How to Blow Up in Liberia as a Musician

13 January 2017 /  By Robin Dopoe Jr., Guest Blogger

Every day, the struggling Liberian music industry is getting better, and harder, with the competition certainly growing as well. So to succeed or blow up in the industry requires being smart and using the right tactics to beat your competitors.
However, if music is just a hobby to you, then don’t apply; but if you are into the game to monetize or make profit, then start putting these four tips into practice.
1. Improve Your Musical Skills Beyond Average Nothing good will come easy. So if you dream of making money and having a lasting success in the industry make sure you work hard to make your work stand out.
The Liberian music industry industry needs quality and unique musicians, not copycats. You can only go so far trying to imitate an established artist, but you can’t replace him or her. Worst of all, people will brand you as an inferior version of the artist; and even if they listen to your work, that artist you copied will be the one going to be remembered, not you.
Remember it is not only your voice or singing style that will make you unique but the song you compose too makes a huge impact.
2. Have A Clear Vision and Strategy Most musicians I know who are successful or have blown up in the industry made it because they have a clear vision and strategy about their careers. It is difficult to succeed as a musician without a clear focus.
Face the fact, the music industry is not like movie industry where you can double cast and succeed easily. If you are rapper stay in your lane and make sure you’re on top. The rate of succeeding by double casting is very slim; therefore it is also advisable to focus your energy on what you’re good at to grab the audience.
Stop making goals like ‘I want to win three awards this year,’ rather spend more time creating plans for each step by evaluating your progress from time to time and amend your strategy if you are not making progress. Get more ideas and education about the music industry and apply what you have learnt.
3. Forget Pride, Be Humble Forgetting pride and being humble is a very important factor to succeed in life. At times, people will like to help you but if you are not humble, they do not see any reason to invest in you. Nobody wants to help a rude person. That’s the fact.
Pride can destroy you as an artist, and all the things you have been working for over the years, in just a few days. The sad thing is that the only thing pride will get you is self-gratification, which will do nothing positive for your music career and talent.
Talent alone is not enough. You need people that will help you to succeed, so forgoing pride and being humble will open the doors of opportunities for you. 4. Do Self-Promotion Promoting your music should be your first priority because you can blow easily with good promotion even if you are not a dope artist. This can easily be done if you get to know the top DJs, bloggers and entertainment journalists in the industry who can help you blow up quickly. It may sound funny but you cannot blow easily if you cannot get out of your comfort zone.
Robin Dopoe, Jr., is a freelance art and culture writer for the Daily Observer newspaper in Liberia. The Nimba born, is the Press and Public relationship officer of the Liberia Nation Movie Union. Not only that, Robin is also a music coach and a bio write.
Contact Robin on Facebook with the name Robin C. L Dopoe, Jr.