Pursuing a job in the music industry?

[rainie]

Hey! So some of you may recognize me from around the board, but I’m not sure how many of you know that I’m an 18 year old trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve always loved music, and have been enthralled with the music industry for years now. However, with the industry (and musicians) making less and less, is it actually a viable field to persue for a career?

The dream would probably be becoming a famous songwriter/composer (similar to what Sia does), managing a band, or working on radio. How realistic are these, and does anyone actually have experience with these fields? Some other things I’d like to potentially persue are:

Music reviewing
Doing something at a record label
Music contracting

And a few non music related fields (namely overall advertising/marketting). However, I’m more then open to any suggestions for fields I dont not know about that may interest me.

Thank you!

[Deleted]

I have no personal experience in the entertainment industry, but I can tell you that if you are interested in contracts you need to go to the best law school possible (and the advice I have re: law school is a whole other topic so I won't go into all that) and focus on contract law. And network, network, network. Networking is the hardest part but at the end of the day the most important thing you can do for anything. Go to all the free events, sign up for all the conferences, take all the business cards and email all the people who say 'email me any time.'

BMI, ASCAP, and other music-related websites typically advertise songwriting competitions and industry conferences that are open to anyone who's willing to pay the fee. These things cost money but if you have some to spare, it could be worth your time to enter a comp or attend a conference. Meghan Trainor actually got one of her first breaks via a writing competition. (Every time they open up for their yearly competition they plug her at the top of the e-newsletter lol)

Labels are very hard to get into but my understanding is that you should be willing to intern or sign up for seemingly dead-end positions (e.g. mail room clerk) and then work your way up.

If you're interested in being a music critic, just start writing!** Set up a Wordpress or a Wix (and pay the monthly fee for your own domain name if you can afford it - looks better for branding purposes) and keep it updated; this is how you will build your portfolio. Send your articles to websites, mags, and newspapers that accept freelance work. If you plan on going to college, major in communications and work with the campus radio station, newspaper, and any group that will let you write their newsletters or plan their events. Do not feel compelled to go to college if it does not interest you, however. Unless you plan on going the law/contracts route, there's a decent chance that it isn't necessary.

Au$tin may be able to give you some more tips on how to break in to radio (hopefully he doesn't mind me volunteering him lol).



**I really need to take my own advice on this one smh

[kcdawg13]

Intern at a couple labels, go in unpaid and work your way up.

Songwriting is a whole different front, I would try to get some connections, if you are working at a label you should be able to get a hold of some folks that are savvy with artists. The thing about songwriting is that you need to be able to know how to read music, I would take a music/songwriting class to learn everything first hand before jumping in.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

This was my dream too. So much so that after I wasted my time getting a psychology degree I ended up doing audio engineering in college. I’d still totally love to work in a recording studio but I was quickly discouraged by the type of people who work in studios plus my lack of experience and inability to play music. It has begun occurring to me recently that it’s probably not out of bounds for me to work in entertainment and music as an agent, label representative, that sort of thing. I worked at a theatre doing it for a couple years and now I’m volunteering with another theatre company doing the same thing so it’s not completely unrealistic to shift over to doing this stuff for a musician or band, even as a freelancer.

My point being: sometimes the way in isn’t as obvious as it might seem. And sometimes the biggest challenge is determination and drive, things I severely lack.

[BDGeek]

Hey rainie! I work in music licensing and have dabbled a bit in artist publicity as well. The best advice I ever got when I was starting my career was "figure out where you want to be." The music biz is concentrated in a few select cities, mostly in North America, Europe, and Asia (not sure what country you're from?). The type of work you want to do, as well as the genres of music you love most, can help decide where you end up working/living.

For example, I had an interest in country music when I was starting out, so I interned in Nashville for a bit, doing artist publicity for a record label. I quickly realized, however, that pop music and songwriting were my passions, and I wanted connections to the TV and film industries as well. So I ended up in LA, doing mechanical licensing on both the label and publisher side. It's been a good fit.

Do you have a particular genre of music you'd like to work with?

[BDGeek]

Oct 12, 2018 14:52:24 GMT -5 Devil Marlena Nylund said:

This was my dream too. So much so that after I wasted my time getting a psychology degree I ended up doing audio engineering in college. I’d still totally love to work in a recording studio but I was quickly discouraged by the type of people who work in studios plus my lack of experience and inability to play music. It has begun occurring to me recently that it’s probably not out of bounds for me to work in entertainment and music as an agent, label representative, that sort of thing. I worked at a theatre doing it for a couple years and now I’m volunteering with another theatre company doing the same thing so it’s not completely unrealistic to shift over to doing this stuff for a musician or band, even as a freelancer.

My point being: sometimes the way in isn’t as obvious as it might seem. And sometimes the biggest challenge is determination and drive, things I severely lack.

You can totally make that shift! When I did label publicity, my boss had recently switched careers from event planning at an opera house. That was five years ago and she's still working as an artist publicist and loves it. There's tons of overlap with other fields as long as you can figure out how to spin your skill set and be a cool person to work with.

One of my favorite things about the music industry is that, for most positions, there's no one way to get there (as opposed to more linear career paths like doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc.).

[velaxti]

I can't tell you how I know this, but it's pretty much impossible for a "normal" person to become a songwriter or producer for mainstream artists. And I'm being dead serious on that. I can try and explain why if you want, but I don't have the time right now to think about how to word it.

Doing something like starting a blog or Youtube channel where you review music is definitely possible. It's possible for "normal" people to work for their local radio stations as well, and things like that.

[Au$tin]

Oct 11, 2018 20:10:30 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

Au$tin may be able to give you some more tips on how to break in to radio (hopefully he doesn't mind me volunteering him lol).

Ah, if someone figures it out, I'd like them to let me know as well! Unemployment suuuuuuuucks. (Though, some successful radio workers here might help a bit, like maine or TroublemakerOlly.)

I did land an internship with the top independent hip-hop label earlier this year, though. The process to get it, though, was long and stressful, but well worth it in the end. I literally went to college to major in music business, which itself is a difficult degree to find and if you're struggling to find an affordable, nearby school that offers this, a general business degree with a concentration in something like marketing, advertising, or entrepreneurship would be great alternatives. It took 4.5 years and my last semester was supposed to be when my internship took place, but I went through two other sources for an internship that both just dropped the ball majorly on me (Entercom radio and a smaller local independent record label). I actually applied for the Strange Music internship in October, didn't hear from them until early December, and landed the internship in January of this year... after I graduated in December. Thankfully my professor allowed me to graduate without the actual internship taking place during my school years after telling him where I landed one at. (In case you're unfamiliar, Strange Music is most well-known for the fairly successful rapper Tech N9ne, who also is co-CEO of the label, so it actually was a pretty substantial internship.) I definitely was able to network through it, but unfortunately there just isn't much in my area to pursue further and I'm now in a spot where I'm not financially able to relocate to a bigger hub for the industry. Eventually, I will be able to, though, and I do hope my networking will help me land a smaller position somewhere in LA, Denver, Nashville, Atlanta, or New York and I can eventually work my way up.

Unfortunately, that's a massive part in most industry, but even more so in the entertainment industries. Networking is more likely to get you somewhere than your knowledge, so absolutely try to get your name out there as much as possible. Build your brand on a website, showcase your knowledge, reach out to people in the industry and send them a link to your site. Get to know as many people as possible that can advance you. It can be very, very, very tough as you do this, though. I know this all firsthand. I'm coming from a small town in the middle of Missouri, so of course it's extremely difficult for me to network, but I have begun, and it has gotten easier. But it's a slow and agonizing process. The thing that keeps me going, though, is that it can and does happen. "Normal" people can work their way into the industry. It absolutely has to otherwise the only people to ever be in the industry would just be all related to each other in an extremely small circle of friends and relatives, and that's not how it is. The fresh faces have to come from somewhere, right? But for every success story, there's about a dozen dozen others that failed or gave up.

The advice I can give to you is to always keep the dream alive. Always keep pursuing because eventually you could be one of the ones that makes it, but don't put all your eggs into one basket. (This is why I also minored in general business, but even then I'm still struggling to find a job right now, but that has less to do with networking and more to do with how the job market is right now. Shitty.) Have back up and do that while maintaining to follow your dream. Take all of the opportunities that come your way, you never know what it will lead to. I wish you good luck!

[tinawina]

For the business side: Move to one of the cities where the indutry is centered and be prepared to work for free (or peanuts) while you get your foot in the door. Network your ass off. Hustle hustle nad more hustle is what gets you in and up.

The other way is to go to on of the colleges (like NYU) that regulary provides music business interns and use that as your foothold.

For the creative side: Try to get something going for yourself in the region where you live or on You Tube/Instgram/whatever works. Work on your craft with an eye on getting better and better and figuring out where you fit. Buy a book on the music business, espeically one that shows you how to market yourself. Get some experience writing/producing/performing and building a following/buzz. When you are ready move closer to a bigger city.

[born]

Thank you for this thread! It's great to know that we share our goals and dreams and I hope you end up getting there. I can't actually provide you with information cause I don't know sh*t (yet). However, I'm gonna contact you if anything happens.

What I would do (I'm doing tbh) is: prepare a demo, or just gather a group of up to 5 songs you've written/you're gonna write that showcase your sound and writing skills?!?Then, just look up some record labels and see if they're accepting demos/the rules etc. I think that's a good place to start. I'm not saying you're gonna get signed immediately, but that's a step and you might get to work there, even as a coffee girl. Then you're gonna work your way up like someone already mentioned.

[narp]

Oct 11, 2018 20:10:30 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

I have no personal experience in the entertainment industry, but I can tell you that if you are interested in contracts you need to go to the best law school possible (and the advice I have re: law school is a whole other topic so I won't go into all that) and focus on contract law. And network, network, network. Networking is the hardest part but at the end of the day the most important thing you can do for anything. Go to all the free events, sign up for all the conferences, take all the business cards and email all the people who say 'email me any time.'

BMI, ASCAP, and other music-related websites typically advertise songwriting competitions and industry conferences that are open to anyone who's willing to pay the fee. These things cost money but if you have some to spare, it could be worth your time to enter a comp or attend a conference. Meghan Trainor actually got one of her first breaks via a writing competition. (Every time they open up for their yearly competition they plug her at the top of the e-newsletter lol)

Labels are very hard to get into but my understanding is that you should be willing to intern or sign up for seemingly dead-end positions (e.g. mail room clerk) and then work your way up.

If you're interested in being a music critic, just start writing!** Set up a Wordpress or a Wix (and pay the monthly fee for your own domain name if you can afford it - looks better for branding purposes) and keep it updated; this is how you will build your portfolio. Send your articles to websites, mags, and newspapers that accept freelance work. If you plan on going to college, major in communications and work with the campus radio station, newspaper, and any group that will let you write their newsletters or plan their events. Do not feel compelled to go to college if it does not interest you, however. Unless you plan on going the law/contracts route, there's a decent chance that it isn't necessary.

Au$tin may be able to give you some more tips on how to break in to radio (hopefully he doesn't mind me volunteering him lol).



**I really need to take my own advice on this one smh

Very insightful. Any examples of sources that may accept freelance work?

[king_billboard_100]

Does anybody know how i can work at Billboard, spotify or Apple music as a chart builder?

[weaver]

Not for nothing, but please fix the thread title. LOL

[Active Aggressive]

Aug 14, 2019 15:00:14 GMT -5 weaver said:

Not for nothing, but please fix the thread title. LOL

OMG I'm glad someone else said it so I wouldn't have to, LOL. Although, we have a board full of people that think "Her and [insert person/object here]" is acceptable, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Kris]

Not gonna lie I actually looked up perusing's definition to make sure I didn't keep reading this thread title wrong, and got very confused every time it was the front topic lol.