Tag: Career Advice

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What You Need To Know Before Pursuing A Career in Music

Music Business, Music Industry, Music Success, Business, Mindset
You’re not crazy for wanting to work in the music business, but there is something you should know before your journey begins.

You’re not crazy for wanting to work in the music business, but there is something you should know before your journey begins.

I know you because I was you. In your mind, music is more of a religion than an art form. You know everything about the artists you love, and you understand the basics of the business more than any of your friends. You get excited by crunching the math behind a tour routing as you do the artists on that tour. In short, you spend every free moment thinking about music, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you’ve shared your passion for music with friends or family, they probably expressed concern. “Music is cool,” they may say, “but it’s no place you should want to work.”

Such criticisms are not entirely unfounded. Music is not the right industry for most people. Working in music often means long hours, low pay, limited benefits, and no clear path to professional progression. Some may start in the mailroom of a big label and rise to the top of the executive ladder, but far more do a little bit of everything they can until something takes off. Most music professionals are really good at one thing and adequately qualified to do a dozen other things, some of which may or may not relate to their current role.

Furthermore, music is often thankless. For every bit of appreciation you receive for your contributions, there will be countless hours spent toiling away on a project that is never attributed to you. It is very easy — not to mention entirely possible — that you will work yourself to the bone on something the world disregards almost as soon as it’s made available to the public. That happens far more often than the other, the more glamorous outcome of working in music. For every team of professionals that helps a superstar reach the heights of popularity, there are thousands of similarly qualified teams of professionals duking it out for even the slightest amount of success. That, as they say, is just the way it is.

I say none of this with the hopes of crushing your dreams or pushing you to other pursuits. After all, I’m now in my thirties and still working in music. If I thought this industry was evil or somehow unscalable, I would have quit and started teaching as my parents asked me to do no less than one-hundred times before writing this open letter. I honestly do not know if I could survive outside the industry at this point. Music is my life, and I would prefer it to remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Sometimes I’m invited to speak at conferences and schools about working in the industry. Inevitably, someone in the audience will raise their hand and ask for advice on how one goes from being a person who is passionate about working in music to someone who has a job in music. The same information that applies to virtually every career path applies to music as well: Work hard, learn as much as you can, network often, and treat everyone you meet the way you wish to be treated. It’s all the same no matter what you’re trying to become, but it doesn’t help.

What I have to share today might not seem helpful at first, but those who are truly meant to be in this industry will understand why it matters.

When it comes to working in music, the best way to start and build a career is by doing the work. Pick something you’re interested in, do it as much as possible to the best of your abilities regardless of the money you make, and in time you will become an indispensable part of the music business.

Let me rephrase. The best way to have a career in music is to keep your hopes high and work to do the things that interest you as good as you are able.

It seems simple, right?

If you’re upset that this big reveal wasn’t some trick that helps you skip over the difficult early stages of professionalism where you balance multiple jobs to make your dream possible, I’m sorry. I understand your frustrations, as does everyone else working in music because we were once where you are now. We were all lost beginner, trying to find our way toward prosperity while desperately wishing to be taken seriously.

I started booking and promoting concerts when I was fourteen. I was playing shows with my own music by sixteen, and while walking across the stage to get my high school diploma, there was a box of CDs in my trunk that I needed to distribute as part of my role as a record label street team member. In college, I studied music business during the day and ran a music blog at night. I also promoted for more labels, hosted a radio show, and promoted for local venues. I didn’t see a dime in compensation until I landed my first job in music roughly six months after graduation, and I didn’t make enough to cover my bills until a year after that. Was it hard? Yes. Would I do it all again if I knew it leads to the role I have no? Absolutely.

In music, there are no shortcuts. A degree won’t get you a job, nor will knowing the right people. The only path to a career in music is by doing the work that needs to be completed. The long hours, thankless efforts, low pay, and downright frustrating hurdles to complete even the most seemingly simple tasks are all part of the journey. It’s a litmus test, in a way, that helps separate those who love music from people who are passionate about the business of music, and it never fails.

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Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials News

The Best Career Advice That No One In Music Takes Seriously

The best advice for avoiding burnout and developing your career requires the least amount of work.

We live in the ‘motivation age.’ Whether it be in books, on podcasts, or plastered throughout social media, there is no shortage of people shouting into the void about maintaining forward momentum. They tell us to sleep eight hours a night, exercise daily, eat clean, and hustle — always hustle. 

Want to get your dream job? Hustle. Want to get ahead in your career after landing that great gig? Hustle. Want to have a spouse and a family? Well, you better hustle so hard that you can afford the time away from hustling required to do all those goals that have nothing to do with work.

If you’re working in entertainment today, you have probably spent a Saturday morning or Sunday evening checking emails when you should have been doing something with family and friends. You have likely worked ten or twelve-hour days when you’re only required to do eight. You have chased the approval of superiors to a fault because you fear something bad will happen if you take even one day for yourself. 

I have been this person more times than I would like to admit. My partner has been this way, too. We are always struggling to balance work and life outside of work. More often than not, work takes priority.

There is a growing body of scientific evidence that tells us such thinking is bad for our mental and physical health. You can push your brain pretty far, but eventually, your brain starts to push back. The creativity that once flowed like water becomes a slow drip. The spreadsheets that once felt straightforward suddenly feel complicated. What is easy feels exhaustingly difficult.

“There is a lot of research that says we have a limited pool of cognitive resources,” says Allison Gabriel, an assistant professor of management at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies job demands and employee motivation. “When you are constantly draining your resources, you are not being as productive as you can be. If you get depleted, we see performance decline. You’re able to persist less and have trouble solving tasks.”

The law of diminishing returns is a phrase used to refer to a point at which the level of profits or benefits gained is less than the amount of money or energy invested. All humans have this point, and most of us are doing all the wrong things to increase the longevity of our productivity. We do more and more when we should be doing less. We fear asking for time off because we feel to do so is admitting weakness. We tell ourselves we are undeserving of rest because there is more to be done.

Everyone’s story is different. The vacation time afforded to one person may be far greater or less than the next. Whatever your case happens to be, use these steps to get ahead by getting away:

Experience life outside work:

When Scooter Ward of the rock band Cold finished his last album cycle, the legendary musician had the opportunity to record something new. Ward chose instead to take some time to experience life. In an interview on the Inside Music Podcast he explained his decision by recognizing the role everyday life plays in creative pursuits. “My music is inspired by what is happening in my life. You can grind it out on the road or in the studio nonstop, but eventually, all you’re doing is writing music for other musicians stuck in that situation.”

Sometimes people lose sight of why we work. You don’t have a job because it’s the cool thing to do. Careers can be exciting, but they are not (usually) the main source of joy in our lives. People work so that they can afford to spend time with friends, care for a family, and travel the world. Living life without feeling tethered to work is key to our longterm happiness. Don’t lose sight of what really matters.

Take a vacation.

You do not need to visit another country or spend a ton of money to take a vacation. For some, vacations take place in the homes they otherwise never see because they are working around the clock. Others may use time off to try new hobbies. Find what fits your budget, set an away message on emails, and do your best to do as little as possible that puts a strain on your brain.

Set boundaries with your job by setting aside at least one day or evening a week that is work-free. 

The wheels of business never stop turning, but you should. You are legally afforded time off.  However, it is on you to take full advantage of that allowance. If you do not draw a line with work it will follow you everywhere you go. You should be able to eat dinner without keeping your phone on the table. You should be able to wake up and not immediately check your emails. You have to separate your life from your career because, in time, the job will pass and the business will roll on without you. When that day comes, what will you have left? Will there be people in your life? Animals? Will you have an existence that continues without the tether of work or will you have given your precious time on this planet to help someone make more money?

Take short play breaks during the week.

Sometimes the break your brain needs does not require time off or hours away from your work. Sometimes all you need is five minutes to grab a cup of coffee without checking your phone or go one a walk. If you want to check your social media or play a mobile game, that’s fine too. Take a few moments to yourself whenever you feel brain strain setting in and you will be amazed at how fast you recover.

If you don’t feel like you can take five minutes to do something without checking your work emails or answering a text, please reconsider the boundaries you have set at work. There are very few jobs where every message is a life or death scenario that needs immediate attention. I’m not encouraging you to slack off, but you have to take care of yourself.

Take naps

Finding time to rest in the middle of the day is harder for some than others, but it is a worthwhile affair for all. Carve out time when you’re working through the weekend to decompress on your couch or in your bed. Take thirty minutes to rest and recover. Your body will thank you.

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Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials Haulix News Writing Tips

A crash course in avoiding music industry burnout

Everyone in music works too much and has a million things they feel they must accomplish, but taking time to recover is just as important as getting ahead.

Movies and television based on the life of music professionals and the artists they support make the entertainment business seem like a nonstop party highlighted by epic highs and perilous lows. It’s true that there is a lot of fun to be had in this industry, as well as plenty of opportunities to cut loose, but work is work. Music professionals often put in 45-80 hour weeks, every week, for as long as they can convince their body to continue getting out of bed. It’s like the postal service motto about how no weather can stop the mail from being delivered, only without the exercise.

There are many professionals working in music today who are great at their jobs. These individuals are the movers and shakers of the industry. They pour every ounce of themselves into their daily tasks, exceed expectations, and quite often find themselves being praised for all they do on industry blogs. The entertainment business tells us to admire those professionals because they have the power to make dreams come true, but far too often celebrations of talent overlook one key to success that anyone who makes a lasting career out of music possesses: Avoiding Burnout.

If 100 people decided to pursue working in the music industry at the same time, how many would eventually have a career? Of those that make it, how many would last more than five years? Ten? Twenty?

These are questions I think about a lot. Having worked in music for a decade now, longer if you count unpaid work, I’ve lost count of how many friends and acquaintances have chosen to pursue other careers. Some feel they will never find stable employment, while others run themselves ragged trying to establish a presence in the industry.

Not long ago, a magazine Editor I had worked with for nearly six years abruptly exited his role. When I inquired as to  why he stepped down his response was simple, “I’m just tired.”

Anyone who chooses to pursue a career in music is told from the day they make their desires known that success is a rarity guaranteed to no one. We are trained to believe music is a battleground where the hardest working people trample one another to uplift the most creative minds we can uncover. We are told to network, but also keep our cards close to our chest, and because of all this the stress involved in pursuing a music career can be downright overwhelming.

When you pour everything you have into something you’re passionate about results will happen. The problem is that no one is able to pour themselves entirely into their passion for as long as they have air in their lungs. Human beings did not evolve to be creatures of habit, living to work and working to live. To borrow a phrase from the band Switchfoot, “We were meant to live for so much more.”

But the music industry doesn’t recognize that. No business or industry does because businesses and industries exist to profit above all else. From a business perspective, time off equals time spent not making money, and who doesn’t want to make money?

Money is great, but it’s not everything. Your happiness and peace of mind are worth more than any paycheck could afford, but the need to realize that falls on the professional and not the people who employ them. If you allow it, working in music or any other industry will drain you of your passion, work you ragged, and keep you away from those you love. In a business as fickle as music, it’s hard for those working to feel strong enough to express a need for a break or vacation, but it’s something that must be done to ensure longterm success in this business.

With all that in mind, here are a few tips to help ease the burden of the nonstop pace of the music industry. The advice outlined below should be viewed as a treatment and not a cure. You need to get away from it all in order to remember why you gave a damn in the first place. Don’t lose hope.

1. Put a priority on face-to-face social contact with supportive people

Social media is a fantastic innovation, but all too often we confuse the connections the digital world provides with being a replacement for legitimate human contact. Too much time alone can cause legitimate sickness, sometimes with life-altering consequences.

2. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect from technology

You are addicted to technology. We all are, in fact, and because of this, our brains are rarely given a chance to decompress. Set aside a part of each day, even just 30 minutes, where you exist without the aide of a screen or device.

3. Move your body frequently—don’t sit for more than an hour

You don’t have to go to the gym, but it certainly won’t hurt. Physical activity increases the endorphins in your body, which in turn alleviates stress. Try to never go more than two-hours without fitting in physical activity of some kind. Take a walk. Try yoga. Be active.

4. Reduce your intake of alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine

In other words, “control your high.” You may think you need these things to function or fit in, but too much of anything is not good for you. In some instances, as with cigarettes, any amount is not good for you. Try to limit mind/body altering substances so that your body does not have to work as hard to reset your system from day to day.

5. Get all the restful sleep that you need to feel your best

The average American adult currently gets just 6.7 hours of sleep per night. Medical studies have related a lack of sleep to health problems and cognitive impairment. With this in mind, try to get anywhere from 7-9 hours a night. If you cannot make that work, maybe carve out a cat nap in the afternoon.

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News

Job Hunting Tips for the Music Business

Working in the music business is a dream shared by countless thousands of people around the world, but there are no clear paths to entry. Some get their start by booking shows or playing in bands, while others take the far more traditional route of earning a degree. A handful of lucky souls manage to get in through nepotism, and an even rarer select few find success through blind luck.

While it would be nice to believe that being passionate about music and the business of selling it would be enough to land any hard worker a decent paying, it’s not realistic. If everyone who gives a damn, and I mean really gives a damn, could find work there would be as many people employed in music as there are people in bands trying to build a career with their art.

If passion isn’t enough (it’s not), then those hoping to make a career out of music need to go above and beyond what those seeking employment in other fields must do to find work. Here are some tips on getting ahead, as selected by people currently employed in music:

Learn to Talk to Strangers (Networking)

There is an old adage about the entertainment business that claims getting ahead isn’t about what someone knows as much as it about who they know. For better and worse, that claim is valid. The people who excel the fastest in music typically do so through connections with people already making waves in the industry.

There are at least four ways to meet people who could help develop (or launch) a career:

  1. Start your own business and work with artists who attract the interest of bigger, more powerful businesses.
  2. Internships.
  3. Music conferences/Industry events.
  4. Digital outreach. This one has the lowest likelihood of generating a response, but considering the fact everyone in music is connected to their inboxes at all hours of the day it’s entirely possible to build connections through well-written and engaging messaging.

Learn About Everything, Master One Thing

Most aspiring industry professionals have an idea of what they’d like to do in the business. What happens more often than not, however, is that all up and comers are asked to complete a variety of tasks while cutting their teeth in the early stages of their career. With this in mind, it’s just as important for young professionals to master one skill set as it is for them to understand how the industry works as a whole. That way, those seeking employment are able to apply their knowledge and skills to as many opportunities as they can while working to the role they wish to acquire.

Use Only Relevant Information When Applying for Jobs

Any company hiring for entry-level positions is well aware that most newcomers to the music business will not have a wealth of experience. With that in mind, those wishing to apply for those roles should carefully curate their resumes to fit the job being offered. Potential employers seeking a recording studio assistant, for example, do not need to know about the two years in high school when someone flipped burgers for a fast food chain. Those same employees do not need to be told an applicant understands how to use Microsoft Word.

That said, applicants should include jobs held in high school if the skills gained or tasks completed reflect the work that needs to be done in the role being offered. Someone with management experience, for example, would be wise to detail that skill set on a resume. Those who understand complex programs, such as Photoshop, should include that knowledge (as long as it fits the demands of the role).

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News

You need a back-up plan in music. Always.

Everyone who dreams of working in music rarely pictures the day they will lose their dream position. Having spent the better part of fifteen years working in the business of music I have seen people at every level of success have the security of employment pulled out from under their feet. Some were in bands who imploded after pushing themselves too hard in too short of time, while others were brilliant marketing and publicity professionals whose employer could no longer afford their talent. Others still were let go simply because their employer realized they could hire younger, equally driven talent for less.

The is a power discrepancy in the music industry that is almost impossible to overcome. The people who have made a business out of entertainment recognize there are far more people who would love to work in music than the industry could ever support and they take advantage of that to pay workers less, demand more, and often little – if any – guarantee of long-term employment. Even the best workers will find themselves unemployed from time to time, possibly through no direct fault of their own, and each time they will have to find the strength within themselves to start over again.

With this in mind, it is important for every aspiring professional to keep back-up career plans in their mind at all times. Many professionals often have two or even three such plans, including at least one that exists outside the entertainment industry. This is not because those professionals wish to leave music. Quite the opposite, in fact. The driven professionals making the industry move today are largely hoping to continue working in music for as long as possible, but those who have put five, ten, or even more years into a music career know nothing last forever. There is always another unemployment check. There is always a need for a portfolio and/or resume.

Back-up plans for music should involve what some professionals would describe as pivot roles. A pivot role is any job that you can easily transition to using the skills you currently have at your disposal. For marketing professionals, publicity is often considered a pivot role. The same can be said for production and management jobs in relation artists.

Pivot roles make sense as back-up plans because you theoretically know the basics of your new role before you even begin. Your current efforts have allowed you to network with others in that role and you’ve seen them work. If your relationships are strong these same peers will help you seek work, and some will even answer any questions you have about getting started.

This isn’t written to scare you or to speak ill of this business. The simple truth is that no one in music is ever guaranteed their position for very long. The number of professionals who hold a single role for five years or more is fairly small, and those who make it ten years are practically unheard of. If you want to make music a lifelong pursuit than you need to develop a diverse set of skills and remain open to the possibility of change (because it’s coming whether you accept it or not). You cannot count on your job to be there tomorrow because sometimes it won’t, and the same can be said for fans, followers, or anything else tied to this business.

The only things that last are the connections we make with our fellow professionals and the skills earned through experience. Don’t take either for granted.

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News

10 questions to determine if you ‘need’ a manager (with Scott Waldman)

Long Island, NY native Scott Waldman is what you might call a true renaissance man. The musician/artist manager/a&r executive and host of the weekly show Waldman Words, heard on Idobi Radio, has a lot on his plate, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Through his experience Waldman has learned a lot about the industry and the common mistakes many artists make as they attempt to establish themselves in this overcrowded space. Today we’re thrilled to share a collection of questions Scott has put together to aide artists in determining whether or not they truly ‘need’ to be seeking management at this point in their careers. You can find his input below.

1. Do you sell a hearty amount of physical merch at your shows and online?

2. Do you sell a hearty amount of digital merch?

3. Have you sold out several headlining shows in your area (to a higher number of fans than friends) at 300 capacity venues or more?

4. Have you performed several shows outside of your area that ended with more and more bigger and better shows?

5.  Do you have a high six figure or low seven figure streaming track (SANS PAYMENT FROM A THIRD PARTY SHADY ASS COMPANY THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BITE YOU IN THE ASS) on Spotify or SoundCloud? The same question applies to views on a YouTube video.

6. Is the work on your plate so overwhelming that you physically can’t even? (trick question: The work never ends and you should leave the industry if you can’t handle behind the scenes work for yourself; you are always going to be your best ambassador)

7. Do you earn a living as a musician?

8. Do you have “industry people” knocking on your door or guitar cases?

9. Do you actively read books, blogs, and other industry articles daily?

10. Are you prepared to pay someone a percentage of your earnings to work for you?

If the answer to 1 or more of these is “no,” you do NOT need a manager. The right manager will eventually find you when more ducks are in a row. Don’t look for ‘em.

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Job Board News


Learning to trust ‘The Pinch’

Next March will be a major occasion for me. I don’t know the date specifically, but that month will mark seven years of full-time employment in the music industry. I will be thirty when it happens and, hopefully, it won’t be the last year that I get to celebrate.

I still remember getting the call that changed everything, and it could not have come at a more opportune time. My friend and frequent collaborator, Ben Howell, was seated across from me inside a gas station in rural Arkansas when my cell phone rang. We had spent the night in a motel we could barely afford after my car blew a rod and left us stranded on the side of the freeway the night before. We were broke, hungry, upset, and – according to a kind mechanic who woke us to break the news that the car could not be fixed – stranded.

When the call came in, I was expecting the worst. If the past twenty-four hours had lead me to believe anything it was that the music industry might not be as interested in me as I was in it. Ben and I had spent the several days prior attending SXSW in Texas, which was fun and filled with networking, but ultimately did not provide any leads to paid work. Then the debacle with my car happened, not to mention the fact we were over one-thousand miles from home and several hundred miles from anyone we knew in a town of less than 1,000 people that was not easily found on a map. If the universe or God or whatever really gives people signs, this felt like a big one.

But then I answered, and within a few minutes I was offered a thirty-hour a week job in Boston at a music discovery startup that wanted to leverage my writing talents to help grow their business. It was exactly what I had always wanted to do, the very job I felt I had been training my entire life to do, and here it was being offered to me at a rate that would allow me to pay my bills and live away from my parents. I excitedly told Ben the news, but considering the fact everything good I had to say would do nothing to free us from our Arkansas predicament, he was less than amused.

Several years later, trouble struck again. The same job offer that brought me to Boston turned into a source of constant trouble after the business ran into trouble securing and maintaining investors. Weeks would pass without anyone below top ranking staff being paid, often with a handful of people being furloughed (a fancy term where you’re not really fired, but you’re also not getting compensated for any recent work you’ve done). If us lower lower employees did get paid it was usually a fraction of what we were owed, with promises that everything would come to as us funds were made available.

After a months of these erratic fluctuations with cash flow the company came to a crossroads where those in charge either had to close things entirely or cut the staff to a small skeleton crew. They chose the latter, keeping me on board, and cut more than a dozen people. They also sold our longtime offer, which was a sprawling space just outside of Boston, and moved the remaining eight employees into a shared working space in a different town. I soon found myself working in a windowless room smaller than my childhood bedroom with another individual, and between the two of us we were doing the work a team of six or more had been assigned just weeks prior.

As humans, we are often able to sense trouble is on the horizon. Something in our DNA alerts us to the fact that we are standing on unsteady ground and need to make changes. I could feel that uneasiness when the Boston gig lost its main office, then again when I found myself spending eight hours in artificial light working for a company that might not be able to pay more for the time I was putting in. To make matters worse, the financial uncertainty had put strains on my home life, including my relationships. I knew something needed to be done, but I was so set on continuing to work in the music business that I refused to sever ties until something else came along.

It was on a day like any other, tucked away from the sun in that tiny office shared office with bills piling up, that my life changed once more. For reasons I still don’t fully understand I chose to contact Haulix and inquire about their marketing efforts. I think my interventions were to attempt securing freelance work to cover bills while my primary job found funding, but after only a few email exchanges I was offered a role in the company that matched the pay I was supposed to be receiving from my current career. Better yet, I could work from home.

Over four years later, I still have that job at Haulix, and my position in the company has grown over time. There is still a lot of uncertainty about the music industry and where it is headed in the years to come, but for now we are a leader in our market and a trendsetter for promotional distribution. I would never dare take credit for all of that, but I do like to think I have found a home in this business that will welcome me as long as it can afford to do so. In this business, that is as close to ‘making it’ as any professional can hope to come.

But recently, something changed in another part of my life. After sever years together my partner, who only became my wife in the last year, decided she needed to leave. It hit me as a complete shock, one which I am still recovering from as I write this entry. In a moment I needed to find a new home and a new life without her. I never planned on having to do the latter, and I had yet to even consider where we might move next. Now I needed answers quickly, but I had no idea where to start. I packed my belongings, and in the process split our possessions into two piles of stuff.  I loaded my cats into my car and headed to my parents’ home three states away so that I might get out from under the roof my wife and I once shared.

I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t scared about the future. The thought alone keeps me up at night. My brain tells me that if I could not predict her leaving me then there must be other things on the way in my life that I don’t foresee at this point. Maybe I lose my job due to an evolving industry, which would make me an unemployed divorcee on the edge of turning thirty who currently lives with his parents. The likelihood all that comes to pass is very low, but still — it could happen and that is more than enough to prevent me from finding any sense of peace.

But last night I had a thought, and that thought lead to this entry. Every time I have found myself cornered  in ‘the pinch,’ which here means any situation I do not know my way out of, something happens to renew my faith in the path I am on. Sometimes it comes in the form of a phone call, an email, or maybe just a conversation with a close friend about how you’re really feeling. When you find the strength to admit you do not have control over the situation, but continue to do everything in your power to influence it in a positive sense, change happens. It might not be what you thought you wanted, and it might demand sacrifices on your part, but your path is much longer than it appears to be at this moment. You have more stories to write, more adventures to go on, and a lifetime of memories to make. I do too, and sometimes I need to remind myself of that.

Trust ‘the pinch’. Feeling pinched by life does not mean you made the wrong choice, it just means you are due for a change. Whether you believe it in the moment or not, change is good for you, and if you continue to pour your heart into everything you do the changes in life will not stop you from becoming the person you aspire to be. Just believe in yourself and it will all work out in the end.

James Shotwell is the Director of Customer Engagement for Haulix. He is also a ten-year veteran of music journalism, host of the Inside Music podcast, and a frequent commentator on the future of the music business. You should follow him on Twitter if you enjoy business talk, cats, The Simpsons, and in-depth discussion of the latest Law & Order: SVU episodes.

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Job Board News


The truth about ‘making it’ in the music business today

If every idea or plan I ever heard in every conversation I ever had with an aspiring industry professional or musician the music business would be a vastly different place than it is today. I’m not sure that is for the better or worse – depends on the project – but what I do know of from my time working in the industry and my admittedly puddle-deep exploration through its many ranks has become the stuff of legends to myself and anyone who may have been there in that moment those words were shared. Big bands, small bands, PR professionals and startup masterminds. Name a thing in music you could aspire to become and there are at least 5000 people who tell people they also want to do that thing every day, and that’s likely just in North America alone.

I am certain there are a variety of reasons things didn’t work and a number of people who could be, should be, or would be held responsible if things had gone another route, but in many cases it comes down to your willingness to fight, but in many cases it comes down to your willingness to fight and your ability to evolve. Both sound easier than they really are, but they are absolutely essential traits for anyone hoping to make it in this business.

There is one upside: Everyone is fighting this battle in their own way.

Everyone hoping to do anything in this business wakes up with the prospects of going to war. It doesn’t matter whether it should or shouldn’t be like this because the fact of the matter is it is the way things are at this point in time. The boom of access through technology and the internet happened much faster than the music industry was able to adapt. Even if the industry were able to see the changes the internet would present in advance and had ample time to prepare it’s hard to imagine a world where there are anywhere near enough reliable full-time jobs in the creative area you want to work in to allow everyone a place of there own guaranteed. That’s not how life works and it’s not how music works.

The best you can do is to wake up every day and put action to your dreams. Start today. If you want to write the next song that is going to change the world, it’s probably time to take mastering your instrument and songwriting seriously. If you want to manage the next big band, find a band you give a damn about and do whatever it takes to make sure me and everyone else feels the same way this time next year. If you want to pitch Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, XXL, or anyone else, learn how to form a good pitch and start sending emails. If you want to be a publicist, find an artist you believe in and make the rest of us feel the same through any means necessary. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

You’re going to fail, but there’s another upside: Everyone Fails.

Everyone fails a lot, in fact. More bad songs are written every day than future classics, just like more bad press releases are sent than those that make people who receive hundreds of press releases a week actually read what they wrote. It’s not about a single try and it’s not about a single day, week, or month. Building a career of any kind in any field in the music business is an ongoing series of trial and error where you and everyone you know hopes to succeed in some way more often than not. We take our chances and we take our bruises. We complain about the way corporations have devalued music while making billions of the art that musicians create while hoping streaming payouts really do lead to the bright future we were told would come. We claim we found the next best band in the world when we really just heard a good song on the internet. We put our faith in people that turn out to be nothing like we expected and we in turn sometimes surprise ourselves.

Some failures hurt more than others, but that’s okay. You learn to take the good with the bad because you remember that hope only gets you as far as you’re willing to fight in this business and that everyone else has ups and downs too.

Be honest with yourself and others. You cannot do everything. In fact, some things you probably shouldn’t do, and that’s perfectly okay.

To attempt anything is to accept the fact you may fail. Everyone fails, as we mentioned above, but if you find yourself failing again and again without ever finding a sliver of success you may need to take a hard look at your goal and ask yourself whether or not they can be achieved. The hard truth of the matter is that only a very small amount of those who dream and strive to work in music every actually make a career for themselves in this business. If you are not one of them it does not mean you are a failure. You rose above being a failure the moment you decided to try and chase your dreams. You wouldn’t believe how many people never even take the first step towards getting what they want. If things are not working out after a long enough period of time you need to consider the possibility that there may be other fields and areas of expertise where your particular set of skills could be of value. The world needs motivated souls, and you are one. Find a way to make existence a bit better for others and do that thing. Music will always be here, and you will always have it in your life, even if it isn’t what pays the bills.

You are never alone, though it’s going to feel like that sometimes.

When you’re working with others in any capacity you begin to realize your individual performance really does influence their ability to pay their student loans and cover their share of rent in the apartments they more than likely share with anywhere from one to six, seven, or even eight people depending on the metropolis they were forced to move to in order to take their time in this business ‘seriously.’ (You don’t have to do that, by the way. Be the biggest thing you come out of your spot on the map, and don’t forget to thank the internet – and this author – for your success down the line.) You, like them, were once just a kid who really loved a particular band or sound and that somehow turned into a career where you’re now responsible for doing something (or more than likely, many things) in exchange for money. Compared to the way most people approach finding a career in something, that’s crazy! We’re all a little crazy and we many of us deal with the same stresses and bouts of self doubt that you may experience from time to time. We’re strongest when we work together, and that means being open and honest with one another. Recognize that we are all crazy fans deep down inside and we all know of the power music has to impact lives. We are all working toward the same thing, and that is to lift up the art that gives us the ability to wake up every day and fight.

There is power in numbers. Work together.

As much as my individual drive and talent has helped me make a way in this industry, all my greatest accomplishments were the direct result of projects I worked on with people I believed in. Surround yourself with like-minded people who fight for the things they want and understand that real work that lies ahead. This may be the friends you know now or it may be a group of strangers you meet only after you take it upon yourself to start chasing whatever it is you want to do. The bonds you form with these people will last a lifetime, and they will come to mean more than any paycheck possibly could.

Commit.

There is no denying that finding a career in music is often driven by networking, but even the best connections still require commitment. Music is considered one of the easiest industries to get your foot in, but no one ever stops to tell you everyone and their brother currently has a foot in the door of this business. It takes nothing to do the bare necessities required to claim to have a presence in music and that is a beautiful thing. It’s also a litmus test of sorts to separate the truly driven from those who will eventually turn to a more reliable and suitable (and arguably sane) career. If you want to do anything you have to make yourself known, and it’s both as easy and as hard as committing to working towards your goals every single day. To borrow from Nike, “just do it,” and soon things will begin to fall into place.

James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine and a 10-year veteran of the entertainment business. James has spoken about careers in entertainment and how to achieve them at festivals, conferences, and college campuses across the United States, and he is currently working on his first book on that very topic at this moment. If you like what you have read here, please make it a point to follow him on Twitter. If you have questions about this or anything else related to working in the entertainment business, please email him: james@haulix.com.

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PRO TIP: Control your high

There is a lot of bad things said in regards to the music business and how it can sometimes appear to be an endless party where adults are able to act like perpetual children as long as actual young people continue to support their craft. There may be some truths to that, but as a whole the industry is filled with people who know how to focus when it counts. This doesn’t mean the temptation to indulge does not exist, nor does it mean that professionals always refrain. If anyone knows how to have a good time it’s music professionals, but it’s how people handle those moments that determines their career trajectory.

Here are some words to live by: Control your high.

What is a high? A high is anything you do to cut loose. This can be drinking, smoking marijuana, eating fast food, combining all three, or doing something else entirely that makes you feel good and helps you unwind. Whatever that thing is that you think of when work is at its worst, that is your high.

A high can be good. Everyone deserves to relax and have a little fun after working hard. As long as no one gets hurt, including the individual, people should be able to do whatever they please in order to enjoy life a bit.

The problem is, not everyone can control their high, and some find themselves in a losing battle with the thing they thought was an aide. Addiction is a beast like no other. It has claimed countless industry lives, both on the artist and professional side. Attached to the monster, but also a beast in its own right is depression, which many attempt to ignore through a dependence on their high. There are more killers out there, but these two are in a league of their own, and many see the opportunities working in the music industry presents as a means to ignore the pain in their lives.

Let’s be clear: You should have a good time. There are perks to working in entertainment, and one of them is the opportunity to experiment with a variety of lifestyles and behavior.

If you want to drink, you should drink.

If you want to smoke, you should smoke.

If you want to do anything that does not harm yourself or others, that is your decision.

AND – If you want to success in business and live a long life, you must learn to do all these things in moderation.

You have to control your high because you cannot afford to have it control you, and that is what will happen. If you are lucky there will be people along the way who help keep you on track, but you could just as easily meet people who encourage behavior detrimental to your well being. At the end of the day, you have to look out for you. Your life depends on it.

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Don’t quit your day job (yet)

This morning I came across post from a young industry professional hoping to offer guidance to those aspiring to follow their path into the music business. The article outlined four things everyone should do in order to pursue a career on the business side of entertainment with the highest likelihood of success. The first two were fairly obvious, referring to networking and settling on a specific goal, but the third tip made me do a double take. I’m not going to link the post in question, but here is a screenshot:

Whether your goal in music is to be on stage or work with the people on stage, here is something anyone who has found lasting success in the industry will tell you:

Don’t quit your day job unless it is an absolute must.

While it is true that the industry is a demanding place where professionals often spend extended hours at the office, newcomers to the field should not feel pressured to dive that deep from the jump. Furthermore, most cannot afford to abandon their current life in hopes of creating a new one, especially in a field where the vast majority who attempt careers never make it.

There is simply too much risk involved with music to be ignorant about the reality of the situation, and any good professional can recognize that. You can fully commit yourself to making connections and developing an identity in the world of music while at your current job. Maybe you cannot do it as much as you would like, or as much as some of your peers, but you will be able to do it while also keeping a roof over your head and that is a big deal. Bigger than most realize, in fact.

The music business thrives on creativity, both from artists and the professionals who work with them. You need to be able to think on your feet, spot developing talent, recognize emerging cultural trends, and always be looking toward the future. In order to the do that to the best of your ability you first need to cover the more necessary part of life, such as housing, food, clothing, etc.

Some will say that comfort is the cousin to laziness, and that those who are the most successful in music get that way by constantly forcing themselves out of their comfort zone. While there is some truth in this, those driven to succeed in music always find a way to make it, and that drive is an essential part of what makes any music professional great. That drive exists in all of us, regardless of what we do in music, and it pushes us to work hard each and every day.

Still, that drive will only get you so far if you are constantly worried about bills, and until music is bringing in enough money to cover your expenses your drive will be (rightfully) stifled by concerns over your quality of life. If you can work and work on your journey into music, do so until you can no longer maintain a healthy work-life balance. Before you jump altogether, consider asking for less hours. At least in that scenario you still have some money coming in, which is always better than nothing.

Having a career in music is a dream for many. It can be your reality with hard work, good networking, and smart planning. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, as they say, and in time you will find a place to call home in this wild, wild industry.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the host of the Inside Music Podcast and a ten-year music industry veteran. You should follow him on Twitter.

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