Jack of all trades
You have to learn fast in the music industry; after all, if you’re a young musician, trying to make it in competition with all the other thousands of young musicians out there, you have to know how to promote yourself, as well as writing and playing good music. Sometimes my music feels more like my day job than my day job!
Luckily, there is an organisation in the city where I live who hold seminars and networking evenings, where wannabe rock stars can learn about demos, contacting record companies, how to secure support act slots, even how to use email marketing and social media to your advantage. These events are hosted by people within the industry – either those behind the scenes or sometimes local acts who have already had some level of success. Afterwards, you get the chance to chat to the presenter, maybe slip them a demo or your card, and then wait by the phone, praying that it will ring!
The range of subjects these seminars cover really does bring it home how much work goes into making an artist successful. And yet, until you become successful, you have to do it all by yourself -it’s only once you’ve made it that you get a team of publicists working on your behalf to secure you spots on TV and gigs at festivals, or trying to get your record on the playlist at radio stations. It seems like a vicious circle; how can a guy like me possibly devote enough time to getting his music noticed, so that he then gets a bunch of people who will do that job for you, allowing you to concentrate on your music. It’s like the way celebs get all those freebies from the big companies, yet they’re the people who can afford to buy the stuff in the first place!
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