NotaPushyMum.Com

Hi my daughter over the last couple of months has been pursued by music companies who want to sign her up to some sort of "Artist development course" that I presumed would cost money and for the most part we have ignored them.

She went to one of them recently just out of curiosity and they told her they really liked her voice and would really like to take her on and it would cost £xxxxs. Apparently they only take on a few people each year

Now on paper what you get does seem very good value compared to paying for stuff individually, but my issue is...If my daughter played a musical instrument and wrote her own songs I would think it could be worth it just on the recording time alone.
But although my daughter has an excellent musical theatre voice she doesn't have a commercial voice or a commercial look. She also doesn't play a musical instrument or write her own songs at the moment.

Am I right in thinking that until she has a few piano lessons under her belt it is not worth the time or money making cover versions.

Or are these companies good for getting your voice out there whether it is an original song or not and act as an agency for general singing/backing singer work.

I think that this has come up before in a topic somewhere if you search for a few keywords it may appear.
It does appear and I remembered incorrectly that it might be not very good!

Yes you are right, look under 'Good luck and Congratulations' and it comes out. Someone's DD has signed up for it, so they might be able to help you

Thanks. We are going to put it on hold and come back to it in a few months time.

Hi musically, my dd has signed with an artist development and management company and we are so happy with how it is going so far.

My dd is 14 and writes her own material, she also plays 5 instruments. I think this is what they found attractive about someone who is so young.
She has already recorded her first original and next week will be recording a cover - but not karaoke style.
They have helped her immensely with her performing. Although she has been acting for 7 years and had some very big roles with very large audiences being up on stage as her self made her hands sweat and her knees knock!
The upturn in her confidence alone has been worth the cost - we can not believe the change in her.

She gets singing, music, songwriting (if needed), performance lessons as well as them recording, making backing tracks, promotion etc she has been given lots of opportunity to perform and has had some great spin off gigs already. She has only been with them since mid November. When I add up how much this would have cost us for all that she has done we have already recouped our money compared to individual lessons, opportunities etc.
We also think we have been fortunate to find the right company - the two chaps who run it are excellent, very knowledgeable, talented and friendly and seem to be genuine about helping my dd progress. They are always available to answer my silly questions and I feel I have found a friend too.

With regard to the songwriting / playing instruments, this particular company do offer to write song for the artist and they are both excellent musicians. My daughter is from a musical theatre background however her voice when she sings non-musical songs sounds totally different, maybe not quite the Charlotte Church affect but significantly different.
My dd feels that because she writes her own songs they sound more genuine and less 'produced'. We have become very close very quickly and I feel they know my dd better than most people who know her - they 'get' her she feels, which to us is everything.