• Does your music teacher tell you that you have natural ability or a gift?
• Is everybody (besides your parents) always telling you that you have an amazing singing voice?
• Do you get good/lead parts in school playes or choir, or are you first chair in the band or orchestra?
• Have you ever won an award for your singing or musical talent?
• Have you been asked to perform at school functions (songs like
• Is rehearsal more fun than hanging out with your friends at the mall?
• Are you always choreographing dance moves, composing songs, or writing lyrics in your head?
• Can you handle rejection? (You have to answer yes to this, because you will hear 'no' all the time)

Clean up your act.

• HAVE A LITTLE CLASS. You've got to take voice, dance, and music lessons. You already know that practice is essential-duh-but you'll learn other not-so-duh things, like how to keep your pipes and feet healthy for a long career.
• DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE. Sure, maybe you can move like Britney and sing like Celine, but the world already has a Britney and a Celine. What makes you unique? That's your best asset. Use it!
• GET COMFORTABLE IN FRONT OF A CROWD. You have only about 15 seconds to connect with the audience before you walk onstage, or you will lose their attention. So join the debate team or have a friend pretend that they are an MTV VJ interviewing you. Videotape and watch it so you can fix flailing hand gestures, stop saying 'um' so much, and learn to fill long pauses.
• BE A STUDENT. Be up on whats going on in the music industry. Read music trades like

ITS DEMO TIME! a demo should be pressed into a CD and have from 1 to 5 songs on it. Here's how you do it.

• FIND A RECORDING STUDIO. The best way to pick one is through word of mouth (ask your music teacher or the employees at a record store). Go there and ask the owner which musicians have recorded there. You should recognize a few names from reading the trades or have heard about those artists in your local paper.
• RECORD A SONG. Remember those lyrics and tunes you composed? A sound engineer at the studio will record each instrument seperately (warning: if your a solo artist, hiring musicians can cost a lot of money), track by track, then you go into a sound booth and sing your heart out to the music. He or She mixes them together and presto!
• YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! Renting studio time can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a day. It all depends on where you live, the caliber of the studio you pick, and how much time you spend in the studio.