If you ask me Ken Tamplin is using what I would call a "variable" niche. He uses a profession that he knows something about to sell a product. He succeeds in selling it by exploiting and capitalizing on vulnerabilities of that profession. For example. In the vocal teaching business, there are a large number of self proclaimed experts who can't even sing. Tamplin cashes in on that and repeats it over and over. "The proof is in the singing". Even though some of the best vocal coaches in the world can't sing. And example of that would be Judy Davis, who taught Steve Perry.
Awhile ago I purchased Tamplin's vocal course to see how effective it is. This way, I couldn't criticize the guy without having been there. His lessons technically "work". But there is a major problem with them. Basically they train you to sing like you are "heaving" out your chest voice. You have heard this yourself from Ken's own voice. For the record, he actually doesn't sing like he used to. His early recordings fall under different technique which all but ruined his voice. Now he's can't sing near as well. Since then he has learned a way to basically belt everything. And he NEVER performs for hours like he says he does. It's the reason why he now teaches. He uses some truth mixed with "bullshit" to promote a product. This makes him just as bad as the thousands of vocal experts he criticizes and condemns. He certainly has a "self righteous" attitude for someone who claims to follow Christian principles (which I don't believe he is). And for the record, his cousin Sammy Hagar even criticized him for masquerading as a Christian. Even though we know Sammy isn't exactly a religious guy, he's genuine to say the least. And a great judge of character, as he has always been.
But, if you are looking for the bottom line. Tamplin is no better than the rest. Even though in his own mind he is. He tries to play the "honest" or "modest" card, while in the same sentence bragging about making 30 albums and winning awards. I personally know what modesty is and he doesn't have any. If you go on his Youtube page, you will find all kinds of "testimonies" from people who aren't even singing for you. And if they are, they are already speaking in the high tenor or soprano range. And its already easy for someone with a high range to sing something. But you won't hear and good examples of Baritones. Nobody wants to sing like they have a chest voice in the upper register. It's ugly. Sounds like David Coverdale after steroids. And Ken's voice just can't cut it in the desirable industry. Hence the reason he is advertising through the cracks of society.
If someone were to ask me who I would go to for vocal coaching, first it would depend on what I want to sing. Because there is NO single method that will give it all, contrary to what Tamplin says. This i know because I have a degree in vocal pedagogy. But I do not simply follow what the books teach. I have studied and researched the voice. And to put it in simplified terms, there are muscles that control the chest voice. And there are muscles that control the head voice. Additionally there are adductors and other physical and mental factors that play a role as well. Collectively all these things produce speaking and/or singing.
"What that said" as Ken so often states, how a person is able to sing depends upon what type of coordination is developed throughout the range of motion using all the functions described. What Ken is teaching basically increases the strength of the head voice muscles, while dramatically increasing the strength of the chest muscles and coordinating singing towards "belting" throughout the range, which heavily emphasizes a dominating chest. A strong head voice is present because it must support the weight. This Ken knows and admits in his own words. But as a side note, he throws in the idea that if you want to sing lighter, you still can if you want to do R&B or whatever. This is where he falls VERY short. Ever listen to how Ken sounds when he sings light? He still has his chest pulled WAY up into his head and sounds "weird" to say the least. The reason why he is incapable of being versatile enough to sound similar to the artist he pretends to imitate. So "with that said" learning his techniques will literally KILL any versatility in your voice. You will sound the same all of the time. And it will sound chesty as Hell all of the time....because. The over extended and over coordinated chest voice will dominate even when you do not want it to. When you sing light, you will basically lose support and not be able to sing properly. Why? Because the way you must coordinate and support while ascending a scale, as trained by Ken's methods, if you were to try to sing lighter, you would have to decrease support, which would automatically make the head voice weaker. The resonance then would decrease. The chest would become slightly lighter. But because it is so dominant to begin with, it would still dominate in comparison to head. So an imbalance would occur. You would end up with a super weird sounding voice like Ken. He rarely sings anything light. He claims it's because he just "likes" to sing heavy. Complete bullshit. He can't sing light because his voice won't allow it. All he can do is "wail". Then it becomes another gimmick. Because after awhile you would get tired of sounding the same all of the time. And your choice of cover tunes would be limited to stuff he sings. If that is what you are into. Cool for you. But don't expect to sing many pop songs unless you like that "chesty" sound.
You can actually get a true mix that emphasizes a true balance of chest and head. But only enough to maintain a "pop" sound that allows you to be a lot more versatile. You won't be able to distort like David Coverdale (ruin voice here). But you will still be able to sing heavy rock music and pop and R&B and country and anything else. If you want those things stay away from Ken Tamplin. Out of every system I ever bought, I would say for at-home lessons I would lean more towards Robert Lunte. Mainly only because he doesn't teach SLS (which sucks), and because he's the only one that teaches you techniques that you can use to "wail" and sing pop. He has a student named Randy who is a prime example of training a low voice to sing Journey songs. If Randy had used Tamplin's methods, he would not be able to sing those Journey songs without sounding all chesty and weird. I am sure there are other great coaches out there. This is a big world. But I still believe in wisdom that has been handed down for centuries. And in that wisdom it has been said the following words:
"Anyone who thinks everyone else is wrong is probably wrong". And Ken Tamplin seems to think everyone else is a bonehead while he has all the answers. And by no coincidence, all his answers cost you $300.