Thursday, January 17, 2013

So You Wanna Be A Successful Frum Pop Star?

Here are some tips on what you'll need to do.

1) If you can find a pasuk/liturgical text with your last name referenced in it, you must record a setting of it. If the text has no significance or meaning, that's irrelevant. It can even be a sentence fragment, if you like. The main thing is that you will get to sing your name and that if the song hits, others will too.

2) If you can't find a text with your last name, your first one will also do. Audiences love to scour lyrics for hidden allusions. Throw 'em a bone. Maybe some of them will get it.

3) Record a song with a title that can also be a good wish/conversation closer. Use it as your answering message, the tag line to every post you make on Facebook, add it to many of your Tweets. Remember, you can never use it too much. Sample Facebook post: "Happy birthday, friend! Remember, Efshar L'taken!"

4) Always insist on singing "your" song, even if you're a guest at a wedding or other event, where it might not be the best call. Your song is your brand. Plug it!

5) Email is good. Send out many emails to your entire list. Frequently. Remember, the less info in the post the better. Your fans don't need to know the exact event info. The main thing is to pique their interest. They will find a way to track down the missing info.

6) YouTube is your friend. Your fans want to see the footage of fun events like you driving to the gig. Really. More videos are better. The quantity is more important than the content. You get extra points if there's something else going on in the video while you're singing. Guitarists chewing gum, horn players texting, etc. are all huge attention getters. Bonus points if you get on the mic at someone else's gig, and then post the footage all over.

7) Facebook is good for sharing informative posts like "on the way to the wedding". Your fans want to know this. Otherwise, they wouldn't "friend" you, right? Remember to follow up the post with "wedding went well, B'H" later, so your fans aren't left wondering. Rinse and repeat. Remember to Tweet the same thing too.

8) Since I mentioned YouTube... hit counters are important. You'll want to pay for hits so that your video shows more views then there are frum Jews in the USA. It adds to your credibility.

I'm not going to give away all my secrets in one post, but these helpful tips should put get you on your way nicely.