People ask me, “What are you looking for in an artist that you sign to Watchfire Music? What do you have to have to get a deal?”

As an Inspirational music company, of course, the first question is, “Are they inspirational?  Does their music inspire?

Are the lyrics clean?  Are lyrics and music somehow uplifting?”  Once that’s established, there are 10 more basic criteria.

1. Material
Though this list is in no particular order, this is always first.  In this business, the song is king.  Does the group or individual have great songs, well produced, and professionally recorded?  Are the songs catchy?  Are the lyrics well crafted?  Do the rhymes rhyme?  Are the lyrics coherent?  Without good songs, they can have all 9 other elements, but that won’t get them a deal.  Having good material is the #1 criteria.

Also they have to be able to either write their own material or have the smarts and the wherewithal to gather it.  Cover songs can be used sparingly, but new and original material is vital.

2. Musicality
Once the material is there, they need to be able to execute it.  Is the lead singer in the group or the individual truly musical?  Do they sing well – on pitch, in the groove and with a sense of commitment to the lyric of each song?  Are they actors within the song?  I’m not just looking for a pretty voice.  I want someone who can communicate emotionally and passionately through his or her music.

3. Appearance
Persona is key.  Do they have a real sense of themselves?  Looks are so important in this particular world, but if their not blessed with physical beauty (which always helps) then do they have a physical sense of style which sets them apart and identifies them as individuals?

I’ve always thought that in the pop/rock culture, one has to understand one’s own particular corner on life and then take that persona and explode it on to the stage.  A dull person will just not make it in this business.  The persona has to be stage worthy.

4. Musicianship
Many stars cannot read a note of music.  So a formal education in music is not necessary.  But it helps.  They need all the ammunition they can get.  If they’re not trained musicians, then they better have huge natural talents and have music deeply ensconced in the core of their beings.  All great art is a perfect balance between two things – the technical and the inspirational.  Without the technical, they will eventually fail when they face the rest of the world’s competition.  There are just too many technically competent people out there.

Then the other necessary half is the inspirational.  Think: creativity.  Are they emotionally plugged into their music so that their technical abilities can support their creative fire?  Is their creative fire burning bright?

5. Performance
In this day and age, if one doesn’t perform, one doesn’t sell.  It’s performance that develops a fan base.  It’s fans that buy the music.  Without fans, the artist will not sell and will not last.  The fans have to find the artist and the tried and true way that happens is through artist performance.  Just making CDs and putting them up on a website won’t work.

Once they’re performing, they have to be good.  They have to be charismatic.  They have to have their act together.  They have to surround themselves with other great musicians.  They have to be able to hold a band together and provide the creative leadership.  They have to be committed performers on stage with something important to say.

In essence, they have to be large enough with an exciting enough idea to get a thousand or so people to stop whatever they’re doing in life and watch.  Then they have to be able to hold them for an hour or so and, as the old saying goes, “leave ‘em wanting more”.

6. Lifestyle
The toughest part of being an aspiring artist is to be able to find the time to work on their art.  Unfortunately, most people have to eat.  That means most people have to work a day job in order to pay rent and live.  The day job takes up their time and energy and leaves them no time to pursue their art.  They become weekend warriors and never accomplish their 10,000 hours necessary to get on top of their craft.

They become hobbyists and never fulfill their dreams because they just can’t find the necessary time to focus.  From this derives the term “starving artist”.  Somehow each artist has to figure out this huge obstacle in his or her life.  Those who do, have a chance.  Those who don’t, will fail.

7. Business Acumen
Smarts.  Do they have smarts?  Madonna is a perfect example of this.  Talent – 6.  Looks – 6.  Business Acumen – 10.  Do they have a manager?  Do they have a sense of marketing?  Do they run the intricacies of their present level of performance well?  Are they on time?  Are they financially solvent?  Are they managing their monies well?  Are they current on the trends of the music business?  Are they Internet savvy?

With out financial backing on some level, it’s a very tough road.  Where will the development money come from?  Do they have a rich uncle?  A sugar-daddy?  Backers?  Money isn’t everything, but without it, it sure seems like it.

8. Connections
The artists out there that I see making it have some sort of machinery behind them.  They have a team in place.  Managers, booking agents, road managers, roadies, publicists, marketing people, producers, studio support and the list goes on.  It takes a whole lot more than talent to make a star.

It’s a renaissance period that we’ve entered into.  The artist of today has to know and put together all of this.  Most artists are weak on points 6, 7, and 8 and it’s where they eventually fail.  Most artists only want to be artists and leave the business to someone else.  That can happen when they make it and are solvent enough to pay others to mind the store, but in the beginning they have to be able to organize this all themselves.  This is vital.

9. Style
The music business is a world of style.  Without style one can’t stand apart from the pack.  Style can be dirty jeans and ripped t-shirts or Lady Gaga, but it has to be done with honesty and commitment and a great sense of the styles of today and especially tomorrow.  Style has to come from persona.  The artist has to first understand what persona they want to project and then set that persona into a style that reflects their essence.

They have to set themselves apart from the crowd.  Think the early career of Elton John, The Beatles, Kiss, Elvis.  Each had styles that reflected their persona.  Each evolved in their sense of style.  Each caught the imagination of the public.  Each understood from the beginning their own persona and had the courage to stick it out there and then the talent to back it up.

10. Drive With Smarts
It’s a long, tough road. There are too many obstacles to surmount and too many disappointments to face and without an intense drive to succeed it’s just too difficult.  In order to stick to it through those 10,000 hours they’ve got to want it badly enough to starve.  There are few overnight successes and those who are usually don’t stick around for long.  Quick in / quick out.

But just an intense drive won’t do it either.  They have to have drive with smarts.  They have to have a sense of where they’re going.  What is the destination?  What do they want?  How are they going to get there?  What is their plan?  Is it feasible?  Do they have the connections, the machinery, the talent, the time, the opportunity?

In my life in show business I have known only a few people with all ten of these attributes.  They “made it”.  I watched them succeed because they somehow got all this together in their lives.  These ten concepts provided “the breaks”.  They got their breaks because they made their breaks.

They put together the whole package.

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link,
please visit Watchfire Music.