Vocal Injury

When you think about going to a concert of a band that has been on tour, what do you think about?  Maybe it is the music itself, or the band you are seeing.  What about the pyrotechnics or other technologies that you get from being at a live concert?  These are common, but very few people other than the artists themselves think about injury. 

            With fame, comes hard work, strain on your body, and even on your voice.  Musicians are put through the ringer with their voices and bodies.  The lead singer, going through the most.  When a band or singer finally gets recognition or signed, the demand to get them out to the public is high.  They are pushed to the limits, given very few days off.  Having interviews virtually around the clock, and performances every night, sometimes multiple performances throughout a day. 

            What does this mean for these musicians?  For starters, it means almost continual use of their voices, their instruments.  While fame does not happen over night, the increase in demand for them does.  These musicians are used to practicing and performing, but not at the demanding schedule that they are at once they become famous.

            If they are not used to using their instruments or voices properly, then they can do some serious damage to themselves.  We need to start to train to use our bodies instrument properly from the beginning.  It is this strain that can cause muscle strain, polyps, cysts, vocal nodules, even hemorrhage. 

            So, with this demand, what can we do to assist the musicians?  Besides offering proper vocal training, we can have them start by seeing a specialist for regular checkups.  By establishing a starting point, or baseline, doctors will have an idea of where the musician needs to get back to after treatment.  If the musician, or anyone else, notices that they are straining, having difficulties, or just soreness, then they need to have vocal rest.   By taking care of a “sore muscle,” their voices, at the first sign of a problem, they can usually heal themselves before they get to the point where they will need surgery.  Signs that a singer is having a problem include difficulty with stamina, having a longer recovery time between injury, and the actual acoustic quality of their voices has changed.

            Once they have notices a problem, whether it be just a sore throat, or larger needing surgery, we need to allow them time to heal.  If they continue to go at the rate that they are normally being pushed, it could lead to irreparable damage.  No one wants to see that. 

            Some tips everyone should know: Try to keep caffeine, alcohol, and spicy foods out of your diet.  Do not do more than a couple shows in a row without a day off in between.  Drink plenty of water, your body, your muscles, but most importantly for singers is their vocal chords, needs to remain hydrated.  Anything that can dehydrate them, they should keep away from. 

            Who does the responsibility of maintenance of their instrument fall to?  According to Santigold, “It’s really up to the artist to lay down the law.”   They need to know their bodies and in a sense demand what they need to keep their body in full working condition.  Thankfully in today’s industry, the vocalists do not have to feel like they are on their own.  According to Dr. C. Gaelyn Garrett, “Management has now recognized  It’s a marathon, and a lot of the new artists they they’re signing, they’re sending them over right from the beginning [for assessment].”  If their artists have an issue, they are not making money.  It is not a race.  The artist is in this for the long-term.  If we allow them to have the time needed, keep them in peak condition, then they will continue to earn money.  The lesson, keep your artist healthy.

that this is not a sprint for the artist.

Industry Research

As a new artist, or as a seasoned artist, there are many areas in the music venue that needs to be explored.  Whether you are looking to make a name for yourself, or trying to remain on top and well known, making smart decisions about your career are what is most important.  Among those decisions, are things like picking a record label, decisions about publicists, finding audio engineers, and having security.

Running a record label is a very expensive and time-consuming job.  It takes a lot of money, and a lot of time to operate a legitimate record label (Knab,2010).  The larger record labels have the luxury of having many different departments and dozens of employees to carry out the many responsibilities involved in running a label.  The smaller companies, that have the same work to do, have to be quite creative and energetic to get all that work done (Knab, 2010).  It is extremely important to keep these things in mind when you are choosing which label you want to sign with. 

According to Neil Young, "What I like about record companies is that they present and nurture artists"  He also says, "People look at record companies like they're obsolete, but there's a lot of soul in there - a lot of people who care about music, and that's very important" (Lindvall, 2012).  "The public sees the artist and hears the music, but what they don't see is the whole world of people doing things behind the scenes to help them," Jake Gosling says.  "You still need labels.  You've got to remember they've got marketing teams, press teams, radio pluggers, accounts departments and when you get bigger you need help with that stuff.  You need a good team around you" (Lindvall, 2012).

For artists who have managed to gain a fan base before being approached by labels, record deals tend to be much more advantageous than the old type of contracts.  Some artists retain ownership of their music and some get their own label imprints (Lindvall, 2012).

So the question becomes, what is it that you want in a record label?  Do you want a company that has a lot of departments, and a lot of people hired to handle each individual aspect of the label?  Or do you want a smaller label that has only a handful of people working for it.  Each person taking on multiple responsibilities.  According to Jake Gosling, “What is important is to be on a label that “gets you”” (Lindvall,2012).

Along with the decision of signing on to the correct label for you, you need to be thinking about the possibility of hiring a Publicist.  A music publicist is hired as a member of your team to represent you to the media.  Some publicists may also cover radio for interviews on tour stops.  But if you want to get on the radio charts (like CMJ), you will need a radio promoter.  More and more publicists also cover Internet PR, like my company.  But not all traditional publicists do this, so make sure to ask before you hire (Hyatt, 2011).

According to DeHayes (2014), “Lack of lead time is a real killer. You likely spent a good bit of time and money making your record, so there's no need to rush to release it. While a publicist can't force an outlet to like something, they do know how much lead time that outlet needs to even consider an album for coverage.”  Get your press kit to your publicist early.  They need time to be able to deliver an effective campaign for you.  Don’t try to rush them or force them to work with no lead-time.  It will only make things worse for the campaign, for the publicist, and for yourself as an artist within the industry.

It’s important to remember that the Publicist works for you.  It’s your money that pays their salary, and your music that keeps them in business.  So when choosing a Publicist for you and your band, pick one you like.  Someone that fits with your vision for your future and your goals for your career (Hyatt, 2011). 

Once you have made it to performing live, you want to hire the crew that will make you sound the best.  Bands have become increasingly reliant on live performances to make money, spurring demand for stage hands, instrument techs, sound mixers, lighting specialists and tour managers (Shah, 2015).  “You have to know your stuff.  A big part of the job is keeping up on the latest toys for musicians.  You have to do a lot of reading,” says Dick Adams, a production manager for Metallica, Pearl Jam and Heart (Shah, 2015).

Roadies often earn a flat fee for a day’s work, whether it runs for four hours or fourteen.  Once a roadie gains a foothold in the industry and establishes a network, one gig often leads to another.  Moving up to bigger tours from smaller ones is commonplace, concert workers says (Shah,2015). 

Tim Crosby (2008) says, “In many ways, the live sound engineer is as important to a live band performance as any member on stage.  It's the live sound engineer's job to tame acoustics and bring the musicians' efforts home to the audience.”

With no arena or venue being alike, how is a sound engineer able to master his technique and deliver amazing audio for so many shows? They must please the audience. This can be a challenge because while the sound might be good for one section of seats, another section might present different acoustical challenges.  They must also please the musical group. Live sound engineers also are responsible for making sure the musicians can hear themselves well, by using a series of speakers called "monitors" that are aimed at the musicians on stage. If a musician can't hear himself well, or he detects something he doesn't like in the overall sound, he may blame the sound engineer (Crosby, 2008).  For this reason, they work closely with the performers to achieve the right mix for everyone.

In the end, the audience's opinion of the sound engineer's work might be the most important -- no matter how well the band plays it doesn't matter if the audience can't hear it to appreciate it. Sound engineers must strive to make every seat in the venue the best seat in the house, at least from an audio standpoint (Crosby, 2008).

Finally, there is the issue of security.  We have always seen security guards, or bouncers at different shows, but is just having them there enough.  Live Nation states, "The safety and security of our shows, fans and venues continues to be our highest priority.  Due to the recent events in Paris and in an abundance of caution we have implemented heightened security procedures globally (Hod, 2015).

It’s sad that a major event such as the Paris bombing is what it takes for people to make changes in protocols.  According to Justin Scheck, (2015), “At Paris’s 80,000 person Stade de France, security guards thwarted a man who tried to enter the soccer match.  He instead detonated the device outside, killing 1 person.  At Le Bataclan, where some 1,500 people were gathered for a rock band concert, three suicide-vest-wearing gunmen were able to enter and kill 89 people.”

It’s because these venues haven’t really thought of security like that. They probably don’t even have security staff or a person responsible for security, other than so-called bouncers who take tickets,” says David Bernstein, CEO of Rock-It Cargo (Hod, 2015).

The question becomes, what can we do to make these concerts safer for everyone, not just the artists on the stage?  Michael O’Neil, chief executive officer at MSA Security, the the first Commanding Officer of the NYPD Counterterrorism Division, cited several things that need to be done immediately:

• Training employees on awareness.  "When people are smart about the threat they can become valuable intelligence collectors and help the effort," he said.
• Look at your venue, look at your structure.  "What are the inherent vulnerabilities that you have?  Are there multiple access points?  Can you search people if you wanted to?  If there was an alert, how would you search people?" he asked.
• Have a plan.  Said O'Neil: "If an event happened, how would you minimize the damage?  What you learn can save people's lives when something does happen" (Hod, 2015).

David Bernstein said, “If everyone steps up their game, we will have an effective apparatus to make shows as safe as they should be. And we will make the likelihood of these soft targets being targeted that much less” (Hod, 2015).

As you are making your decisions about your future, your career, keep some important information in mind.  What type of music label “gets you,” do you and your publicist see things eye to eye, what sound do you want the world to hear and do you have someone that is capable of creating that sound, and what kind of security do you have or need?  While most of these affect yourself and the band, some are important to your fans as well.  Always try to keep the fans on your mind, without them, you wouldn’t have a career.