused on your goal of getting paid to sing.
—
Want to know what else you need to work on to achieve singing success? Grab a copy of my free checklist and discover, in just 10 minutes, which of THE 8 most common mistakes are holding you back – and how to solve them.
Professional Singer Career information: Singing Jobs – Get Paid to sing
There is a massive variety of singing jobs available.
But, the market is competitive, especially for the best paying professional singer jobs.
You may find the need to follow multiple avenues for work. Perhaps you will record songs as a session singer on a tuesday, host karaoke on a wednesday and sing at weddings at the weekend?
I’ve written a complete article on the multitude of jobs where you can get paid to sing. This will give you loads of options for choosing how to become a professional singer.
How to get your first paid work
As your career progresses you’ll find it easier to get work. Once you figure out exactly how to become a professional singer, you’ll have the right state of mind and business savvy to get paid to sing.
But, if you are just starting out, you might need to take whatever work you can, just to get hired and get experience.
A good place to start is offering to sing for free with local bands or local theatre. Live experience looks great on your CV, helps you grow your confidence and you’ll likely make connections with other people who may be able to help you in the future.
Doing a first gig for free for any client where repeat work is possible, is ok. Make it clear that any follow ups should be paid gigs.
You don’t have to be famous to become a professional singer
A lot of people, especially my parents, used to think you had to be famous to make a living from music.
I’ve never been famous. Yet, I’ve supported myself off music since 2007.
Being famous can lead to super-riches. Simply being a pro-singer probably won’t.
But, shockingly, being famous isn’t always enough. There is a British band called The Bluetones. They had a number one album in the 90s, back in the days when selling CDs really meant something.
They were huge, at the time. Years later, they are still working off their record company debts by playing shows. They are contracted to pay off their advances and debt from when they started out. They never got rich off a number one album, the record company did though. They must have got a pretty bad record deal, all in the name of fame.
Have they had fun writing and performing all these years? Probably.
But, sometimes it’s better to work towards being famous whilst earning money doing something you love. Rather than begging for a record deal that may leave you “owned” for a long time.
You don’t have to be that good to be a professional singer
I’m a decent singer. I’ve met better. Many. But, I’ve also met, seen and worked with singers, who make a full time living, that I consider to be, well, pretty sub-standard.
How are they getting so much work? What I talked about earlier, networking and promotion. The people hiring them, may not be music savvy.
Not all agents have an ear for music, some are just good at spotting enthusiasm, the sort of enthusiasm that will impress an audience. Especially an audience who may not have the same level of pitch perception as you or I do and don’t judge on technical ability but on emotions.
There are many successful singers who you probably think are pretty dreadful. For me, Ozzy Osbourne. He’s a personality, but as a singer? Ok, not great. Maybe you love Ozzy. Doesn’t matter. He has something that audiences love and that’s what gets him hired again and again. Not his singing.
The bottom line is, don’t get put off learning how to become professional because you are not the best. Work to be better, always. Train your voice. Perform live whenever you can. But, if you love singing, you can become pro, you just have to work at it.
Now it’s your turn to become a professional singer!
Grab my free guide to improving your vocal range and singing technique below and start working on improving your singing. I’ll also send you free content that is not available on my website that will help you learn the business of how to become a professional singer.
