Life as a singer can be a mixed bag. On one hand, you have a passion for singing so you always enjoy it. On the other hand, it's your job so you must learn how to do it for a living. To do that, you must get singing gigs, but that's easier said than done.

It's both easier and harder than ever to get singing gigs. It's easier because everything is digital and it's much easier to connect online. You can build relationships and an audience all online as opposed to the analog age.

That said, it's harder because the competition is stiff. It's easier to learn and grow as an artist so it's only natural that the number of indie artists has shot up. The high competition means you must stand out to win gigs. That's the bad news, but there's good news.

7 Tips to Hack the Music Gig System

The good news is you can stand out. You can win those gigs. All you have to do is figure out how the system works so you can hack it, and I have 7 tips to help you out...

Build a social media presence

Let's start from the basics. If you're not yet active on social media, you need to come out of whatever cave you've been in. Social media has transformed the world into one big village. It's where you can build an audience and build relationships with other artists and industry people, so don't take your social media presence lightly.

Work hard to build a sizeable audience online, especially in your local area if you're just starting. This will make it hard for the people in charge to ignore you. It might even make you an ought-after artist.

Start small

This is another common but important tip. It's better to start small and scale up because it's easier to get a gig singing at your local bar than at a big club. The bigger gigs are harder to get especially if you're a beginner because there's no proof of your ability. Even if your demo sounds good, performing is different from the recording.

Even when you feel ready to start hunting for bigger gigs, start by asking for support gigs. Event promoters are looking for headliners who have a fan base of their own, not upcoming artists looking to gain some traction.

So start small. Play at your local bar, then move up to being a support act on a bigger stage. Before you know it, you'll be so big they'll be a line of promoters asking you to headline for them.

Record your performances

As you find those small gigs to play, record your performances. Social proof is an extremely valuable currency in the music industry. Everyone wants to know what you can do before they give you a shot. Those videos of people singing along as you own the stage are your social proof.

Start building your reputation by posting them to your social media to showcase your talent at work. As you progress to bigger audiences, your videos will get more impressive. As your videos get more impressive, your reputation grows bigger. That reputation is what will win you gigs.

If you're looking to get work as a singer it's important to build a network of venues that are willing to work with you.

Enter competitions

Competitions like America's Got Talent, X Factor, and The Voice are awesome ways to show what you can do and build a good reputation for yourself. America's Got Talent, for example, commands a viewership of more than five million people per season. You don't even have to win the competition, all you have to do is make an unforgettable impression.

Lindsey Stirling is my favorite example of what a good run in a competition can do. She only made it to the quarter-finals of AGT in season 5, but she made an impression and she built on it. Today, she has gotten over a billion views on YouTube. A BILLION!

Build an impressive EPK

An EPK, or electronic press kit, is essentially a portfolio for an artist. It contains your music, videos of you performing, images of you on stage, your social media accounts, and anything else relevant to you as a singer. The EPK gathers all these details about you in one place so that you people can see what they need to see with a single click.

The more stacked your EPK, the better your chances of scoring a gig. Without an EPK, you might end up losing out because a promoter didn't have the patience to go through the bulk of the information you sent them.

Build a network

Building an audience is one of the major advantages of social media. A less talked about advantage is the chance to build a network. As you grow on social media, you will find other artists like yourself. You'll find producers, promoters, club owners, and many other music industry people. Build relationships with them.

The relationships you build on social media will eventually become your real-life connections, and there's nothing more important than having the right connections. They will help you become better at what you do and open doors you never thought you could enter. The right friend at the right time could give you the opportunity that will change your life.

Be prepared to start at the bottom and book gigs at small venues and have to sell tickets to your own shows. Hard work pays off.

Nail any gigs you get

This one sounds obvious, but you must pay special attention here. Whenever you get a gig, no matter how small, give it your all. It doesn't matter whether you're singing in front of fifty people in a bar or thousands in a stadium, give every performance your all. You want every venue you sing at eager to have you back. Build a reputation of excellence for yourself.

You also need to build a habit for yourself. All the small venues you play are rehearsals for the bigger venues. There's a popular principle that says "if you can be trusted with little, you will be trusted with much", and I agree. Nail every gig you get because every performance paves the way for the next one.

Final Thoughts

Getting gigs as a singer is not a walk in the park, but it's not impossible. Even with these tips, you must study your area to understand exactly what works so you can hack it effectively. If you're a beginner, start with your local area and scale up as you grow. One day, you'll have so many gigs you'd have to turn some down...

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