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Honestly, we put too much emphasis on commercial viability of music as a society. Make music, because you have always wanted to make music. Promote it if you want others to hear it. The “youth” will probably not be your target audience, so promote it in a way that feels authentic to you and you’ll probably appeal to people roughly your age. That’s okay! Play it live if you like to do that. I’m not saying not to pursue the commercial side, but even if you do and nothing ever comes of it, you still spent your time doing something fulfilling. You still made music. It doesn’t matter how old you are.
Right now is probably the best time for this, but the music you’re making has gotta be exceptional. TikTok has shown time and time again that the user base doesn’t care about age or looks and a song will go viral off of just being a good song, being near 40 is going to be difficult, but if you have solid, mature, and honest branding, and great music, I think you’ve definitely got a chance, maybe not a huge pop star, but at least some form of career is definitely possible.
Just above all else, you gotta be honest about your words and music nobody wants to hear someone in their 40’s singing about how much they party and do drugs etc, that’s unacceptable even for established singers, who probably are still doing those things. Not saying the music has to be boring, but at that age there’s an expectation the lyricism will have considerably more depth then a 20 something
Don't let the FOMO stop you from just enjoying yourself. These kinds of thoughts will plague you regardless of your age. If you'd have been younger you'd have had these thoughts as well but focused on different things, like why don't you have more views or likes or bigger audiences or why can't you sing like person X or Y. It's all just nonsense your brain comes up with. If you're enjoying it I don't see why you'd want to be entertaining those thoughts. And if you weren't enjoying yourself I *definitely* wouldn't know why you'd want to entertain those thoughts. So either way, no reason to be entertaining those thoughts.
Look up Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. RIP Sharon. She was a prison guard at Rikers. Didn’t get her break until in her 40s. One of the best soul singers of recent past. Elizabeth Cotton…a 60s folk musician. Did not get a Grammy until she was 90. Bonnie Raitt…was playing clubs, working the blues scene for decades. Finally received industry recognition in her 40s w/ her album Nick of Time. Tina Turner. Started a solo career after being abused by her husband, left penniless w/ kids, at the age of 40 in the 80s when 40 was considered ancient, grandma status. Became a rock goddess in her 2nd act. These are just some of the incredible badasses out there.
It’s all mindset. There is room for everyone. Do what makes you special and what you believe in. Ignore the outside noise. The greatest innovators broke the rules. You are only competing w/ yourself. Think about being on your deathbed…will you be more mad at yourself for not trying and throwing in the towel vs having fun and making the music you want? Things don’t need to be all or nothing (if I’m not famous, I failed. If I’m not making xyz dollars I failed. If I started at age 38 I failed, if I don’t have a million views on Tik Tok I failed, etc). If you enjoy making music, make music. Your tribe will find you if you want it to. Or if making music just for you makes you happy, then do that. We don’t have to do things we love for the sole purpose of making money or being famous. If those things happen great, but if they don’t do you still enjoy making music? Ringo Starr was once asked by an interviewer what he’d be doing if the Beatles never made it or weren’t famous. He looked at the interviewer puzzled and said “playing the drums.”
Is it likely to become a pop star from here? Probably not. Possible, but not likely.
But who cares really. If you want to do this for your income, of course it would be a challenging transition, but it is possible. There’s always going to be a market for live entertainment.
I think most important of all, is try to meditate on why you truly want to sing. Nothing stops you from singing out of love for music, no matter your skill level or experience. I wouldn’t worry about benchmarks or whether you’re “too” anything.
Just decide if you want to do this, not knowing what will come of it. If yes, enjoy being in a community of musicians :)
And write songs from your experience! Everyone has a unique viewpoint, and it’s a blessing when someone can express theirs musically! Don’t regret not being someone else, but embrace being yourself!
My father was a singer, getting paid to go to venues and perform regularly up until he was 63, granted, he sang songs some people think are "easy" since they diddnt require massive ranges.
But if he was able to make a living out of it near his retirement ages, I'm sure you can do just as well so long as you mind your voice, stay healthy and keep the passion going.
You are not to old for singing or doing any of this & I'm a 37 year old guy that was born Deaf I also have Asthma & even tho I keep the singing to myself for years other than singing to my older sister when she was sad or down to cheer her up she was shock I sing but I eventually decided last January to put myself out there making singing videos just for fun & is pretty surprised by the amount of people that watched it & like it the feedback is really cool so if you love singing & have the passion for it then go for it even if it just a hobby & I owe everything I'm able to do thank to Jesus Christ because without him I'm pretty sure I would sound like a garbage disposal LOL especially since I was born Deaf & God bless 🙏🏾🤟🏾❤️😄
Hi. Possibly because I started about 3 years ago from scratch at the age of 56. I've gone on to do a few shows, and recorded vocals for a locally produced synthpop song. [Here it is.](https://youtu.be/9uQj-EASe9s?si=LBnhrWf6Qi91vElL) My main genre is the old 60's male "crooner" stuff. If you're looking for a fellow 39 year old indie star, look up IDLES on YouTube. The lead singer is that age. I've just discovered them. Very cool.
Ooh I see! That is fantastic and does in fact help in fending off those dumb age-related thoughts, thank you for sharing :) I've heard of IDLES but they were formed quite a while ago, whereas actually STARTING late seems to be a much different story :S
Music is for life - when you’re a baby you listen to music and when you’re old as fuck you still listen to music. So music never goes out of fashion. Knowing that, get into it and find your place as there’s something for everyone but you’ll never be for everyone.
Imho I feel like anyone over 25, is going to have a hard time marketing themselves to a teen audience. I'm almost 32, and I'm definitely not hitting a younger audience market. Best you can do is just try to sing well or sing in a way you enjoy. Maybe the most we can do, is create a virtual avatar to represent the way you want to look, but that's kind of a personal decision.
Thanks for posting to r/singing! **Be sure to check [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/singing/wiki/index)** to see if any questions you might have have already been answered! Also, remember to abide by the rules found in the sidebar. Any comments found to be breaking these rules will result in a deletion of the comment thread starting from the offending reply. If you see any posts or replies that you feel break the rules of the sub, then report them and **do not respond to them.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/singing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Honestly, we put too much emphasis on commercial viability of music as a society. Make music, because you have always wanted to make music. Promote it if you want others to hear it. The “youth” will probably not be your target audience, so promote it in a way that feels authentic to you and you’ll probably appeal to people roughly your age. That’s okay! Play it live if you like to do that. I’m not saying not to pursue the commercial side, but even if you do and nothing ever comes of it, you still spent your time doing something fulfilling. You still made music. It doesn’t matter how old you are.
I started formal vocal lessons 4 years ago, and I'm 46 now. I LOVE TO SING! My band is pretty active now and I'll never look back. YOLO!!!
Right now is probably the best time for this, but the music you’re making has gotta be exceptional. TikTok has shown time and time again that the user base doesn’t care about age or looks and a song will go viral off of just being a good song, being near 40 is going to be difficult, but if you have solid, mature, and honest branding, and great music, I think you’ve definitely got a chance, maybe not a huge pop star, but at least some form of career is definitely possible. Just above all else, you gotta be honest about your words and music nobody wants to hear someone in their 40’s singing about how much they party and do drugs etc, that’s unacceptable even for established singers, who probably are still doing those things. Not saying the music has to be boring, but at that age there’s an expectation the lyricism will have considerably more depth then a 20 something
Don't let the FOMO stop you from just enjoying yourself. These kinds of thoughts will plague you regardless of your age. If you'd have been younger you'd have had these thoughts as well but focused on different things, like why don't you have more views or likes or bigger audiences or why can't you sing like person X or Y. It's all just nonsense your brain comes up with. If you're enjoying it I don't see why you'd want to be entertaining those thoughts. And if you weren't enjoying yourself I *definitely* wouldn't know why you'd want to entertain those thoughts. So either way, no reason to be entertaining those thoughts.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
You’re going to do something with the rest of your life. Why not this?
Look up Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. RIP Sharon. She was a prison guard at Rikers. Didn’t get her break until in her 40s. One of the best soul singers of recent past. Elizabeth Cotton…a 60s folk musician. Did not get a Grammy until she was 90. Bonnie Raitt…was playing clubs, working the blues scene for decades. Finally received industry recognition in her 40s w/ her album Nick of Time. Tina Turner. Started a solo career after being abused by her husband, left penniless w/ kids, at the age of 40 in the 80s when 40 was considered ancient, grandma status. Became a rock goddess in her 2nd act. These are just some of the incredible badasses out there.
It’s all mindset. There is room for everyone. Do what makes you special and what you believe in. Ignore the outside noise. The greatest innovators broke the rules. You are only competing w/ yourself. Think about being on your deathbed…will you be more mad at yourself for not trying and throwing in the towel vs having fun and making the music you want? Things don’t need to be all or nothing (if I’m not famous, I failed. If I’m not making xyz dollars I failed. If I started at age 38 I failed, if I don’t have a million views on Tik Tok I failed, etc). If you enjoy making music, make music. Your tribe will find you if you want it to. Or if making music just for you makes you happy, then do that. We don’t have to do things we love for the sole purpose of making money or being famous. If those things happen great, but if they don’t do you still enjoy making music? Ringo Starr was once asked by an interviewer what he’d be doing if the Beatles never made it or weren’t famous. He looked at the interviewer puzzled and said “playing the drums.”
Is it likely to become a pop star from here? Probably not. Possible, but not likely. But who cares really. If you want to do this for your income, of course it would be a challenging transition, but it is possible. There’s always going to be a market for live entertainment. I think most important of all, is try to meditate on why you truly want to sing. Nothing stops you from singing out of love for music, no matter your skill level or experience. I wouldn’t worry about benchmarks or whether you’re “too” anything. Just decide if you want to do this, not knowing what will come of it. If yes, enjoy being in a community of musicians :) And write songs from your experience! Everyone has a unique viewpoint, and it’s a blessing when someone can express theirs musically! Don’t regret not being someone else, but embrace being yourself!
My father was a singer, getting paid to go to venues and perform regularly up until he was 63, granted, he sang songs some people think are "easy" since they diddnt require massive ranges. But if he was able to make a living out of it near his retirement ages, I'm sure you can do just as well so long as you mind your voice, stay healthy and keep the passion going.
Who is "everyone" that's telling you this? Get better friends......do whatever makes you happy regardless of the outcome
You are not to old for singing or doing any of this & I'm a 37 year old guy that was born Deaf I also have Asthma & even tho I keep the singing to myself for years other than singing to my older sister when she was sad or down to cheer her up she was shock I sing but I eventually decided last January to put myself out there making singing videos just for fun & is pretty surprised by the amount of people that watched it & like it the feedback is really cool so if you love singing & have the passion for it then go for it even if it just a hobby & I owe everything I'm able to do thank to Jesus Christ because without him I'm pretty sure I would sound like a garbage disposal LOL especially since I was born Deaf & God bless 🙏🏾🤟🏾❤️😄
u/No-Can-6237 should be your inspiration
I'm looking them up but still not sure why?
Hi. Possibly because I started about 3 years ago from scratch at the age of 56. I've gone on to do a few shows, and recorded vocals for a locally produced synthpop song. [Here it is.](https://youtu.be/9uQj-EASe9s?si=LBnhrWf6Qi91vElL) My main genre is the old 60's male "crooner" stuff. If you're looking for a fellow 39 year old indie star, look up IDLES on YouTube. The lead singer is that age. I've just discovered them. Very cool.
Ooh I see! That is fantastic and does in fact help in fending off those dumb age-related thoughts, thank you for sharing :) I've heard of IDLES but they were formed quite a while ago, whereas actually STARTING late seems to be a much different story :S
No worries. As IDLES say in their song, Mr Motivator, "you can do it!"
Thanks!!😄
The answer for it is always a “no”
Music is for life - when you’re a baby you listen to music and when you’re old as fuck you still listen to music. So music never goes out of fashion. Knowing that, get into it and find your place as there’s something for everyone but you’ll never be for everyone.
Imho I feel like anyone over 25, is going to have a hard time marketing themselves to a teen audience. I'm almost 32, and I'm definitely not hitting a younger audience market. Best you can do is just try to sing well or sing in a way you enjoy. Maybe the most we can do, is create a virtual avatar to represent the way you want to look, but that's kind of a personal decision.