As booking agent I get many requests from artists, managers, labels etc. to start working for them and their artists. Usually it starts with an e-mail that I read and I listen to the link with music. If I like the music and the story behind it, I’ll react to the request and ask for an album.
Last month I listened to an album of a female singer. The albums intrigued me, but somehow it didn’t fit. When the manager called me to check if I’ve already listened, I suddenly found the right words by starting to ask questions.
I heard a great singer, with some catchy pop-songs and some more commercially jazzy tunes. The story was, that the album is released in the Netherlands, with some great promotion. The singer is now in her music finally doing what she really likes. Still, I heard two different directions. So I asked the manager what the singer wants, what her main purpose is with her music. And he told me that she wants to get famous. Now I understood why it didn’t fit.
I couldn’t work for her, and I explained. My connections in the jazz music scene are not good enough to be able to do a good job for her. And if this singer really wants to become famous, she first has to discover what her purpose is with her singing. If she wants to make money, she can better apply for a role in a musical, or play jazzy tunes at private parties. Though if she is a true artist, she has to start to show her interpretation of the world, her very own message in her songs. In her current album I couldn’t hear it yet.
I’m curious which direction she will choose. And I hope that she will make a choice, instead of waiting for the outside world to tell her what to do.