How to Become a Great Singer in the Age of Social Media
Charlie Puth, Justin Bieber, Charice Pempengco, or the new lead singer of the band group Journey, Arnel Pineda—these are only four examples of singers that have garnered massive popularity in their careers. And what do they have in common?
They were all discovered via YouTube and some of them without even intending to be noticed at the time. It was only a dream how to become a great singer in time past.
Many years ago, your only shot at achieving success as a singer was to either be discovered by a talent scout or join a contest and win it. It used to be a nerve-wracking ordeal. I remember the cassette tape days when you had to submit a music demo to some producer, not knowing if someone even has the chance to listen to it. Most can get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes, it’s a waste of time and money if you never hear back from them.
Even today, there are many contests which you can join, but there is no certainty that the scouts will like you, let alone think you have star quality.
So, what’s your option? What should you do? It’s the social media era. Use this technology to your advantage as many others have already furthered their careers through it. It’s a tremendous opportunity for anyone that has the drive and passion, in any niche including singing.
Build Your Page, And Drive Traffic To It
If you want your passion for singing to grow by leaps and bounds, you are in the right place and time. What an opportunity you have in front of you. You’re already on it every day anyway, your computer. If you haven’t had the chance, now is the time to create a social media account.
There are several platforms that you can choose from, but one that’s gaining so much popularity that you can start with is a YouTube channel.
Imagine, having a digital space online to display your singing videos without paying a single dime. After all, you are a singer, and you want people to see and hear your prowess in belting out those favorite tunes of yours.
When building a YouTube channel, organize your thoughts and carefully plan how you will execute. Some important things you need to consider, to start with, are:
- Songs that you will be singing – put a list of songs that belong to a specific genre, and make sure you are comfortable singing them. Click Karaoke Version for over 51,000 songs to choose from.
- The place where you will be performing – Bedroom? Studio? Anywhere you prefer, with good lighting and background.
- Frequency – how often are you going to release a new cover, or your own composition if you have that skill under your belt? Make one every week, if you can, as you build a following, and then increase the frequency as you go along.
- Tone – Do you want it moody, light, fun, witty? A positive tone will always go a long way and set you apart as unique to the followers that you will attract. You can use a portable audio recorder to check if you’re getting the tone right.
- Ask for feedback – once your audience starts to build up, engage with them by replying to comments that are worth responding to.
After you gain much popularity and an eventual massive following, you can venture into Music Videos and perhaps a professional videographer and studio engineer to help you out.
Provide Value, Help Your Fans Learn Something of Interest
In addition to your singing. Soon, provide your audience something new to look forward to. You can alternate your posts between singing and providing value.
What is this value? If you play the guitar or piano, teach them how to play some songs with it. Share some vocal exercises you’ve been using for your warm-ups. If you want, impart the learning process I talked about a while ago.
It can be anything your imagination can fathom. Perhaps share some of your previous recordings as a gift, if you have some already. Check an album I have recorded as a sample.
If your fans start seeing you as a value provider, they are more likely to share your page to the world. That’s when your videos or posts become viral and if you’re paying attention, you know what that means. You create revenue, intentional or otherwise. Well, I wouldn’t mind that either, it’s inevitable. But if the only thing you do is self-promotion, then you are likely to alienate yourself from your audience.
Welcome Your Fans, Make Them Feel Special
Never forget to thank your followers for subscribing. If you are using Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you have to engage your audience by responding to their inquiries in your social media channels. You can even go out of your way to selflessly help with a problem without asking anything in return.
Now, you have to anticipate a problem in the future. You can only engage so much. So, what you need to do is to focus on a maximum of two social media channels at a time—with YouTube your primary channel where you can talk and entertain your fans. The other could be your website, a blog, or Facebook where you can disclose more valuable content in written form.
As an artist or soon to be one, you can use Facebook for setting up events, having your friends share your new YouTube posts, creating a poll, and so much more.
Stream it Live, Launch a Mini-Concert
Once you have amassed a following, it is high time that you set up a live streaming event. A mini-concert for instance or a live video chat. Do not be afraid to do this. You must believe in yourself. Every time you venture into the unknown, there’s always some level of discomfort and that’s ok.
It only adds to the excitement, plus everyone goes through it, no exception. No one started being good at something right away, but you can only get better over time if you do it long enough many times over. It’s just the way it is, really.
Cheer up, your followers would never have subscribed if they did not like you and your singing, anyway.
Before you set up a date, it would help if you give your fans a reason to attend. The best way to do this? Make a poll. Ask your fans to do either of the two:
- Make recommendations about what you will sing if it’s a mini-concert you’re doing
- Make them choose from your list of songs
- _______________________ – Think of something else to add here.
You see, if your fans are involved, they have a reason to show up in anticipation. And if that’s the case, figure out the best time of day that most of your followers are online.
Get Social Now
Start your social media channels and use them right away, today. There is no excuse for not being 
heard by someone these days. Let’s skip the producer for now. Your audience is massive, it’s global, and they will love your creativity and imagination.
If you put your heart and time into it, you can only get better. I couldn’t imagine this was possible 20 years ago. Take the first step and you’re on your way. Remember, three things you need to do:
- Entertain
- Add Value
- Engage
If you need more help in your singing, you can reach me here by leaving your comments down below. I’m dedicated to providing valuable resources to aspiring singers, or seasoned ones, like you. I provide tips that can get you started, even encourage you like what I did for people who believe they can’t sing if they have bad voice.
If you like this post, please share it with someone you know. Thank you for stopping by.
This article about HOW TO BECOME A GREAT SINGER IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA is really informative and it has the best step by step instructions on how to pursue it.
The instructions were really easy to understand to follow through it. It is a well written article with a lot of information for the people pursuing music out there.
Thank you so much for sharing this article with us.
Hi Sujandar,about:blank
Thank you for the nice comments. Budding singers in this generation have all the tools needed for success with social media. Self-promotion in the literal sense is manageable and practical using this medium. The key now remains to the individual if he takes advantage of this medium or not. For some, awareness still needs to be in place. What they don’t know can restrain them from bigger opportunities.
I just want to say thank you for a really informative article. I am a father of five beautiful daughters ranging in age from 4 to 11 years old. They all have amazing singing voices and I have been told by their respective teachers, that they all have a natural talent for singing that should be nurtured.
My eldest daughter has expressed an interest in having her own YouTube channel, and I am going to help her every step of the way. I will bookmark your site, as it has some really useful info.
Many thanks,
Tony
Hi Tony,
I appreciate it very much that you found something useful in this article. You are very blessed to have daughters that are gifted and beautiful. You must be a very proud father. Yes, their passion for singing will definitely make it easier and quicker in their development than not having it. Before they even look for a voice teacher or coach, I’d recommend that they consistently immerse themselves to a lot of listening to singers that they are drawn to.
Then sing the songs themselves…a lot…not once in a while, but I mean a lot. then recording themselves with a backing accompaniment tracks. Then do this process daily over and over again. If one is disciplined enough doing this daily routine, you only need to see a voice teacher a couple of times and you’re good to go. Sometimes you don’t actually need one, depending on what the goals are.
I recommend this for contemporary music genres only. In classical music, there are tons to learn, plus it’s a linear type of learning that there are specific standards to be followed – A reputable teacher is a must on this one.
Thank you for stopping by.
WOW, I am so impressed.
I am like, how I did not ever think about that before. Actually you could patent your idea, it is incredible.
I always see this news on artists that were “discovered” or “found out” by one simple video singing in Youtube with a deodorant instead of a mic… and actually after reading your article I see, I don’t need to be lucky or be FOUND.
I can actually MAKE MYSELF lucky and increase immensely my chances of being “found”, more like, make them find me on my own.
Thanks a lot, I will start working on it RIGHT AWAY! So exciting!
That is a very encouraging comment, Luiz. Thank you. You also gave me an idea though, the patent part. That’s another idea, lol. You nailed it, bull’s eye – “MAKE MYSELF lucky and i…make them find me on my own”.
It’s funny, you mentioned deodorant for a mic. Watch this girl below, a comb instead of a deodorant for mic:
Before:
After (collaborating with other artists):
Hey there,
Really a nice article on how to become a great singer with the help of social media. Nowadays, social media can immensely help you to establish yourself as a brand.
As you rightly mentioned, earlier it was quite difficult to establish oneself as a singer, but now with the help of social media channels like Youtube and Facebook, it is much easier to get front of your audience.
Regards
I’m so glad we have this medium, really. As much as there is an undesirable side to it, a well-intentioned individual can make a global influence on his/her followers, fans or audience – “singing” audience in my case. Hey, thank you for your insights.
Hello – what an interesting topic you have written about. I love the idea and enjoyed reading it. It’s amazing how some of those famous singers got started and got noticed. It really does prove that anyone can do it by utilizing social media. Me on the other hand, not so much. You have to have a good voice for starters…..and that certainly isn’t me.
Nice article,
Michele
Hi Michelle. What a powerful tool we have in front of us, right? It’s like having all of us have equal opportunities for success in anything because of social media. We are also not limited geographically. The world is our audience.
I have to mention though, that you don’t need a good voice to start with. It’s a matter of preference to love to sing, just like in other areas. Just ask yourself this question, “do I want it or not and how bad?”. If the answer to the two-part question is yes, you’ll be good at it (singing) no doubt, and the opposite is also true. You can sing well tomorrow or the next 10 years, depending on how much you want it, how much time and hard work you put on it. Here’s a quote from Henry Ford,”Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”.
Hi! Absolutely loved this article. Sometimes I feel very skeptical because I’ve wanted to be a singer since I was 5 and now I’m 16 years old. This is my dream but I am doubtful about my future, I can play the guitar and the piano, however I feel that I need to improve my singing just that I don’t know how to start. If you could help me with that, I’ll be forever grateful with you, I wanna make my dream come true. I hope you read this, thank you so much.
I can feel your love for singing, Tatiana, and applaud you for it. That is one trait that will spearhead you to your dream. Without knowing what your needs are and skill level at this point, I would suggest you start (or continue) from where you are. Look ahead at what you want to do with your singing.
I wrote an article on this website talking about some directions you might want to pursue, you can read it here.
I know sometimes it’s overwhelming when you think about the enormous process you have to go through to learn everything all at once, but I’d suggest celebrating every little progress you make and not worry about how much you have to learn.
Again, not knowing what your level at this point, here are some tips to start with on your own without having to pay a dime.
1.) Spend a lot of time listening to the type of songs that appeal to you, a lot of them.
2.) Then pick one or two songs you plan to perform (to a friend or family)
3.) Record your singing and critique it yourself (you are your best critic).
4.) Find out and list down on paper what you need to work on, one at a time to avoid being overwhelmed. You may also ask a trusted friend to help you with it. You might have to repeat this section many times over until you are happy with the outcome.
5.) Then do a recording of your song(s) again as a “final product”.
6.) Finally, plan to perform it in front of a group of friends or family. This will build your confidence and keep you motivated.
You might be tempted to rush things, but that can only be frustrating and discouraging if they don’t turn out the way you want.
You are still quite young. The important thing at this stage is being there regularly and consistently. Your motivation goes a long way to your dream without you even realizing it because you’re having so much fun.