As well as looking at motivations, goals and expectations of creative people as part of my Post graduate studies I have been working with singers, remixers, digital artists and a range of other creatives in different stages of their creative careers for my music business Good Voodoo Music http://www.goodvoodoomusic.com
In my opinion,there are three key factors within the control of an artist in acheiving their desired goals: raw talent, honing that talent and the personal qualities of the arist. Have they got a professional attitude? Are they driven? Do they surround themselves with positive people to help support their artistry? Does the artist abuse their talent or let it go to waste?
It could be argued that the qualities of the person are more important than the raw talent. Everybody is creative to some degree and everybody is talented at something. I always quote the example of Amy Winehouse. She had the raw talent, there was a development in her talent but did she have a professional atitude? Did she surround herself with positive minded people? Did she abuse her body? If she had lived her voice would ultimately have suffered due to her lifestyle. One only has to compare Whitney Houston’s current vocal ability to her earlier vocal prowess as an indicator as to the probable decline of Amy had she lived.
I have woirked with potentially great artists who didnt want a career in the music industry badly enough to put in the hard yards and those who were less talented but had the determination to do what had to be done.
So what advice would I give to any person who is serious about their creative endeavours?
Walk like you are the embodiement of your art form – live it, breathe it.Constantly develop your abilities on a structered basis – trying it in an adhoc way leaves too many things to chance especially with the busy lives that many of us lead. Be nice and have a professional attitude with your dealings with others (even if there is no money to be made) because you never know where your big break is going to come from. And perhaps most importantly, have a goal (or set of goals) you want to achieve and you may find that all the other things fall into place naturally.
Dominic Nelson-Ashley
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