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niki's avatar

28 years old musician/songwriter, should I go overseas (international) to pursue my utmost music dreams?

Asked by niki (714points) July 9th, 2010

(warning: I really need a serious, practical answers. not a fuzzy advices or especially angry rants. thank you)

Long story short, I have somewhat regretted a lot of my youthful times by following parents’ wants & expectations. I feel very tired with staying in my 7-years day job in a factory, and feel that I’ve wasted so much of my potentials, by doing what my parents expect/told me to do.

Now I certainly am not a bragging type of person,.but truth be told, many (if not all) people have told me that I have a “rare, unique” music talents. I can play piano (classical & jazz), keyboard, guitar, bass guitar, I also love to write songs & compose many different genres of music, including orchestral/symphony pieces for movies or video games type.

My ongoing problem/dilemma is that for my type of music, unfortunately, I don’t think it would be popular or appreciated by mainstream people in my home country here (I’m in Indonesia).
My music style does involve an electronic and also orchestra/symphonic & jazz tunes combined altogether. And I’ve always felt (also after listening to some friends’ stories) that I might have a BETTER chances at overseas countries, than in my home country, because my music would fit a LARGER market/audience there & got more appreciations than here.

However, what I’m always afraid and in constant questions is 2 things:

1. is it too LATE already, let’s say, if I just “burn the bridges” and boldly go to overseas country and basically “start from zero”, but with a probability of a better chances?

2. HOW or from WHERE should I start?
should I BEST start by going back to Music school, and make a network/connections there? or it’s not that necessary? also I’m afraid the problems is Money…and plus, I have to be ready if my parents totally reject my idea and view it as ‘crazy, unrealistic’ , and hence use my OWN money..!
Or should I just go the ‘thick-skinned’ way of finding out & knocking out every producer or label’s door on that overseas country, showing my music demos, in a HOPE for someone to really take notice for my talents and give me a chance/opportunity?? (I know one Indonesian artist/singer Anggun C. Sasmi who’re actually succeed now because she used THIS kind of ‘thick-skinned’ way, and now she’s quite popular internationally, and her talents got truly appreciated instead of going to major waste!)

OR, should I really, really take the commonly-suggested more ‘conventional, safer’ way of : try making a head start at my own home country (regardless of whether mainstream people would appreciate my music or not), while keep doing my music compositions/songwritings, and when there’s a CHANCE, then I go to that overseas country?
But the problem is I’m afraid that I’ll just WASTE even more times here in a country which I (& some of my music teachers & experts’ opinions & suggestion to me) certainly KNOW that the market for my music is just very very terribly small,...whereas I KNOW that my music style could better be much more appreciated overseas/internationally! (oh, and I also always write/compose in English language, for my every song).

I basically just need a really really sound, workable, practical advices & insights on what should I do at this time, and better be quick,..because I’m NOT that young anymore, and I certainly don’t want to end up in my 30’s getting into a soul-crushing office/business type of jobs ‘forced down’ my throat by my ‘practical, very pragmatic-minded’ parents (they even already put soo much pressures nowadays for me “get real” and have “real job”, get married, have kids, house, all those kind of ‘normal life’ things, while I still don’t want that!).
I don’t want my dreams to get crushed & forever buried, and I’ll end up crying & resenting my life, like what I’ve read so many people on their 40s, 50s on the internet forums!
I want to be the BEST, fullest of me, and share my insights to the world thru my music talents & passion!

please help!!

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10 Answers

jfos's avatar

1-I don’t think it’s too late.

2-In addition to America, I think that Japan and Korea have large video game markets, and they are much closer to Indonesia.

3-It might be best to have recordings on your computer that are produced to the best of your ability, this way you would have something to work with if you happened to connect with a potential company/producer/etc.

4-Try not to burn bridges, you might need to cross them again later.

Steve_A's avatar

@niki I don’t really have an exact answer or advice for you, but I do remember your other questions. I say go it for before it is too late.

I’ve also heard Europe is very big into metal genres and others that America would be unknown or underground.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

It’s not too late. I would go the music school route because you would be able to make the right kind of connections, and have skills in the music field that would make you marketable in a number of ways. We know a number of people who are from other countries who are in grad school music programs; many of them are in their mid 30’s.

People with musical talent are plentiful; people who are trained professional musicians and can work the business are a far narrower field.

niki's avatar

@PandoraBoxx thanks for the answer, but can you explain more on what you mean by your last sentence?

oh, and what grad school music is it? and at which country is it?
is there a 1½ grad school program, and how much does the general tuition cost?
thanks!

MaryW's avatar

Produce a good portfolio and save some money, and go off on your adventure in the place you most dream to go. If you do not “score” , sorry for the pun, you will be young enough at under 40 to choose another field . Plan, Dream, and go for it.

jazmina88's avatar

There is a website....www.taxi.com.
They critique your music and get requests for film and other stuff. About $400 a year.
I dont think you would have to move…....try it.

Dr_Lawrence's avatar

I am no expert on the music business. I can tell that you have a big dream, confidence in your abilities and I’m pretty sure if you do not give yourself every chance to succeed, you will regret it always. It is not too late, especially in your preferred genre of music.

Go for it!

PandoraBoxx's avatar

@niki, what I mean is, there are lots of people with talent who want to be “famous” or be a “musician” but they really have no idea what that means. It’s a business, and it’s a hard business. Like acting. In the United States, of all the people who list their occupation on their taxes as “actor” the average income earned from acting is $4,000 a year. It takes more than talent to earn a living as a musician. It’s a profession and a business.

gorillapaws's avatar

You will have a much better chance even getting someone in the industry to bother listening to your demo if you already have a tangible fanbase. I would highly recommend trying to promote yourself on a site like youtube and build a grassroots following. If you walk into a record company with several thousand subscribers on a youtube account, they are probably more inclined to take notice. It will be a chance to see if you really do have talent, or if you’re just another guy who thinks he can play. This strategy has the large benefit of delaying any drastic life decisions, until after you’ve confirmed that your music is marketable.

Good luck, and post some links when you put something together. Hopefully you can get some constructive feedback.

niki's avatar

This thread has been a while. thanks a lot for all the responses, appreciate ‘em much!
But for those of you who are interested to hear my music, you can hear some at my website http://nikiwonoto.com/ and/or also my Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/nikiwonotomusic (sorry for the ‘messy’ look, something unfortunately happened to my account, luckily all the music is still there to listen to).

I would appreciate any comment, advices or constructive feedback.
thank you.

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