Tag: business

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Don’t get comfortable

It is the dream of every adult to find job security. For those of you who have never heard of such a thing, job security refers to a job where long-term employment is yours, just so long as you don’t royally mess up. This kind of work was once even considered the ‘American Dream,’ but that employment does not exist in the music business.

No one reaches full-time employment in music by chance or sheer will alone. Success in this business is earned through the total work put in overtime, and for most, it takes many years to reach a point where they do not have to worry whether or not their bills will be paid from one month to the next. Even when they get there, and if they do everything right, there is still a better than 50% chance something beyond their control will change their trajectory within five years time.

Don’t let this break you. If you want to work in music then you have to accept the fact you the hustle really never ends. That doesn’t mean you have to work 24/7, but it does mean you need to be constantly pushing yourself towards bigger and better things. Full-time employment is not enough. Paying your bills is not enough. It’s not about money and it’s not about things. Longterm success in music is about constant personal development, both for yourself and for those around you.

Several years ago the head of publicity at an iconic heavy metal label told me that he challenged himself to develop a new skill every year that would – in some way – aide him in life. The year we spoke he had set to learning video editing, and by the following spring, he was making additional money creating promotional clips and lyric videos for bands of all sizes. He was also creating more interesting content for work, which in turn helped push the label forward.

We apply a similar practice here at Haulix. We invest in the skills our marketing and sales team need, such as public speaking and graphic design. We encourage our programmers to be creative with their designs, make training available to support team members, and hold weekly meetings to discuss the economics of our market with the entire team present. We don’t want our team to understand our business alone, we want them to understand the industry and our role in it, as well as that of all our competitors.

So ask yourself: What don’t I know?

The answer will shock you.

…And once the shock settles, get to work.

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News

The dos and don’ts of proper email etiquette

Dear reader: Are you in a band, managing a band, working their PR, or writing about them? Perhaps you’re about to send off that all-important request to photograph a live show of your favorite artist or apply to write for a major publication?

Regardless of what area of the music industry you work in, there is one universal aspect that connects all of us: emails are every bit as important as phone calls and Skype meetings. In our world, an opening email is often your first and best chance to make the right impression. Make a good first impression with a band or company and you can be set for years. Make a bad impression, however, and it is extremely difficult to recover.

As a publicist, managing editor and former hiring manager, I’ve seen nearly everything over the last five years. A few of my email experiences with bands and industry clients include alcohol-driven rants, smiley faces after every sentence, misspelling my three-letter name (if I had a nickel for every time I’ve been called Jo or Joy…), being called Insert Name Here, and being outright insulted.

It’s a roller coaster, this music business. But with five years of experience in multiple fields, I’m here to share with you some tips on maximizing your email correspondence. Whether you’re in a band looking to get a label’s attention, applying for that dream paying job, sending a request to your favorite band’s PR team or just looking to expand your relationships with the right people, these are a few do’s and don’ts to make you look as professional as possible in all your industry dealings.  

DO: Get straight to the point.

This is essential, regardless of what industry field you work in. Whether you want to speak with a label executive, get your band some coverage or send a job application, don’t overload your message with unnecessary text. A quick 1-2 sentences for a polite introduction, then get down to business.

Use your first main paragraph to outline your reason for contact and what you’re looking for. For publicists, in particular, state the artist’s genre and who they sound similar to. With many industry workers forever fighting losing battles against their inboxes, if you take too much time getting to the point, your message may be deleted. Always make your language clear, concise and professional to give yourself the best chance of getting your desired response.

DON’T: Try to fake sincerity.

Sounds incredibly obvious, right? Well, just like measuring someone’s tone in person or on the phone, it is also easy enough to judge a person’s sincerity in e-mail correspondence. Do your in-depth messages receive a sentence or two in response? Are there a lot of basic spelling errors? Sentences with no punctuation at the end? Particularly blunt language? All of these imply a level of laziness, a lack of respect, and too little desire to be helpful. An insincere person can often be spotted a mile away, even through e-mail messages, and news of an unpleasant experience spreads quickly in this industry. So how can you maximize your chances of making the right first impression?

DO: Be as kind and accommodating to the other person as possible.

The music industry is all about building relationships, and chances are you’ll be dealing with a lot of the same people over and over. If you make yourself easy and pleasant to work with, new friendships will emerge and the number of great opportunities you receive will grow very quickly. This quality could make the difference between being approved or denied from that “dream opportunity” you’ve been waiting for.

DON’T: Introduce yourself with “What’s up?”

For job applicants, in particular, this is a must. During my hiring manager days, the number of applications I received that started with “What’s up, Joe?” was startling. More often than not, that intro was followed by a poorly written application letter and no resume attached. When you’re looking to get your foot in the door of your chosen field of work, keeping your language proper and professional (and, of course, actually having a resume) is essential if you hope to land that all-important interview.

DO: Always click “Reply All”.

Bands, this one is for you. Before a recent meeting I had with a potential PR client, we introduced ourselves through e-mail and I kept my boss on CC so she could see how the talks were progressing. A total of 10 messages were sent back and forth, and not once did the client hit “reply all” to keep my boss in the loop. This was a red flag – one of several throughout the correspondence – because it told us the client was not reading my messages carefully (despite me repeatedly mentioning my boss’s name). After a not-so-great start, the meeting resulted in my boss and I decided this was not someone we wanted to work with, despite being incredibly talented.

Obviously, there were more important factors than the client’s lack of CC knowledge, but bands, it is vital to keep ALL parties involved in your correspondence. Many of us have bosses, interns, managers, editors, etc. who need to know what is going on at all times and can offer insight when necessary. It’s a simple task to check if anyone is CC’d in a message, but if you really can’t remember to do it, Gmail even gives you the option to make “reply all” your default setting.

On behalf of every industry friend, co-worker, and acquaintance I’ve ever known, please use “reply all” so we can stop tearing our hair out!

DON’T: Put your subject line in all caps.

DO YOU SCREAM AT PEOPLE IN PUBLIC TO GET THEIR ATTENTION TOO? Unless you’re in a crowded bar or at a concert, I doubt it. An all-caps subject line makes us feel like we’re being yelled at, and although some believe it increases your chance of getting the other person’s attention, it often does more harm than good. Just like the message itself, keep your subject line short, to the point, and with normal-sized letters. As long as your words are clear and attention-grabbing, you’ve done your job.

DO: Respond Promptly Whenever Possible.

Now, I’m not saying be a slave to your e-mail inbox. Many of us get overwhelmed with hundreds of messages every week and sometimes it’s not possible to respond quickly. But this isn’t Facebook, where everyone plays the “click on the message notification to see the first few words and if it doesn’t look important, I’ll respond 10 hours later” game. Many music industry workers use apps like Mandrill or SendGrid which lets them “track” the e-mails they send to see if and when they are opened by the recipient. Personally, if I read a message and see that it doesn’t require an essay in response, I try to reply within 24 hours. Look at it this way: do you take days to respond to a call or text from a friend? Of course not, so why should professional work-related messages be any different?

Responding promptly tells the other party that you are taking them seriously, you’re dedicated to the cause, and you’re being accommodating to their needs. Amazing how many details you can see through someone’s online correspondence, isn’t it? However…

DON’T: Respond to important/lengthy messages with your phone.

Have you ever sent a super-embarrassing text to a friend or family member thanks to the ultimate frenemy known as auto-correct? Yes, you have – don’t lie. Unless it’s just to say “thank you” or it’s absolutely time-sensitive – in which case a phone call is better – hold off on responding to your most important messages until you’re in the much safer confines of your laptop. A later, well-written response is always better than the virtual foot-in-your-mouth typo that phones often bestow on us.

Joe Ballard is a music writer and publicist. He cares as much about the words used to promote music as he does the music itself, and that is part of the reason we love him. Learn more about Joe and his work with talented young artists through the Muddy Paw website.

Categories
Job Board News

Music Industry Job Board (February 5, 2018)

The music industry is growing, and it needs people to helpm build the future of entertainment. If that describes you, our job board is waiting.

New openings:

Production Coordinator (WMG – NYC)

The Production Coordinator is a key part of the team and is responsible for data flow management, basic administration of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and general support for the web and email team. You will be involved with campaigns that will reach millions of music fans around the world and contribute to the success of some of the best and biggest artists. You’ll work with a talented and data-driven team of Project Managers, Digital Designers, UX Designers, Developers, CRM Managers, Email Production Specialists, and Digital Marketers. If you love music, technology, and the internet, this job is for you.

Creative Strategist (Soundcloud – NYC)

You’ll work in close collaboration with the Brand Revenue team (Sales & Account Management) and interface in a cross-functional capacity on a number of projects with Creative Services, Content and Legal to create engaging brand partner solutions. In this combination strategy and design role, you to take ownership of each project from the early pre-sales strategy and ideation phase and see it through to the campaign’s final execution. In addition, you’ll be driving the communication of the Brand Revenue team’s needs and expectations across other product and content stakeholders.

Head of Music and Voice (PHMG – Dallas, TX)

The Head of Music and Voice is a unique role that requires an exacting combination of commercial ingenuity and artistic flair. With previous experience in the creative music industry or in an advertising agency, you’ll equally balance the needs of the business, the client, and the creative talent. And as a true people person, you’ll have the innate ability to liaise with people at all levels – as well as the confidence to present to leading company figures.

This role represents a unique opportunity to spearhead the success of the Brand-Sound™product in the US, and expand the Music and Voice team in this territory. Therefore, it offers strong potential for movement into management so experience in this field would be desirable.

Music Partner Operations Lead (Facebook – NYC)

We are seeking a Music Partner Operations Lead to manage technical operations and global product support functions for music publishers. Candidates will have extensive operational experience with publishers and performing rights organizations including rights management, reporting, data reconciliation, and development of supporting systems. They will also be data-driven and flexible to frequent changes. They are expected to think creatively about ambiguous issues and are passionate about problem-solving. They will also be able to work successfully across teams and regions.

In-Game DJ/Music Coordinator (Tampa Bay Rays – St. Peterburg, FL)

This person will be responsible for selecting and playing music for Tampa Bay Rays home games, including; during batting practice, pre-game, in between innings, and postgame.

Music Producer (JAABU Music Group – Chicago, IL)

We are looking for a great music producer with a specific talent for pop music. The right candidate will have:

  • Talent within the pop music genre
  • An ability to deliver high-quality assets with 24-hour turnaround time or less
  • A demonstrated ability to compose, produce, mix, and master their own work
  • Excellent communication skills
  • An ability to embrace constructive feedback
  • Located in Chicago
  • Singing/songwriting abilities are a plus, but not required.

To apply, please submit a cover letter detailing your interest in JAABU Music Group, as well as a demo reel.

Production Assistant, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute (Ravinia Festival – Highland Park, IL)

Production Assistant is a time-intensive position including work during nights and weekends. This position reports to the Administrative Director of the Institute and works closely with the Operations Manager and all other RSMI staff to perform all aspects of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute’s daily operations.

Marketing Manager (Amazon Music – Seattle, WA)

Our team is focused on building a personalized, curated, and seamless music experience. We want to help our customers discover up-and-coming artists, while also having access to their favorite established musicians. We build systems that are distributed on a large scale, spanning our music apps, web player, and voice-forward audio engagement on mobile and Amazon Echo devices, powered by Alexa to support our customer base. Amazon Music offerings are available in countries around the world, and our applications support our mission of delivering music to customers in new and exciting ways that enhance their day-to-day lives.

As a Marketing Manager for Amazon Music Canada and Rest of the World team, your key responsibilities will include the following:

  • Build an understanding of international customer base and develop marketing programs to target these customer segments
  • Demonstrate the ability to work at the planning level (generating bold and innovative ideas for growth) and at the tactical level (managing advertising campaign execution, creating and optimizing campaigns, analyzing traffic data and solving problems).

Sr. Director, Film & TV Music (WMG – Burbank, CA)

The Senior Director will work to secure WBR artist tracks in film, TV and soundtracks in order to bring in licensing revenue as well as promote artists to the benefit of the overall company, especially in the streaming platform.

Music Production crew (Noah Boyd – New Bedford, MA)

We are planning on doing a Hotel Transylvania 3 Inspired Album, Monster Cruise. We are looking for producers and songwriters to have the songs produced and written. The songs (Bad Moon, Cruisin, Blood Cadillac, Problem, Beautiful, Cashed Out, Transylvania, Monster, Erica, Hannibal, Ghost, Monster Hotel, Burn it Up, More Money = More Problems, Lovebird, What you ask for) are already planned. The Genres and Inspiration for are Country, Pop, Rock, Rap, Hip-Hop, and EDM. The Deadline is Late 2018, as the album will be released on Halloween of 2019, and will be recorded in Early 2019. If anyone is Interested, Let me know.

Video and Music Rights Manager Support Lead, Media Operations (Facebook – Menlo Park, CA)

We are seeking a leader to manage our video and music licenses support functions. This individual will focus on building our support model and a team of specialists that will help scale our evolving music licensing needs and rights Manager product support. Candidates will be data-driven, self-motivated, and flexible to frequent changes. They will also be able to work successfully across teams and regions, think creatively about nebulous issues, and be passionate about problem-solving. This is a full-time position located in Menlo Park, California.

Sr. Integrated Marketing Manager, Amazon Music (Amazon – Seattle, WA)

The Amazon Music team is looking for a motivated, customer-obsessed, analytical Senior Integrated Marketing Manager , with a particular emphasis on our industry-leading experience on Alexa-enabled devices. This role will own the strategic planning of integrated marketing initiatives partnering with key Amazon teams, including Amazon Echo and Prime teams, as well as key Music teams such as Editorial & Programming, Label Relations, Product, and Marketing. From managing the weekly flow of new releases and playlists, to launching new music features on Alexa, to driving our Prime Day marketing – this role will be at the forefront of our most highly visible marketing activations in Music and a critical part of instilling operational discipline for a quickly growing team.

The ideal candidate will be a global hub for Marketing and the authority on upcoming events, feature launches, and marketing plans as well as the expert on what has worked and what we’ve learned. You will be just as comfortable discussing beta test results with our product team as you are providing feedback on the wording of a press release. You will work with our analysts to uncover interesting customer insights one minute and coordinate with visual designers on creative assets the next minute. The role will be based in the US but with global scope, coordinating extensively with our expanding Marketing teams in London, Paris, Munich, Tokyo, Bangalore, Sydney, and beyond.

This role will be key to continuing our fast growth and will manage programs to deliver on our aggressive goals and quantify business results with data-driven analyses. You will coordinate with marketing managers that own the customer experience across multiple platforms, devices, and services and will need to be obsessed with details to be successful. You will need to be entrepreneurial and roll up your sleeves. Overall, you will be challenged to push boundaries, propose and execute new ideas, while maintaining a constant eye on process and efficiency to establish best practices for Amazon Music.

Production Manager (Carmel Bach Festival – Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA)

The Carmel Bach Festival, Inc., a summer music festival located in Carmel, CA, is seeking an experienced Production Manager for its 81ST performance season in July 2018.

During the March-June time frame, work can be done remotely via email, Skype, and conference calls, although one on-site planning meeting in Carmel is required. During those months, the Production Manager schedules crew hours and begins production logistics discussions with the Artistic Leadership team, the administrative staff, and the venues.

For the period June 27 – August 1, 2018, the Production Manager will reside in Festival-provided housing in Carmel.

Reporting to the Managing Director, the Production Manager is responsible for planning and implementing all stage activities for rehearsals and performances at the multiple venues utilized in the Festival’s Main Concert and Chamber Music series and certain donor and patron cultivation events.

This position serves as the liaison among the Principal Conductor, Associate Conductor, CBF administrative staff, technical crew, musicians, and vocal soloists, keeping abreast of all production elements, such as stage cues, set design, equipment moves, props, and rehearsal and performance schedules.

Senior Vice President, Entertainment Public Relations (Showtime – Los Angeles, CA)

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI) is looking for a Senior Vice President, Entertainment Public Relations who will oversee the network’s entertainment PR teams on the East and West Coast. Responsibilities will include:

  • SVP will oversee the consumer PR team, managing entertainment PR and operations staff on the East and West Coast, as well as the department’s budget.
  • Responsible for the development and execution of all PR campaigns, and generating strategic media plans for the network’s original series, limited series, films, comedy specials, and documentaries. Will also be responsible for all casting, development and pilot trade announcements.
  • Strong management skills required with experience supervising a large staff of senior-level employees across LA and NY, ability to delegate work, and provide constructive feedback to employees.

Senior Consultant, Media & Entertainment (Amazon – Santa Monica, CA)

Do you have senior level global technology media and entertainment consulting experience deploying technologies, platforms and solutions in the Media and Entertainment (M&E) Industry? Do you have extensive technology experience and skills to deliver AWS platforms, technologies and infrastructure solutions to Global M&E customers?

At AWS, we are hiring Senior M&E Consultants focused on cloud computing technology to help our partners develop, deploy and drive new platforms, solutions, and global digital content workflows, working directly with AWS Partners and Global M&E Clients.

The position requires a blend of skills including strong business acumen, M&E/IT technology understanding, strategy, and creative M&E industry requirements surrounding TV/Film/Animation/OTT, production, postproduction and global workflows.

SVP Creative (Broadcast Music, Inc – NYC)

BMI is proud to have many long-term loyal team members who uphold core values of integrity, dedication, inclusion & respect, accountability & team work, adaptability & courage and effective communication.

We have an exciting opportunity for an SVP, Creative responsible for leading the Creative team in developing and executing acquisition and retention strategies through the following:

  • Creating and sustaining relationships in the music business and broader business community.
  • Leading the Creative leadership team in establishing and maintaining close working relationships with established writers and publishers as well as their agents, managers and attorneys.
  • Building and maintaining an open and cohesive culture with the Creative team.
  • Ensuring a targeted focus on emerging music trends resulting in constant flow of new music to build BMI’s market share across all genres and platforms.
  • Working in tandem with Licensing and International to identify repertoire acquisition and retention goals.

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Music (Eventbrite – San Francisco, CA)

Strong candidates for this role will be creative, analytical, and strategic, with a proven ability to identify product opportunities, craft key messages, develop and execute go-to-market strategies. You will have a proven track record of working efficiently and transparently across functional teams, bringing new products to market with high adoption and usage, and tackling complex and ambiguous challenges.

You’ll own the go-to-market process – including product naming, positioning, launch plans – partnering closely with product management, sales, client services, and demand gen teams to drive adoption and usage of our new music solution. You’ll perform extensive and up-to-date analysis on the live events, including features offered by alternative products in the market. You’ll determine how best to position the value offered by our new music solution to prospects, clients, and ticket buyers and deliver the assets to support launches and sales materials including pitch decks, case studies, videos, and owned web properties. You’ll hone the delivery model for our new music solution, including pricing and packaging, and report on our results.

In short, you’re a well-organized problem solver that makes a big impact and inspires others to do the same

Senior Director / Vice President, Business Affairs (iHeartMedia – NYC)

The Senior Director, Business Affairs will primarily support iHeartMedia’s national sales and marketing solutions divisions to handle custom advertising sales transactions. Transaction elements to include media plans, sponsorship deliverables, content creation and other customized marketing solutions for advertisers and agencies.

Vice President, Events & Venue Partnerships (iHeartMedia – NYC)

The Vice President of Events & Venue Partnerships will report to the Senior Vice President of Events & Venue Partnerships and will be responsible for leading and supporting sponsorship sales efforts for the iHeartRadio national tent-pole events, Theaters and custom event opportunities through lead generation and generating new revenue.

Creative Services Director (Capitol Christian Music Group – Brentwood, TN)

Are you an enthusiastic, skilled graphic designer? Are you looking for an employer that fosters your career growth? Are you passionate about music?

…If so, we’d love to connect with you.

Older posts (7+ Days)

Coordinator, Digital Revenue (Sony – Franklin, TN)

The digital revenue team at Provident Label Group works hand-in-hand with online partners to expand our artists’ reach across the digital landscape. We’re looking for someone with a passion for faith-based music, someone whose attention to detail, proven organizational skills, self-motivation and great attitude will help the cogs run smoothly.

If you’re a highly detail-oriented individual who can manage complex spreadsheets…

If you can meet deadlines and adapt quickly to changes…

Then consider this rewarding position as Digital Revenue Coordinator who can coordinate processes to streamline promotions for digital service providers and provide administrative support for Digital Revenue staff.

Millennial Music Brand Ambassador (Care2Rock – Denver, CO)

Do you care about causes and want to help build businesses that support them?

If so, then Care2Rock is calling on you! Care2rock is looking to hire a team of motivated millennials to tell others about our mission-driven brand. Care2rock is a new high tech music learning platform where students take live online lessons at the click of a button. Our teachers are triple vetted (background checked, interviewed, and reference checked) before they are approved to teach on our platform. But best of all, our site also provides free lessons for youth in foster care and hospitalized youth. So every lesson taken on our site benefits a child in need with the gift of music!

Marketing Associate, Media Operations (Pandora – Oakland, CA)

Pandora is looking for a Marketing Associate to join the growing Marketing team in Oakland, CA on a contract basis. This role will be responsible working with Marketing team members to execute direct response, performance, and brand media campaigns and strategies.

Music Contract Administrator (Netflix – Los Angeles)

Netflix seeks an experienced Music Contract Administrator to help support our expanding slate of Originals content (Series, Film, Documentary, Comedy, Unscripted and Kids programming). This role will have broad responsibility for managing the tracking, organization, distribution, and processing of a high volume of contracts for the Music Team, from signature to distribution, archiving, processing and arranging for payment.

Music Clearance Specialist (Netflix – Los Angeles)

As a seasoned Music Clearance Specialist, you love music and everything about the music process for audiovisual production. You know the ins-and-outs of the music industry and music licensing, including the significance of master use, synchronization and public performance licenses and the essential rights that must be covered in each deal. You know everyone in the industry: record companies, publishers, music supervisors, music libraries, production houses, music editors, artists, songwriters and managers. You know exactly who to call to expedite negotiations. You think having multiple quotes (synch and master) for the same song makes complete sense, you’re used to clearing songs with as many as 5 or more rightsholders, and you’re not fazed by split territory deals. You know what action to take when a rightsholder redlines or stamps your quotes and why it’s important to do so. You know who to contact for that obscure track from the 1970s and, if necessary, you’re ready to suggest alternate tracks if it doesn’t clear, even if you’re not in a “creative” role in the traditional sense. You are the first to caution against a “fill in the blank” or “cut and paste” approach to music clearances; in fact, you understand that there is much nuance to each deal and there is no detail that is too small or insignificant. You’re not intimidated by a high volume of clearances and you’re able to combine pace with a high level of precision and professionalism. The music production process for original content is second nature to you – from script to budget to on-camera and through to delivery, reviewing and negotiating licenses forms and compiling cue sheets – you’ve mastered it all and feel comfortable working independently through the process. You have the nuts-and-bolts, now are you ready to be part of the Netflix team?

Music & Theatre Marketing Lead (Stubhub – San Francisco, CA)

We’ve got an incredible opportunity specifically within the Music & Theatre genre, our fastest growing business unit. The Marketing Genre Lead translates business goals into a holistic marketing strategy that is grounded in an understanding of our customer and leverages the marketing channels, brand and product marketing to drive the right audience at the right time. He or she will be responsible for partnering with the business and marketing team to identify growth opportunities for the genre, define the integrated marketing plan on what events/moments to prioritize and ultimately oversee the execution of the plan. This critical leader should be the team captain in supporting and representing marketing across the genre and energizing the marketing team to maximize efforts, while having fun, sharing best practices across the global business and scanning the horizon for our next incredible opportunity.

Tour Photographer and Social Media Manager (Triple 8 Management – Dallas, TX)

Triple 8 Management is seeking an experienced candidate to help design and manage social media branding and photography for a client. The candidate will need experience in photography, branding, videography, and copywriting, along with heavy experience in social media marketing and branding.

Tour Guide, Chicago Theatre (The Madison Square Garden Company – Chicago, IL)

The Tour Guide will present the behind-the-scenes tour of The Chicago Theatre in an informative, entertaining professional manner to scheduled groups of guests. Responsibilities include memorization of a script verbatim, answering patron questions with detail and poise to ensure an overall positive guest experience.

Operations Manager, Google Play (Google – Mountain View, CA)

The Movies & TV Content Operations team in Google Play is looking for an Operations Program Manager, to develop and run processes for managing content distribution in the cloud. In this role, you will create and manage digital workflow, business processes for offer and content management, and more.

Manager, Music Production (Media Networks – Glendale, CA)

The Music Manager is responsible for multiple music productions and creative functions in a fast paced, high volume department. Ideal candidates will have a production and asset management background with a passion for music.

Coordinator, Music Services (Viacom – NYC)

This position will oversee two critical areas of productivity for the Music Services team. The first will be to act as the sole contract manager for all work-for-hire deals related to the acquisition of new music for the music library, and the second will be to assume the day to day product management for music platform.

Supervisor, Music Operations (Carnival Cruise Line – Miami, FL)

We are currently seeking a Music Operations Supervisor. The Music Operations Supervisor is responsible for creating flawless entertainment experiences for our guests that are fun, memorable and engaging using music as the medium. Provides coaching and direction to shipboard teams in rehearsal and on board through effective communication, goal setting, and change management skills; they take a wholistic view of the ship’s music products (DJs, live music and background music) and create (and execute) plans to enhance these products, and additionally, the Leader is expected to innovate and offer up new ideas for better engaging our teams, our guests, and industry players to better elevate the Carnival brand Establish and communicate goals based on product objectives to assigned group of shipboard teams and their team leaders. Monitor and analyze guest satisfaction scores for the fleet, and in conjunction with on board shoreside management, develop and implement solutions for improving the quality of the music product on board. Develop in-depth knowledge of guest demographics and communicate ways our product can best serve them. Coach and manage the process of conducting musician performance reviews and related leader functions. Effectively manage change and create positive team member experience. Operate within assigned budget while looking for ways to decrease expense and innovate new ideas. Continually analyze processes and products and develop strategies for improving future results. Build and foster strong relationships within and outside of Entertainment Department (both shipboard and Shoreside).

Content Development Representative (UMG – San Francisco, CA)

Universal Music Group is currently seeking College & Lifestyle Marketing Representatives in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco specializing in Content Development. The College Marketing Reps play an extremely important role in the development of Universal Music’s emerging artists as well as some of the most well-known artists in the music industry today. The ideal candidate not only has top notch videography and editing skills, but is a key tastemaker that is heavily involved in many campus and community activities.

Partner Engineer, Music (Facebook – Menlo Park, CA)

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Through our family of apps and services, we’re building a different kind of company that connects billions of people around the world, gives them ways to share what matters most to them, and helps bring people closer together. Whether we’re creating new products or helping a small business expand its reach, people at Facebook are builders at heart. Our global teams are constantly iterating, solving problems, and working together to empower people around the world to build community and connect in meaningful ways. Together, we can help people build stronger communities — we’re just getting started. Partner Engineering is a global team of software engineers who work closely with our strategic partners and world-class engineering and product teams to define, launch, and scale platform products. In this unique partner-facing engineering team, you will use your excellent technical and business skills to deliver solutions that drive value for our community, our partners, and Facebook.

Catalog Coordinator, Production/Administration (WMG – Nashville, TN)

Our Nashville office is very team oriented. This is an important role in supporting the administration of Songwriters copyrights and cataloging their music correctly and efficiently. This role also encompasses handling all audio production needs in the Nashville office.

This person will be working inside of the administrative team and liaising with the Creative team as well in our office.

Categories
News

Producer alleges major label(s) used the term ‘mixtape’ to pay them less

What is a mixtape? Merriam-Webster will tell you a mixtape is a compilation of songs recorded from various sources, but hip-hop fans know that is only one definition. Mixtapes are also a way for up and coming artists to showcase their developing sound. Before the age of Spotify, and long before the royalty rate associated with sampling rose, many hip-hop artists would sample the hits of other artists and add their own verse (or verses). The reworked track would then be burned to a CD or shared for free online, often both.

Record labels were not always directly involved with mixtapes. In fact, many viewed a rapper’s mixtape as being akin to a band’s 4-song demo. That all began to change after sites like DatPiff and other mixtape hubs began seeing hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions, of downloads for a single mixtape. Labels then recognized that mixtapes could be a smart marketing tool, and as long as they could keep production costs low they would be able to promote more new talent with less risk.

But there was a problem: Mixtapes still cost money. They may cost less to produce than a traditional album, but there were still numerous people involved in the creation of a mixtape that needed to be paid. Labels, or perhaps their lawyers, realized many of those working on mixtapes would likely love to be associated with a major label and therefore willing to work for less if there was a promise of more opportunities in the future.

The solution was fairly simple. Projects labeled as ‘mixtapes’ or ‘street albums,’ otherwise known as any record released for promotional purposes that are not sold in stores, would pay less than traditional albums. Producers wanting to work with talent on the rise accepted this deal, often signing into longterm deals to work with the label on multiple projects, and for a while, everything seemed to make sense.

Then Spotify happened. Now, for the first time ever, more and more people were streaming music than ever before. They also began buying music less, which in turn lead labels to focus more and more marketing efforts on promoting their presence on streaming platforms. This lead to releasing albums exclusively to streaming platforms – AKA – they released albums they never planned to sell in a traditional sense. These albums were then dubbed ‘mixtapes’ or ‘street albums’ so those working on them would be paid less, but in reality, they’re commercial products being pushed to consumers the same way a label might promote a traditional record.

In short, producers got screwed because outdated language made it possible for the record industry to pay them less for the same amount of work through a very basic act of wordplay. Here’s one producer discussing how it happened to them:

Technology and the way we consume media changes far faster than the institutions that bring us the media we crave. This has been proven time and time again throughout pop culture history. The early stars of television could never have imagined a world with VHS tapes, let alone streaming, so none of them thought to ask for compensation if/when their series made it to those platforms. Likewise, musicians who were successful in a time before the internet have found the battle for royalties to be a constant uphill battle.

It’s not about foresight, however, because nine times out of ten the studios and record labels working with talent are no more aware of what the future will hold than those who produce content for them. Instead, corporations use legal jargon to ensure they always dictate how royalties and sales will be split between them and their talent. For example, since the dawn of the internet many labels have begun adding a clause to their contracts with talent that stipulates they will be allowed to distribute the music on sales and streaming platforms that have yet to be invented. That way, should a new Spotify or YouTube appear, there will be no argument as to whether or not the label gets a piece of whatever money that new channel brings in.

If all this makes it sound like the industry is rigged against the talent you wouldn’t be the only one to feel that way. Throughout time artists of all sizes in every corner of entertainment have had to bargain with those who financed their creative pursuits in order to ensure their livelihood. The chances that this trend changes anytime soon are slim, but thankfully there is more information available than ever that can help artists better navigate this area of the industry. In fact, here are a few books we recommend:

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A simple trick that will greatly improve your emails

There are more ways to communicate today than ever before. From text messages and phone calls to Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, SecondLine, WhatsApp, GroupMe, Line, and a million competing apps in between, reaching people far and wide has never been easier. Still, none of these methods of communications are as efficient in the world of business as email. Each and every day hundreds of millions of emails are sent all over the world, and the vast majority are attempting to convince the reader to take action of some kind. Does your message stand out? We hope so.

With the right search query, you can uncover countless articles written with the sole intent of helping you craft better emails. Most of these include information you have heard your entire life, like using link shorteners to track clicks or using the receiver’s name in the message. These tips are great, but they mean very little if the receiver does not read beyond the first few words of your message.

Recent research has found that many people stop reading an email after just a few words if they do not immediately feel engaged. There is no secret combination of words and phrases to guarantee engagement that quickly, but there is evidence to support the word that should be avoided, and that word is ‘I’. The use of ‘I’ gives the impression you, the sender, are more important than the recipient. It says “you are expected to do this” and/or “you need to listen to me because I am above you.” This kind of language may work in an office where ranking dictates who must follow orders and who dictates what the orders are, but in most interactions that faux hierarchy does not exist.

You must learn to think through an issue and frame the conversation in the receiver’s context (rather than your own). This not only makes the receiver feel recognized and important, but it allows your request to be received as something you both need to do in order to move forward. You’ve heard the old adage about how there is no “I” in “Team” and the same logic applies here. You want the receiver to feel you are writing as a teammate, someone who is working with them to complete a mutual goal.

All great leaders understand it is not their leadership alone that makes a team or company a success, but rather the cumulative effort of everyone involved. A great leader takes interest in their team. They make everyone else feel as important as they are because they realize their goal cannot be realized without every individual’s participation. When we lift one another up everyone is able to succeed, and the process of uplifting begins with communication.

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The key to more success in your daily life

What separates all successful people everyone else is that they form habits of doing things failures do not like to do. You’ve heard that saying about how when the going gets tough then the tough get going? This is the same thing. Successful people recognize challenges and accept them as a necessary path to where they want to be. Those who fail recognize the same challenges and do their best to avoid them. They believe there must be another way to the top, especially because the digital age has taught us the paths to success across all platform is numerous, but no matter how you begin your journey to the top you eventually have to overcome the same challenges that have been presented to everyone throughout history. You have to fight through creative blocks and do things that may seem mundane or boring because doing them is the only way to get ahead.

Stephen King did not wake up one day and write a novel the world wanted to read. No one who has ever written anything meaningful has done that. The only way to become a great writer is to write every single day for years and years. Some mornings the words will flow out of you like water from the Mississippi into the gulf of Mexico, but most of the time the words will be hard, if not next to impossible, to find. Writing is hard. Everything worth doing is hard.

Part of you will try and explain away the struggle by saying you need a break or some time away, but this is resistance fighting your desire to progress from the inside out. Successful people realize that in order to live the majority of their lives as champions – AKA the people they want to be – they must suffer in the short term. They accept the hardship that comes with starting at the bottom of any field and do whatever they must in order to get ahead. If this means long hours, they work as long as it takes to get the job done. If this means reading and doing research, the library and Google becomes their best friend. If this means going to the gym daily, or cooking every meal, or setting aside an hour a day to focus on developing one specific skill, successful people find the time to work on their goals. Sacrifice is part of the game, and successful people are far more willing to make short term sacrifices in exchange for long term gain than those who fail.

We all encounter walls in individual journeys through life. What separates those who succeed from those who fail is how they respond to the presence of those walls. Successful people understand that walls do not exist to keep us out of something, but rather to make us prove how badly we want to excel at whatever it is we are trying to accomplish. In order for any industry or creative medium to progress you need the most talented and driven individuals at the helm. Walls exist to ensure there is a separation between those capable of overcoming the hurdles inherent in a field and those who will stumble at the first sign of hardship. It’s not a perfect system by any means, but it is one that exists in all career fields around the world.

Creativity and success are processes, not events. To excel at anything in life takes time, sacrifice, and doing things you might not otherwise choose to do. Does everyone start at square one? No. Life is not fair and never will be, but the vast majority (95% or more) start from roughly the same place. Everyone is born with a dream and in order to make those goals a reality they must put in work. Whether or not you are willing to do the work required to be whatever it is you hope to become is a decision only you can make, but know your choice will decide your course in life for many years to come. The work is worth the effort as long as you stick with it.

Make a decision to succeed and commit to seeing it through. The only other option is failure.

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Why December is the best time to share new music

I have a spent a decade of my life writing about music. A lot has changed in that time, far more than I could ever tell you about in a single post, but one thing that always remains the same is the December drought. Every twelve months the year ends with a whisper instead of a band as far as new releases are concerned because a good portion of the industry takes close to half the month off and the other-half is too busy trying to garner ‘best of’ coverage for what was released in the preceding eleven months to busy themselves with something new.

You may be thinking, “If a big chunk of the industry is on vacation for part of the month, why would I even think about releasing something new now?” While it’s true the likelihood of every submission label receive being heard this month there are literally millions of music fans all over the world whose thirst for new and exciting music can never be fulfilled. While the labels are pushing their best releases on holiday shoppers you can make a splash by offering hungry music fans something to satisfy their cravings. Your music could be the record that saves Christmas (or Chanukah or Kwanzaa or…you get the idea).

And it’s not just music listeners who are looking for great content this month. Every music publication with a website – otherwise known as ALL music publications – are doing their best to keep a steady stream of news and streams flowing to their audience. A drop in the amount of music being promoted by notable artists and labels creates a space where up and coming acts can jump in and thrive far quicker than at any other point in the calendar year. If leveraged correctly, that momentum can be carried into the new year, and by summer you could be the next big thing in your scene.

James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Web Editor for Substream Magazine and host of the Inside Music podcast. Follow him on Twitter.

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Overcoming mental blocks in art and business

Anyone trying to make a living with their creativity, from music to marketing, will tell you there are few times in life more frustrating than those moments when you feel as if your inspiration has run dry. You know the feeling. It’s usually something that hits you settle into work on your passion project at night, or perhaps just after you have arrived at the office, and try as you might to get something meaningful accomplished you pretty much just spin your wheels until you feel comfortable excusing yourself in order to spend the rest of the day in a ball of self-loathing introversion on your living room floor, praying to any deity willing to listen that you have enough episode of The West Wing left to avoid you work for one more day. We’ve all been there, or at least those of us who have been working long enough to burn through the first 50 or 100 ideas that we had, and if you feel you’ve yet to reach that point then trust me – It’s on the horizon.

We don’t bring up those uncomfortable times in order to scare. Sd face the same thing on a fairly regular basis, and we like to refer to it as what author Steven Pressfield calls “Resistance.” That is, a universal force that works against human creativity on a daily basis. We all face it in our own ways, much like we all fight our own battles most the world never knows of. There are a million anecdotes and essays on overcoming Resistance, and we’ve offered several here on this blog. Whether or not it works for you can only be learned through application. Yes, good old fashioned trial and error.

The next time you’re confronted with a creative roadblock in your professional life, take time away from your forced search for inspiration and try losing yourself in an alternate path. Develop an alternative path for yourself, your music, your agency, your label, or that secret side business you always hope to one day attempt. These adventures can sometimes be the source of new real life paths, such is the case with many so-called ‘side projects’ in music. Artists from various genres take a break from their day-to-day career to pursue other creative avenues just like anyone else, and sometimes their efforts lead to new financial avenues that certainly don’t hurt their bottom line.

Developing alternative paths to success for yourself can allow your mind to relax and consider options you might not have been able to adequately access when attempting to force creativity. Let’s explore a few examples to better illustrate this point:

Musicians –

Let’s say you’re the lead guitarist and songwriter for an aspiring rock band. Your first demo went over well with local audiences, and the second was good enough to help you secure a few opening slots on national tours when they roll through your region’s bigger venues. You may have even been able to tour, albeit without the benefits of a bus or guaranteed sell out crowds. Still, you’re making progress and you can feel your dreams of stardom starting to come together.

As you find yourself beginning to thinking about your third release, which would probably be your first full length, you discover you have hit a creative wall. Writing riffs and lyrics was never something you found all the difficult before, but for whatever reason everything you’re coming up with at this current point in time is clearly not good enough to help you get you ahead.

To clear your head and relax your thoughts it might be wise to consider an alternative career in, say, top 40 radio pop. Ask yourself, “What would it take to make it in pop music today?” Think about the songs and artists topping the charts, the themes found in their music, and what it is about tracks like Bieber’s “What Do You Mean” or The Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face” that keeps people reaching for the repeat button again and again. Some answers will come fast, but others will take time. Think about what these artists do that you do not and ask yourself whether or not their approach to marketing or songwriting could aide your personal efforts. Heck, you may even try penning a song or two. Why not? Trial and error is part of any healthy exploration.

By the time you realize how lost in your pretend career you’ve become enough time should have passed for you to return to your real work with clear eyes and an open mind. Remember the things you learned about yourself and your peers during your brainstorming session and use it to influence your future work.

Industry professionals (label owners, site editors, publicists) –

Maybe you’re a label owner, struggling to keep your costs low while hustling around the clock to not only bring attention to the talent on your roster, but also to sell records. The grind required to keep a small business afloat, let alone build a new music empire, can be devastating on the mind of a creative person. One the one hand, your spirit and soul desire constant exercise and exploration. On the other hand, you need to find what works for your business and stick with it.

On those days when you cannot seem to focus on emails, accounting, marketing, or anything in between, it might be best to allow yourself to unwind with by exploring an alternate professional path. Just like the example for musicians above, you should stay within the realm of what you do (aka – running/building a business), but what it is your fake company does is entirely up to you.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s say your secret wish is to start a subscription box company that offers consumers the chance to receive 1 new album in the mail each month, along with an explanation for the record’s selection. The first thing you need for this business is a name. You decide ‘New Music Monthly’ is a good name and from there set to outlining what would be needed in order to get your business off the ground. You need a web host, a logo, and a cost estimate sheet. You know boxes can be bought in bulk, but you will have to contact the labels/artists you wish to work with in order to know if they would be willing to offer you a discount in order for buying X amount of records. You also need startup cash, which can be earned through launching pre-orders for your first box.

After the basic business details are ironed out, you should then turn your focus to understanding the type of customer who would want this product. Assume that your first few music shipments will be products from your own label, then outline what kind of music fan would be interested in whatever release you might choose. Be specific. Narrow down your fans to a specific age group (teens, young adults, adults 25-35, 35+, senior citizens, etc). Do (or did) these people go to secondary school? Do they attend a lot of concerts?

Once you figure this out you can begin to brainstorming how to accomplish the difficult task of targeting these consumers. Do they frequent Facebook? Twitter? Would placement in a magazine be a wise choice? Depending on which method of outreach you choose, how much will it cost? Can you advertise this way regularly, or do you only have the budget for a single campaign? Again, be specific.

Once you iron out your faux business plan you will not only have a potential new path to financial success, but you will have inadvertently developed marketing tools that could also be used for the real problems facing your actual business. The target market for your faux company will likely be the same, or close to the same, as your actual business. The plans you made to reach those made up customers can be applied in one way or another to the customers you are hoping to reach in with your label. You will have more or less done the work you needed to do in a way that tricked your mind into doing work it might not have wanted to do otherwise.

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There are a million potential paths through life available to all of us, but far too few ever make much, if any, effort to explore their options. We would never advise you to abandon your dream(s), but we do believe that exploring alternative career paths can lead to success in your current field. What matters most is that you keep an open mind and try as much as you are able without jeopardizing your current professional/financial situation. You can use the examples laid out in the post to get you started, but don’t hesitate to make up your own adventure whenever time allows.

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3 ways independent artists use Haulix

Getting the attention of the media as an independent artist in 2017 can be incredibly difficult. Getting the attention of a management company, record label, or booking agent may be even harder. We at Haulix have not yet discovered a secret path to success in this business, but we have developed a popular platform for promotion that saves both time and money without risking the security of unreleased music.

Many people believe Haulix is a platform intended for publicists and record labels, but over the last eight years we have also helped hundreds of independent artists and groups from all over the world further their careers through use of our platform. Here are just three example of how we make it possible for up and coming talent to raise their industry profile:

Press Coverage

There are dozens of promotional distribution platforms in existence, but none have received more recommendations from members of the media than Haulix. Journalists and radio personalities alike use our service every day to stream, download, and discover the next big record. Our promo tools make it easy for anyone to upload music and share it with the industry at large using a fully customizable template in a matter of minutes. Just take a look at these recent promos:

Custom EPK

Not long ago, artists hoping to secure a record deal, manager, or booking agent would have to physically mail their contacts a package containing information about their music. These packages often included a bio, music, photos, tour information, and all sorts of artist-related branding. Artists would pour effort into these packages, which in turn left them with less time to focus on their craft.

With Haulix, independent artists can recreate the EPK experience using our fully customizable promos and email invitations. Our platform has zero third party advertising, meaning your music and branding is all anyone will see. Use this to your advantage and create messaging that not only tells your story, but showcases where you plan to go in the future as well.

Fight piracy

Music pirates are worse than ever in 2017. In fact, studies have shown that music piracy has more than doubled in the last ten years, and it is expected to double once more by 2020. With Haulix, independent artists can watermark their new and unreleased music. This video explains how the process works:

If you have yet to sign up for your free month of Haulix, what are you waiting for?! Pick a plan that suits your needs and get started using the global leader in digital promotional distribution. If you have any questions, email help@haulix.com and someone will assist you within an hour or less.

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People need to see ‘the process’

Recently, I came above the image at the top of this post online. The description read, “No one ever sees the process.”

At some point in the last decade the focus of promotional materials pivoted from an exploration of the art itself to something more focused on the personalities of those behind said art. The problem is, there is a lot more that goes into most of it than just someone’s personality. You may have heard a saying about how the funniest people often feel the most pain, and the same thing goes for music. Those able to make others feel better often do so by first trying to heal themselves, but just because you make others’ pain go away does not mean yours will too.

The same thing can also be said for writing and any other part of the music business. We’ve all succumb to this temptation of believing people’s personality is wholly representative of who they are. Maybe they’re the quirky Twitter commentator who has held a longtime publicity job, or perhaps they’re the angry critic whose takedowns of music notables has paid their bills for last five years. Maybe they’re a musician who sings about exorcising demons so we believe finding peace is possible, or maybe they’re a really positive promoter who always thinks about the artists on the come up. We learn to see people as caricatures because it’s easy both in the short team and over the long haul. When we get close things tend to get messy.

Now if we all do this and we all know we do this then why is it so hard to break the cycle? When did it become taboo to let your flaws be known? In an era where the idea body positivity is finally getting the kind of widespread acceptance it has always deserved we seem to have become comfortable allowing the confidence we have in our outside appearance speak to our confidence about other areas of life. We see a smile or hear a laugh and think, at least in some small way, that person’s life must be pretty good. After all, only people who have figured out something about this crazy thing called life could have that kind of expression.

I too have fallen prey to this kind of thinking in both of the ways described above. I have taken people’s personality as a sign of their mental and physical health. I have also used my personality to mask my struggles, such as hiding pain with jokes and writing about nonsense when really there is something very specific I wish I could discuss. The simplicity of only understanding a person or thing enough to categorize them as something in your head (good, bad, beautiful, ugly, smart, funny, etc.) is a plague and it’s making us lose connection in an age where we claim to be more connected than ever.

To combat this in my own small way I started sharing my story, warts and all. It was not easy at first, but in time it got easier. I challenged myself to write about myself every day and every time I told a story I tried to add at least one detail unique to that story that told people something about me. Maybe it was a way I thought about some bigger concept, or perhaps it was just a turn of phrase. Sometimes I detailed the things I ate and why, but other times I would just mention a song and its inadvertent relevance to whatever events were unfolding.

You know what I found? The more I exposed my true self to the world the more people seemed to give a damn. All the pushback and negativity I expected to encounter never amounted to much, if anything. Instead I was inundated with messages from people of all ages, some of whom were complete strangers beforehand, telling me how much they connected with some part of my story.

They say in marketing you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention or you may never get such an opportunity ever again. That may be true when it comes to physical products, but in the game of life and art the real success is found in strong, lasting relationships. It’s not just about grabbing someone’s attention, but connecting to them on a level so deep they hunger for they grow to have a kind of dependance on that connection. A longing, if you will. And you,  the creator, will feel it too. Because at the end of the day all we have for sure is one another, and there is peace to be found in the communities we build together.

Whether you’re an artist trying to bring attention to your work or simply a person trying to connect with the world around you, the clearest path to success – not to mention the only real chance at happiness any of us have – is through true expression of self. Let people into your world, show them ‘the process’ of being who you are and working towards who you want to become. Allow people to better understand that they share this journey called life with you, and through doing so hopefully inspire them to create as well. Even if all you do is entertain them at least you’ll know they’re taking in something real and true and representative of the struggles you overcome to do whatever it is you do.

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