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An open letter to music business students from a music business graduate (who actually found work in the industry).

Dear first-year Music Business students:

Let me begin by commending you for the decision to pursue a college degree. Music Business is not a common major to pursue. Before arriving at school, you likely faced questions and concerns about your future from everyone in your life. I believe they only want the best for you. They don’t know what the future holds, but they know music is a cutthroat industry. Their concern is an expression of their love. Remember that.

If anyone reading this still believes a college degree guarantees a career in your chosen field, know that is a lie. Just as countless musicians are aspiring to spend their lives performing and recording, there is an equal number of people vying for the low number of paid positions on the business side of the entertainment industry. The competition is fierce, and it is growing increasingly tough with each passing day. Your success in college will no doubt give you a leg up, but it is by no means a golden ticket. You will have to fight for every bit of success you find in music, and there is just no getting around that.

I’m writing to you today because there is one lesson no professor could teach me, and learning it has made all the difference in my career. Your time in college may determine the next decade or decades that follow, but the deciding factor will not be your performance in the classroom. What will define your career after college is how you utilize the free time you are afforded by pursuing a degree. There will never be another time in your adult life where you have the freedom you will experience during your college years. Some see this as a cause for celebration, and to some extent it is, but those taking their future seriously will recognize it as an opportunity to explore the business, find their passion, and begin developing a presence in the music business.

As you head into the fall semester, I want to encourage your curiosity about the entertainment business. ‘Don’t worry about landing your dream job just yet. Instead, worry about understanding how people do that job. Take into account what separates those who succeed in that skill set from those who do not. Reach out to those already doing the work you wish to do and ask for their story. Listen more than you speak. Learn to ask questions. Not general inquiries, but specific questions geared toward the day-to-day life of those doing the job you desire. Shadow them. If possible, become their intern. Make your name known to the people in the field you wish to enter and make sure to do so in a way that speaks to your professionalism.

There will never be a job opportunity in music where your GPA determines employment. In eight years of post-grad life, the subject has never once come up in an interview, nor has an employer asked for many details related to the classes I took. Employers ‘don’t care what you learned, but rather how you have applied the knowledge your degree claims you gained. It may sound corny to you now, but the ”show” in show business applies to aspiring professionals as much as it does musicians. People need to see proof of your talent before they will feel comfortable giving you money to live your dreams. That goes for entrepreneurs as much as people who wish to join already successful brands. No one is going to take a chance on you until you take chances yourself, and the time to do that is right now. Start a blog. Find a young artist or group you believe in and do everything you can to help them gain recognition. Hand out fliers for a venue. Book shows at a local coffee shop. Start small, but start nonetheless.

You also need to network. That can be difficult for people, especially those who believe themselves to be shy or otherwise introverted, but it is an essential component of success in the music business. Everyone who gets anywhere does so because of their ability to network. You may feel intimidated when contacting professionals, but remember that they were once just like you. Nobody enters the music business without first being a fan, and that shared fandom connects us all. Reach out to the people who are helping your favorite artists succeed and let them know you recognize the work they have done. I also urge you to connect with those in your class, as well as others just starting out. Together you could build the next company that revolutionizes the industry. At the very least, you’ll have someone to turn to when things get tough (and they will get tough). No one succeeds in this industry on their own. Find like-minded people and do what you can to uplift them. They, in turn, will do the same for you.

Lastly, pay attention to the industry at large. You may be passionate about a particular genre or scene, but understand you may one day find yourself working in a completely different area of the music business. This industry is continually evolving, and you will develop over time as well. The artists that inspired you to pursue this dream will retire or go on hiatus, ushering in new scenes and sounds that we cannot yet begin to imagine. When that happens, and it will happen, you will need to adapt if you hope to continue working in music.

Do not wait for this industry to come to you because it ‘won’t. If you genuinely want this, and your decision to take on student loan debt tells me you do, then you have to chase this dream with everything you have in you. I believe in you.

Keep an open mind, work hard, and you will go far.

I believe in you.

Sincerely,

James Shotwell

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.