So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star...but where do you start?

You might not have the right image to have succeeded on Popstars and its imaginatively-titled follow-up Popstars: The Rivals. Indeed, many resent the manufactured nature of these shiny pop products so - how do the rest of us go about achieving musical megastardom, or even making the most primitive discordant sounds as part of a beat combo?

In our new Topic of the Week, we'd like you to tell us all you know about starting a band:

• Have you ever been in a band? If so, how did you go about getting together?

• What's the best way to succeed at auditions?

• Is musical ability really important from the offset, or can band chemistry overcome that?

• Are there any shortcuts to learning to play an instrument?

• How do you go about getting those all-important early gigs?

• How do you deal with stagefright?

• Technical information on rehearsal studios, recording equipment and the like can be bewildering to beginners. Where's the best place to find this information?

• Once the demos are done, how do you go about making yourself heard and getting noticed?

Tips for Contributing

You contributions may be used for a future edited entry, so the more you can give us, the better.

Try to give us as much as you can on one topic at a time, rather than cramming in loads of information on random topics.

Feel free to start your own Conversation or join in on someone else's - you might even find you'll be able to help another researcher fill in the gaps!