Things got moving slowly but firmly for Kopra during 2019. Here are couple of things I’m very happy with what we achieved:
1. Releasing music – If you want to be in the music business, it’s good idea to release some tracks from time to time. First we released ”Läpällä” which means something like ”Just Kidding” in Finnish and later the year we came up with ”Toinen Kierros” meaning ”Second Round”. Clearly Läpällä got most of the streams. As I’m writing this the song has been streamed just a little bit under 1000 times. Thanks for anybody who is listening.
2. Playing live – We did some gigs as well. Nothing to be proud of here what it comes to numbers. On the other hand, every single gig was a great experience and I think we did the best out of each situation. Live performances seem to be another industry standard you are supposed to do in music business. I get it.
3. Interesting collaborations – We got to meet and know couple of interesting people or/and organizations during 2019. First was Minerva Pappi, who is extremely talented mastering engineer and made our self-produced tracks sound much better with her skills. Secondly, we had interesting webinar with Jukka Hynynen from Jiffel Music getting some valuable feedback on our music. Finally, the whole Kopra team traveled to Porvoo to join The Voice of Finland talent show. Remember to watch!
It was an eventful year for me personally and I have put lots of effort on finding my place in the music scene. As an example I have watched hundreds of hours free and paid tutorials on how to mix and produce music. I have read several books about song writing. I have written songs for 2 bands. Sometimes I have simply written and produced songs just to try out new genres and to teach myself new tricks. Those tracks are most likely not going anywhere, but it’s good to try out something new.
I love the process and I love this journey I’m in, but I’m feeling that things are not moving fast enough. Here are couple of things I think Kopra needs to focus on during 2020:
1. Make connections – Music industry is hard to find and hard to contact. It’s still very old-fashioned art form with the gate keepers and all the gurus knowing their stuff. At the same time, home productions have exploded and everybody wants to be an artist. This means that the competition is though. It’s important to know people. We don’t. That’s something to think about during 2020.
2. Get your story together – People can’t handle all the aspects of a person called Toni Kopra. This complicated real-life dude with domestic responsibilities trying to recover from his pessimism is simply too much. They want to hear about an artist Kopra with interesting one-dimensional story. That story is there to be found.
3. Find your audience – Other side of the coin is that there should be enough people who are interested in the story. Who are the people you want to move? What is interesting to them? What they want to hear? What inspires them? As an artist Kopra should have something meaningful to say to its audience. Everybody knows this.
4. Make better music – This is the part I love. Music is not really going anywhere and every song is a small miracle on its own. However, I think we as a Kopra need to step up with the production side and this is clearly an area where the help needed.
As I’m writing this, I realize that there is so much more in this than just writing a good song with a catchy tune and interesting lyrics. Make music to make sense is my big dream and I’m ready to work more on that. However, cracking the code of music industry is still mystery to me and Kopra. I mean they really don’t have job openings for artists or anybody else. Perhaps we will find a way to transmit our story and 2020 becomes the year for Kopra. Let’s hope the best.
Best regards, Toni
Toni Kopra 