A recent post about Broadway singing gives an important reminder: don’t try to sound like the record.
It’s true regardless of genre. Commercially released recordings are all – all – engineered to within an inch of their life, because of the nature of digital recording and the increasing use of headphones.
Trying to sound like the record is a recipe for vocal damage, because the flaws, the imperfection, the humanity, have all been hidden.
Recording artists need even be reminded not to sound like themselves on record. I think a big part of Adele’s past and present struggles have come from her trying to sing a world tour on the voice she uses in the studio. She just can’t possibly sing healthily every day using that voice.
Get a voice teacher and trust them to guide your technique. Be inspired by studio recordings, but don’t try to sing just like them.