Aside from talent, the right attitude can spell success for aspiring artists

Ethan Loukas

In his 22 years working in the local music industry as a talent scout and record executive, Jaworksi Garcia, founder of the newly launched label Black Sheep Records, has worked with countless aspiring artists trying to get a foot in the door.

Talent, of course, is of utmost importance. But there’s another thing that could potentially make or break someone’s future, he noted—attitude. “No matter how good your music is, it would be hard for an artist to belong, if the attitude is unacceptable,” he told the Inquirer in an email interview.

Other things Jaworski looks for in potential wards are “hunger” and “a clear understanding of how things run in the industry.”

And he intends to instill these in his current—and still growing—lineup of talents, which includes singer-songwriter Ethan Loukas, hip-hop artist Ezro, alt-pop trio Modern Day Dream, singer Rian and the young band Ferodina, which is composed of alums of the talent search “Music Hero.”

“There’s no shortcut to success,” pointed out Jaworksi, who used to work for Warner Music. Now he has found a creative and business partner in former The Youth bassist Robert Javier, who will serve as the A&R head. “We need to work triple time and combine passion and hard work.”

An affiliate of Viva Music Group, Black Sheep Records goal, Jaworksi said, is to go global someday.

“It has always been my dream to own a record company that would help and open doors of opportunities for Filipino artists to be known in the global music scene,” said Jaworski.

Ezro

What kind of artist or genre do you see Black Sheep specializing in?

We don’t want the label to be limited in its choices of genre; I have decided to keep it open. There’s always a market, no matter your music’s genre.

Isn’t it risky to put out a label at a time when the music industry is limited?

The only thing limited during the pandemic are live gigs. The rest are all digitally done. It’s limitless. Back then, we didn’t give enough time to doing promo digitally. But because of the current situation, artists had to adjust … there’s online busking, etc.

Rian

How will the lack of live shows impact artist promotion?

Big-time. The effect is really big. But if the artist is eager to reach his target audience, he could do it by means of going online. For example, InqPOP could reach thousands of people through cross-posting, while live gigs in a bar will have like 150 max.

We just have to believe that the available platform could work for us. Lack of in-person interaction with followers remains the main problem, but we need to pray that everything will be back to normal soon. For now, we maximize the available marketing arm we have.

How do you plan to guide and assist your artists navigate these difficult times?

For now, we plan to record as much as possible, and prepare social media content, so our artists can reach more audiences; so we can, somehow, give a bit of financial help by giving them advance royalties. We really don’t know when this pandemic will end.

How do you think the role of record labels has changed over the years, especially with streaming and digital platforms taking over?

It remains the same, but I think the difference is the adaptation of labels to changes.

We’re actually using quad-media: radio, TV, print and digital platforms. If you can’t compete digitally, then it would be hard for the artist or for the label to reach the target audiences.

Modern Day Dream

Social media has made it easier for artists to put out their own material. What would you say are the advantages of being signed with a label?

Guidance, setting up proper expectations and education about the industry.

Do you think social media has made it difficult for aspiring artists to really stand out?

It actually helps aspiring artists to stand out. Once you go viral, there’s no stopping to that. You just have to make it right since the negative things can go viral faster than positive things.