Hello, everyone! Thank you for finding time in your busy day to spend a few minutes discussing the state of music journalism with us. We never set out to spend the week talking to writers directly, but that trend certainly seems to be emerging. If you’re not upset, neither are we.
The post you’re about to enjoy is a guest piece from Geoff Burns, who reached out early last week and told us he had some thoughts he would like to share with our readers. We told Geoff to submit his work, which he did, and upon review we knew it had to run here on the Haulix company blog.
This site exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
As a recent college graduate without cementing a professional career as of yet, it’s easy to feel unsuccessful. Especially if your part-time job consists of wrapping hamburgers and dealing with impatient customers. Every. Single. Day. The only motivation to stay focused in trying to one day secure that “dream job” is to drown my thoughts in music. More importantly, to stay focused on the ultimate goal of being able to support yourself financially as a music writer, you need to make time to actually do just that.
Many times each week I find myself questioning what it is I’m actually doing with my life. Is working at a fast food restaurant as a college graduate really worth going for the goal of getting that dream job as a music writer, even if it may never happen? The answer is yes, of course it is. But it’s difficult to keep reminding myself this after working 40 hours a week and still having the motivation to write each night. As long as you have the willingness to set aside 30 minutes of any kind of writing a night, that’s better than not writing at all.
Another factor that plays into struggling with motivation to write is the people you are constantly surrounded by. You need to find people who have aspirations and goals in life, people who always want to keep moving forward. As long as you can find that certain kind of positivity, writing might seem easier after a long day of the “real life” job you’re only working at to just get by. If you don’t have any of these people in your life and only the ones who care about thing like alcohol and drugs, then go to a quiet room and force yourself to type words. I know this is easy to read but hard to do, but once you get those first couple of word written, there’s nothing that can stop you from there.
It doesn’t matter what kind of job you have to pay your bills right now because after a long work day let’s face it, we’re all extremely tired. There’s nothing like taking a long shower after work and kicking your feet up on the couch trying to relax. It always seems like the perfect way of how I want to spend my time after a long day. But there’s always music to turn to. Whether it’s a single on the radio or your favorite album from when you were younger, you need to find that certain song or album that provides you with motivation and purpose and write about it.
I know it’s extremely difficult to keep wanting to write every day. It’s like having homework even when you’ve been out of school for years. The answer is simple. If you really want to land your dream job, you need to go out and actually work for it. As sadly as this sounds, the job isn’t going to knock on your front door tomorrow morning and offer you a position. Whatever job you have right now is worth it because you’re either paying bills, student loans and anything else you need to survive. It’s allowing time for you to sit down and write words. So keep your chin up and keep striving because that day will come no matter what.
A lot has been written about the supposed dire state of the music industry, but truth be told there are a number of successful and growing companies, including record labels, that are thriving in 2014. In this column we bring together every job opening we can find from the companies responsible for building the future of the business and present them to you, our reader, in hopes of aiding you on your journey to join the global music industry professional family.
You can help us better serve our community by sending any job openings you find or have to james@haulix.com. Be sure to include the name of the company hiring, a detailed description of the position being offered, a desired start date, contact information, and any additional supplemental information you feel may be needed.
Job summary: The Online Marketing & Publicity Manager will develop and implement a social media strategy, as well as pitch and secure placements with music blogs, lifestyle sites & music discovery apps for new release audio and video content. This candidate will focus on blog outreach, contesting, social media engagement, social copywriting and content distribution to drive business by increasing traffic to the company’s digital properties & generating sales leads and online conversation & excitement. Candidate will also need to contribute a high volume of posts on a daily basis across multiple platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, instagram, YouTube, & Pinterest, while having a knowledge and understanding Soundcloud, WordPress, Tumblr and music / lifestyle discovery services.
Job summary: Are you available to come work VIP Check In for the upcoming George Strait show at the Moda Center on Friday, April 11th? The hours are 2pm-10pm and the rate is $100/day.
Job summary: Universal Music Group is currently seeking a candidate to fill the positiion of Assistant, Branding and Licensing. The role is located in Los Angeles and will report to the EVP, Branding and Licensing.
Job summary: To directly assist Senior Vice President and Vice President with all activities relating to worldwide marketing and promotion of Atlantic Records’ artists and their records. Thus, maximizing the commercial exploitation of their digital and physical sales on a worldwide level.
Job summary: For nearly six decades, Atlantic recordings have had a profound impact on the development of modern music and have entertained and engaged listeners with songs rooted in our collective consciousness. Today Atlantic continues to be marked by musical diversity, and embraces a spectrum of chart-topping performers who span the contemporary pop, rock, R&B, and hip-hop landscapes. The company is home to many of the world’s most popular recording artists, among them Wiz Khalifa, B.o.B, Trey Songz, Icona Pop, Janelle Monae, Flo Rida, Bruno Mars, and many more.
Job Summary: SQE Music is a full-service music company with label, management and publishing divisions. We are currently looking to hire an experienced licensing and publishing employee for our Los Angeles office.
Job summary: Writes, edits, generates ideas and contributes to overall corporate communications strategy as a key content provider for website, BMI TV, digital and print publications, intranet and social media channels. Researches industry publications and website within competitive landscape. Handles content creation, editing, executive communications such as presentations, press releases, byline articles, white papers, talking points, reactive statements, remarks and other PR positioning documents.
Job summary: At Pandora, we’re a unique collection of engineers, musicians, designers, marketers, and world-class sellers with a common goal: to enrich lives by delivering effortless personalized music enjoyment and discovery. People—the listeners, the artists, and our employees—are at the center of our mission and everything we do. Actually, employees at Pandora are a lot like the service itself: bright, eclectic, and innovative. Collaboration is the foundation of our workforce, and we’re looking for smart individuals who are self-motivated and passionate to join us. Be a part of the engine that creates the soundtrack to life. Discover your future at Pandora.
Job summary: Perform all aspects of accounts payable functions by reviewing and entering invoices in accordance with department policies and deadlines. Update account coding on invoices. Identify errors or discrepancies and resolve prior to processing. Validate sales tax on invoices prior to processing. Scan invoice documents and attach to batches for processing . Prepare checks and EFT transactions on a daily basis. Provide accurate document preparation relative to the accounts payable functions in accordance to record retention policies and laws. Enter new or updated vendor data, validate and scan W-9 forms, and maintain vendor contact information. Prepare monthly accounts payable statistical analysis. Assist with the review of the annual 1099 tax reporting process. Assist with annual audit by pulling copies of scanned invoices and preparing reports. Establish relationships with vendors. All other duties as assigned.
Job summary: The Director & Chief Curator leads all activities directly related to the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi® collection and exhibitions in carrying out the organization’s mission, vision, strategic plan, and budget.
Job summary: Negotiate favorable rates and secure rights for material (music, film/tv clips, news and celebrity footage, photos and other media) included in projects produced by MTV East Coast and additional client groups as necessary. Send please issues, draft licenses and process all payments. Work closely and communicate regularly with production, production management, music supervisors and business and legal affairs. Record and track rights information for multi-platform programming.
Job summary: The Assistant Director for Curriculum and Assessment is a music educator with teaching experience and proven knowledge of assessment and evaluation with evidence of work in qualitative and quantitative research. S/he is eager to serve and is versed in nonprofit or school administrative management, cutting-edge music & arts in education practices that include instruction through the use of technology, and youth development. The ADCA possess knowledge of the best practices in popular, contemporary and world music pedagogies, more specific to the musical practices and pedagogical and methodological traditions of the African diaspora. The ADCA is an inspiring leader who is dedicated to service and can motivate and empower youth, staff, teachers and families into transformative experiences. The ADCA is caring, passionate, cooperative and collaborative, and has the ability to speak to anyone. He/she has respect for and experience with bureaucratic and hierarchical structures that require active listening, patience, mild tenacity and humility both internally and externally. The ADCA appreciates and respects all styles of music, believing in contemporary music as a social common denominator that can connect everyone. The ADCA is receptive to learning and teaching, as well as maintaining a student-centered environment and teacher/staff learning-community, performances, and youth development.
Job summary: Oversees all aspects of marketing and sales of the company including Marketing and Communications, Audience Services, Public Relations and Promotions. Manages a department of five including Marketing and Communications Manager, Audience Services Manager, Audience Services Coordinator, and Public Relations consultant. Reports to the General & Artistic Director.
Job summary: Cakewalk has an immediate opening for a creative, organized, and energetic self-starter to help us create next-gen, market-leading music production software for Mac, PC, iOS, and Android. As the Virtual Instruments and Effects Product Manager, you will apply your passion and deep understanding of synthesizers and audio effects to design and deliver software that inspires musicians.
Job summary: The Content Editor, Music & Festivals for AXS.com solicits, creates and edits the written and visual content across the Music and Festivals channel. The function owns the editorial calendar for AXS.com, Music and Festivals, and works closely with content operations and creative colleagues to deliver highly engaging and share-able content that speaks to our audience, for the brand, and meets or exceeds the creative standards and business goals.
Job summary: The ideal candidate will be incredibly passionate about all things social media and music! This person will be in charge of maintaining our brand voice while creating exciting and out of the box social content to drive new customer growth and engagement.
Job summary: Develop, implement and evaluate WXPN’s online strategy. Using a “digital-first” set of web skills the Digital Content Manager will create, curate, edit, develop, deliver and help to produce digital content while engaging users across all social and digital platforms. Create original content and supervise social media staff. With direction from the Assistant Station Manager for Programming, this manager will oversee the day-to-day web, mobile and social media related content for The Key, World Cafe and XPN.org.
Job summary: Special Needs Camp in East Hanover, NJ is looking for an Activities Coordinator of Music. We are looking for an individual that has experience running a class and carrying out a curriculum. This position needs a person with a lot of creativity.
