Troye Sivan’s billion-strong YouTube channel was just the start of nearly a decade in the spotlight. The Aussie singer, who has a dozen hit singles, has become a modern multi-hyphen walking down a fashion show for Rihannaand conquer TV and movies, including new roles in the HBO drama The idol and in the movie Paramount+ Three months.
For Sivanwho joins Spotify for Artists’ Kim Taylor Bennett on our Top Tips Podcast, some of the most important lessons he learned came from his early days. “This YouTube period was really, really instructive for me as a person and as an artist,” he says, emphasizing how important it is to create for yourself first, regardless of your notoriety. .
Listen to her full episode hereand read on for some of its top takeaways.
Me, me and me
“Do everything you can on your own,” Sivan advises new artists. “Don’t assume that because you get signed there will be this crazy infrastructure to make you a star overnight. In a dream scenario, you already arrive at the label with some sort of attraction behind you. I had my audience on YouTube, which made the label trust me more than someone they had completely brought out of obscurity, and that leeway that I had was super important.
“The ultimate development deal, in my eyes, is to make one with yourself,” he told an artist about to upload their first song. “Take this time to really, really learn what resonates.”
This idea even extends to how Sivan kicks off his songwriting process. “My little thing that I do is tell myself that it should never come out,” he explains. “You create this bit of security for yourself [that] lets you write just what you really want to write… Try it. [Say,] “I’m going to literally write like it’s my diary” and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe you’ll hate it and decide it was way too much and throw it away. But in my experience, I’ve never done that. I always end up taking it out.
Work with people you love
Friend and collaborator Ariana Grande gave him tips that work just as well on the road as off. “She said you have to really love your group and your team. Hire people, of course, because they have talent, but they have to be good people. For many artists, touring can be among the darkest times in their personal lives. It’s a strange way of life.
“You can trust your judgment of character,” he adds. “So [find] good people who believe in you and truly have your best interests at heart. You don’t want to play the short game. You want to be in there for a long time.
“Having a song explode on TikTok or YouTube, you kind of become fresh meat,” he says, advising newcomers to grind social content a decade after testing their mettle on YouTube. “If that happens to you, that’s great. But make sure you like the people you meet, because the whole world is going to open up to you. And it’s going to open up to you for five minutes or so. open up to you for a very, very long career…I think those early decisions about who you surround yourself with [are] what’s going to make the difference.”
Don’t take the big head
Sivan’s mother is surely proud of all her successes, but she would never co-sign being rude. “If she saw me being rude to someone in…any environment, she would be so pissed off, like her job was pointless. I’ve met too many people who are at the top of their game and who are adorable to justify anything else,” says Sivan, who cites the kindness of her co-stars, including Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackmanand the weekend.
“If you’re liked and respected by the people you work with, you’ll do a lot more anyway.”
To learn more about Troye Sivan, listen to his episode from our Best Advice podcast, and browse more episodes of the series here.
