If many people told me that my musical talent is more suited for "international" level, what should i do?

Being good at music doesn’t guarantee a high priced job , stick to working part time and do music on the side. Till you get loads of cash or found by someone who can offer a high paid music job .

Now you confused me. Why was I under the impression you were female all this time? Or are you a different Niki?

I can’t really give you advice before I hear your stuff for myself. It’s not just about being good enough, and think about it, the most successful band ever was the Beatles with songs such as “Yellow Submarine”. Often success depends on a series of factors, the most important of which is timing (being at the right place at the right time). I bet if I write a song like “Love me Tender” or “Blue Suede Shoes” (I’ve written several like that, even better) today, I wouldn’t even break even, let alone become the new King of Rock n’ Roll.

A second thing to consider is that artistic ability/success does not necessarily translate into money. I’ve made a lot more money pretending to be an Irish folk singer in Germany (sponsored by Guiness beer) than I ever made as a rock star in the UK, even when I had a song in the charts. What you really need is a music job that will make you enough money to make ends meet and get out of the factory. That way you can eventually focus on the music, and actually do it better. I don’t know whether you can do that in Indonesia, or whether Japan might be a better option, but as I said, I’d have to hear your stuff to give you an honest opinion.

@Jack: thanks for your response.
fyi, i am still the same “Niki” that asked the music-related questions :)
and yes, my music compositions can be heard here:
http://www.myspace.com/nikiwonotomusic
although it’s mainly instrumental ones, but I’ve also composed/write many other different genres, such as pop, rock, symphonic-pop, jazz, etc. and that’s why i was asking about the “different music project/name” questions earlier about few months ago :)
hope to hear back your advice/input again.

and btw, as i’ve said, I’ve also got positive professional comments from one guy from Geffen Records, U.S (we got to know through Internet), and also in one forum/community that’s filled with professional musicians working with japanese musicians in Japan.
so yes, it’s definitely not only some “nice-touchy” comments from my friends,
but really also from some music Pros/music manager.
this is why/what makes me become more confident in pursuing 100% career in music (i used to doubt myself constantly too-often, that i’ve just ‘wasted’ 5–6 years already, in doing a job that i totally not passionate, and also not very good at: factory business).
what i really need, at this point is, admitedly, a music connections/networks, because i was not from musical background family, so often i found myself have to try hard by myself.. and combined with when i used to constantly doubt myself (& ‘wasted’ my time), it’s why i’ve only progressed so slowly in music, whereas kept constantly getting down, depressed, and just don’t know what to do in life..
but this is all about to change.
that’s why I need to ask for your opinions/inputs/advices, guys.
hope to hear more!

When I read your story, I see the following positive things: you’re passionate about your music, you apprently have talent and you’re seeing possibilities for yourself.

The less positive things are your age, your location and the fact that you let the barriers stop you.

A simple question: what do YOU want? You’ve spent a lot of this post talking about your parents and the enormous barrier they are to your achieving your dreams. I know that other cultures are different than the one in which I was raised (US) and often in these cultures family pressures can be enormous. But for you to realize your dream, you’ve got to go where the business is. And that isn’t in Indonesia working in a factory.

Success in the music business is all about who you know. Everyone’s got talent. That’s a given. But the people who are successful are the ones who get to know those with influence. Depending on what you want to do with your music, you need to be where they are. If you want to compose film music, you need to be in Hollywood (obviously there are other centers of film industry, Mumbai, Berlin and Tokyo, for example, but the market with the most volume is, by far, Hollywood); if you want to compose “legitimate music,” New York; pop music, also New York. To some degree, the advent of digital distribution and the pervasiveness of streaming music to markets has lessened this somewhat, but by and large this is still true.

My advice: stop wasting time. You want this? Go for it. If your circumstances limit you, then either work within them or change them. I saw for example that you’ve got 82 friends on your My Space page. This is not a very large fan base. In order to really have something to show, you need to build a substantial following. When you’re not at the factory, then every waking minute needs to be devoted to building a following for yourself. And that means marketing yourself. Relentlessly. Talent in music will only get you so far. The real success comes in selling yourself and getting your music heard by the right people.

I just heard to a bit of your music. I wasn’t really trying to determine your talent, but mainly what genre you are in, and therefore the financial prospects of that.

So, first of all, yes, there’s some talent there, and since you love music so much, it would be a waste to spend the rest of your life in a factory, regretting that you never tried. This has to do with your personal choices, your life, ambitions and dreams, and ultimately your happiness. Regardless of whether you “make it” or not, you’ll always be unhappy unless you try out your luck, and 27 is already pretty late for that. Not late to have a career, late for your personal revolution.

Secondly, the music you’re into could actually make you money, and funnily enough you wouldn’t need to leave Indonesia at all. You may of course have to move to a bigger city (if you’re not in one already), and generally find the connections to the industry. I have never even been to Indonesia, but I’m 100% there’s a music and film industry there just like everywhere else, and even though it might not be the same as the one in US, you could always start with local and national projects before going international. Personally, I’d try and go into writing music for adverts etc, and eventually movies. Breaking into Hollywood is practically impossible, but perhaps a good Indonesian film could get you money, publicity and eventually international recognition. At least that’s what I’d do.

Meanwhile (and don’t wait for this), you should try and use your internet connection to get in contact with oversees people, projects and a fanbase. You should keep writing songs and posting them on places like myspace and youtube (like you’ve done), maybe participate in something bigger or with people who are more famous and could get you publicity. Maybe you could write the music for a videogame for example. What I generally mean by both of these points, is to build what we call a “portfolio”. You’ll never really play in bars or fill stadiums, and this should not be your goal. But you could do studio work or write the music for an oscar-winning film one day.

Don’t be afraid to use your piano-playing skills to make a living at a restaurant or a hotel roof garden for example. I’m sure there’s places that would pay you decent money for that, and it would help you get out of the factory and live off music instead. It would also allow you more time for creative work as we described earlier.

I am confident that there are the right channels and you’ll have more than enough opportunities to do what you want and be happy. You have both the will and the talent, but most importantly, there is money in what you’re doing, which, however callous, is really what it’s all about. So go for it and you’ll be fine :)

You have written some lovely music, niki. Life is passing, and it is time for you to move to make your dream of a musical life a reality.

Have you ever listened to the show “Echoes” on NPR? If you cannot hear on the radio where you are, I think it is streamed on the Web. It fits well with the type of music that you create. I would send the host John DiLoberto and the producer Kim Haas the link to your music.

The other thing that I think your music would be wonderful is film scores. If you can contact up-and-coming fillmmakers and offer the use of your music, I think that would bring you a lot of attention.

Focus on what your goals are and not on where you are going to do it.

these are all great answers. The point is, you should pursue your dreams, but try to stay grounded in reality. Just dumping everything to move away and make your fortune elsewhere is only a choice you can make. Use the Internet to your advantage, make some contacts, and take a proactive role in your love of music. I am listening to your piece Luminaire Cave right now, and I am mesmerized by it.

Great stuff!

@Jack79 That’s a great answer, but deserves some comment. I was talking with Tom Holkenborg a couple of weeks ago (you might know him as JunkieXL, who had a big hit with “A Little Less Conversation” that was used for a 2002 Nike World Cup Commercial). He said, “Having a big hit is essential, but it’s certainly not everything. My hit gave me nothing more than a reference point, where people would say, ‘Oh yeah, you’re that guy from . . . ’. I might have been able to be successful without it, but the hit really helped to open doors.”

Tom, who moved from Holland to LA some years ago, has been working hard to meet the right people and build on his early success. Probably the most relevant part of his bio on Wikipedia (which reads as a “how to” on how to be successful in the business) states: “With an unrivaled work ethic, which routinely includes fourteen-hour days in his studio . . .”. This to me says everything: hard work combined with a dash of luck and being the right person in the right place at the right time. That’s the “secret” to success.

@PapaLeo I absolutely agree. Chances will always come, however big or small, and this goes for every business, not just music. You have to be ready for them and be professional and hard-working. Musicians tend to base their success too much on talent and not hard work. Artists in general tend to be sloppy, disorganised, egotistical and lazy, and they are hardly ever punctual.

The secret of my success (though in a completely different type of music than Niki) was that I always started my shows on time, only took short breaks (shorter than what I was entitled to) and stayed longer if there were still people there having fun. I was also nice to the audience and everyone working at the venue, never got drunk, never took drugs, or had fights or anything like that. I never asked for anything more than maybe a parking space to unload my equipment or a glass of water, and always politely. And so I always got booked again.

Similarly, when I had a choice of two female singers for my band a couple of years ago, one with an amazing voice, gorgeous and talented, but unpunctual and lazy, the other also beautiful and with a good voice, but very inexperienced in the genre, I picked the second one, because she was hard-working and always came to the rehearsals on time. And I knew I could depend on her. We still work together and are very good friends.

So yeah, doing the best you can always helps, and I’m sure Niki is hard-working enough to impress anyone who hires him.

thank you everyone, for your answers!
I appreciate ‘em a lot, as I’ll consider them as my inputs.

so in general, to rephrase,.what would you guys suggest me to do?
1. radical way: go ‘jump’ right-away, move to another country, to start building from zero my music career, internationally, rather than ‘move/progress’ slowly here (while my ‘aim’ is to get my music heard internationally anyway, not just locally) ,
or
2. conventional way: build “portfolio” here locally first (at my home country), while also trying to find some ‘loopholes’ to get my music heard internationally?

or, try not to ‘limit’ , and it’s possible to do BOTH of them at the same time?...
what do u guys think?
thanks.

For your type of music option #2 could work fine, and let’s not forget we all live in a global village anyway. But it should be a “radical” approach in terms of your way of thinking. You should not forget that you’re a musician working in a factory to make ends meet, not a factory worker who does music in his spare time. Moving to another country (or city) might be helpful mainly because of this. It would force you to think and act as a musician. But there are enormous problems connected to that, mainly financial. And I imagine you don’t really want to fight with your family, who are already not very supportive of your dream.

I’ve already been through that with my family, who deny I was ever a musician at all. Even when I was making albums and concerts, they told their neighbours I was in Germany studying (I was already 27 at the time and had finished uni at 23). Even today they deny I ever sang. They hide any newspaper article about me, throw away any CDs of mine they find, burn promotional T-shirts of my tours. So don’t ever expect to impress them. For them you’ll always be untalented and stupid for pursuing your dream, as your only purpose in life is the factory. Just be prepared for that. But you shouldn’t be doing this for them, you’re doing it for you. And it would be nice if you could keep a balance and still be friends with your family, even after you’ve made it. Perhaps they’ll be proud of you deep inside. But they’ll never admit it.

So I’d try to do all this while staying in Indonesia for now, unless you feel strong enough to make it on your own somewhere else, or unless the factory is distracting you too much from your actual goal.

# 3 is the smart plan. ” Going International ” is something that will come with the territory depending on your level of talent and opportunism. Don’t rush it….....enjoy it baby, that’s the main thing, the rest is just about money and fame which in the end means nothing.

Aroooooooooooooo !