You Have a Nice Voice, But…
There's more to making it in music than pure talent. Let's find out what those things are.

Many young and upcoming artists make a mistake that often costs them their careers. They assume that a good voice is all they need to build a successful music career. Oh, how wrong they are! I don’t want you to make the same mistakes, so I’ve written out a list of other things to consider.

A good voice is a great way to start, but it’s nowhere near the most important factor that affects your success. I know many unsuccessful artists who have better voices than accomplished stars. So I hope you find this helpful. You have a nice voice, but…

You're afraid

Fear is perhaps the single most potent killer of a dream. The term paralyzing fear is more than just a cliche, it’s true. That’s exactly what fear does. It paralyzes. Your talent could be overflowing, it will all be for nothing if you’re afraid. You have a wonderful voice, but you have allowed fear to paralyze you.

NF, one of my favorite artists, has built almost his entire career talking about fear. As much as he claims to have struggled with fear, sharing his story in itself is a brave thing to do. You need to take a leaf out of his book. One of the best ways to overcome your fear is to talk about it.

Are you afraid of failing? Talk about it. Are you afraid you’re not as good as your friends say you are? Talk about it. Another effective way to beat fear is to just act. In Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise tells his young comrade, “Don’t think, just do”.

Sometimes, that’s exactly what needs to happen.

You're going it alone

There has never been a successful person who didn’t get any help along the way. Do as much research as you want, you will never find someone like that. By trying to go it alone, you’re setting yourself up for certain failure. You have an awesome voice, you’re a badass producer, you’re a social media  whiz, blah blah blah, I don’t care. You cannot do it alone.

You need friends, you need colleagues, you need alliances. The United States has perhaps the most sophisticated army in the whole world, but alliances are a crucial part of its dominance. Stop trying to go it alone, or you won’t make it very far.

You have tunnel vision

We all have that image in our heads of what success for us looks like, and I’m sure you’re no different. It’s important to know where you’re headed, but you have to be careful. You don’t want to get tunnel vision. When you can see nothing but that image, you’re in trouble.

One of the most important skills you must learn is flexibility, especially as a beginner. Being able to adjust to your situation to get the best out of it will help you much more than those amazing runs you can make with your voice. You have a great voice, but tunnel vision can ruin you.

You're lazy

Natural talent is important, it sets you apart from everyone else, but it can also be a trap. If you think your voice is so good it’s enough to take you to the top, think again. Beyonce has an amazing voice, but she’s an even better performer. Bruno Mars can play multiple instruments. Alicia Keys has a great voice, but wait until she plays the piano. These are all amazing vocalists, but their voices aren’t everything.

Also, it probably took them hours of practice to get to these heights. Malcolm Gladwell talked about a rule called the 10,000 hours rule in his book, Outliers. He said after 10,000 hours of practice, one becomes an expert. So a nice voice isn’t enough, you need to work hard to crack your ceiling and get to the next level.

You're a quitter

Have you ever watched a season of The Voice? Every single one of those contestants is a superb vocalist. When you consider that many awesome singers don’t go to competitions, that The Voice happens in more than twenty countries, and that it’s not even the only singing competition, you will realize just how thick the competition is.

If you’re not dedicated to your music career, you won’t go far at all. If you’ll quit at the first sign of resistance, you might as well quit now. To make it in music, you must be a go-getter. You must be ready to weather the storm. Without a spirit like that, even the best voice in the world can’t save you.

You resent criticism

Without criticism, you’ll float right into destruction. If you resent criticism from others, especially people who care about you, how do you plan to improve? Mistakes teach us lessons, but we often make mistakes without even knowing. When that happens, it’s the people around us who will help keep us on track.

When you resent criticism, the people around you will eventually shut their mouths, and that’s when you’ll be in real trouble. When there’s nobody to tell you when you’ve strayed, and you will stray, you might do irreversible damage to your career.

You compare yourself to others

Few things will bring you down as fast as comparison. I’ve seen way too many young and promising talents wither away because of comparison, not only in music. Your nice voice will not save you from the trouble it will cause you. Here’s why.

Comparing yourself with other artists who seem to be doing better than you will take your eyes off the ball and you will drift away from your plan. The danger is you might start trying to copy the other artist. It’s okay to take pointers, but blind copying never ends well.

You don’t know why they’re doing what they do, you don’t even know whether they’re faking it. Chasing your well-laid plan is much better than just copying another team.

Final Thoughts

Talent is important, but there are several pitfalls in your way that you must take care to avoid or suffer the consequences. This list isn’t everything, but I hope you start thinking about your career as more than just having a nice voice.

I’m rooting for you, Champ!