Jobs in the music biz

[ezza]

promoted for 5 years, was equal parts fun and stress.

it is all about who you know tho, not what. you don't have to be the most social person in the world either, but you do have to be able to know who will boost your journey and who will take you nowhere.

what kinda promotion?

alot of my friends promote but its mainly underground stuff, very little money

would like to hear from someone doing it more on the business/commercial side of things

[Pedro Sánchez]

It's not about what you know but who you blow

As someone above said, what's left of the 'music biz' is a popularity contest. A proper career elsewhere will go further and save you the bother of meeting some of the biggest tossers the world has to offer.

[ezza]

i love the idea of being one of those tossers

[therapist]

What, do you want to know what I did?

I will just list the shit I got paid for: record producer, DJ, Jazz musician, record store clerk, audio engineer, internet radio station manager, and content manager for a digital distribution company. That content manager job also included label relations and had me talking to all sorts of labels and artists all over the world and at one point had me talking to the president of Universal Music at MIDEM in Cannes, France.

Without asking you to write me an essay, I basically want to know how you approached these jobs. Did you have an idea of what you wanted to do at the outset? I feel I need to just walk in to places and talk to people rather than endlessly trawling the internet hoping something will pop up.

[cloaked_up]

i do illsyrations for 12"s and videos for a range of bros that make music.
not much money in it at all but thats not the point tbh.
its not a field i recommend being involved with if you want cash.
can get by on it tho

[mks]

So I started writing this and I knew it was going to turn into an autobiography and an essay.

In my experience it was really just getting out there and getting on the scene. Almost all of my jobs came from me knowing people. I'm kind of an introvert, so talking people up and talking myself up wasn't one of my strong points, but I was on the scene. It actually took awhile to break into the music scene, but I eventually did. I'll elaborate more if you wish, but like I said, it was quickly going to turn into an essay.

[kay]

i'm studying kinda this field in uni so i hope i score a job in music biz. 'sall about connections nahmeen so i better start making them

I'm not a big fan of connections. Seems like you have to act like you know everything
and talk bs all the time.. I suck at that.

From my experience with the people I know you don't have to act like you know everything or talk bs all the time - it's more to do with being friendly, approachable and able to make people laugh/feel comfortable. This is in relation to the 'underground' music scene, though it probably is as you say in the 'real' music industry.

I actually noticed the opposite here.
I'm a social person, but it seems to me like the whole thing is a popularity contest.
Seems like the face behind the decks often is at least as- or more important than the music.

So far, from what I experienced, this is not the case in actual music/sound biz.
People will hire the best guy for the job.

It never hurts to be both good at your job and having reasonable communication skills. Ultimately, regardless of the field, people are going to want to work with people that they can talk to. This is especially important when starting out because you need opportunities to build up a reputation. Unless you are already well known, you are more likely to lose out to people with better people-skills even if you are somewhat more technically skilled.

[nowaysj]

On again, off again pro sound design, don't know if that is the music biz

To axed and that contingent, look I'm telling you right now, you are totally fucked if you think you're going to get by without knowing everybody, talking to everybody, working everybody. It is way way more important than anything you actually know how to do. It is not just the music biz, it is any professional occupation. And remember, all promotion (ie acquisition of wealth/power/influence) is based upon your capacity to do evil. End of story right there. Sooner you see that, accept that, the sooner you can make decisions about what is important to you, and respond accordingly.

[therapist]

So I started writing this and I knew it was going to turn into an autobiography and an essay.

In my experience it was really just getting out there and getting on the scene. Almost all of my jobs came from me knowing people. I'm kind of an introvert, so talking people up and talking myself up wasn't one of my strong points, but I was on the scene. It actually took awhile to break into the music scene, but I eventually did. I'll elaborate more if you wish, but like I said, it was quickly going to turn into an essay.

That's encouraging in a backwards sort of way. I'm happy to hear anything about how you came to these roles (nowaysj sounds like you may have some interesting experience too) I just meant I'm not expecting you to go out of your way to detail your entire career on here.

I think there's a million people in my shoes with some (relative) technical knowledge but little practical experience, and not too clear an idea where they actually want to go.

@Cloaked up- I'm curious about your work, got a link or anything?

[mks]

From my experience with the people I know you don't have to act like you know everything or talk bs all the time - it's more to do with being friendly, approachable and able to make people laugh/feel comfortable.

It's pretty much this. Most of the people that I met in the industry were cool people. There were a few tossers though.

[skimpi]

@Cloaked up- I'm curious about your work, got a link or anything?

his work is sick

[Marcus]

@Cloaked up- I'm curious about your work, got a link or anything?

and while im at it
storyboard 4 an upmcing video

Next level stuff.

[therapist]

That's some pretty cool stuff (is that Cloaked up not icnic?) I'd be interested to hear about some of the video stuff. I'm really looking to meet some people in to that shit.

Those skeletal ones are sick.

[OGLemon]

cloaked up is incnic
here's his tumblr for more of his work http://nichamilton.tumblr.com/