{"id":810,"date":"2013-02-15T09:45:35","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T09:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/?p=810"},"modified":"2013-02-15T16:59:50","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T16:59:50","slug":"10-tips-for-your-music-business-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/10-tips-for-your-music-business-career\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips For Your Music Business Career"},"content":{"rendered":"
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No matter where you are in your career<\/strong>, it\u2019s important to look back at the basics. It allows you to think like a beginner again; back to when you could visualize the most possibilities. The following\u00a0ten tips<\/strong>, taken from a\u00a0NARIP<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0event in San Francisco, will help move forward your career in the music business \u2013 however far along you may be.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Have a Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Write it down \u2013 on a piece of paper. Studies have shown that physically writing things down not only helps in retaining the information better, but handwritten goals can bring clarity and focus. If you\u2019ve already typed out your goals somewhere, rewrite them again on a piece of paper. You may come across new insights that can bring even\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0clarity and focus to your plan. Furthermore, you should be able to clearly articulate your goals so well that there isn\u2019t the least bit of uncertainty or confusion when you\u2019re out making progress towards your plan.<\/p>\n

2. Recognize That Everything Is Sales \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As music professionals, we\u2019re all in the business of sales. For some, this can be a hard fact to swallow. After all, music\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0an art form \u2013 a transcendental language that breaks down language barriers across the world. However, it\u2019s also a form of\u00a0entertainment.<\/em>\u00a0In order to sustain ourselves as artists \u2013 as entertainers \u2013 we\u00a0must\u00a0be compensated for our time and effort. At the very least, the art needs to sustain itself. You must learn, understand, appreciate, execute, and learn to love sales. This applies whether you\u2019re on stage, at a conference, or online \u2013 consider yourself always on the sales floor.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong>\u00a0Network<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard it time and time again: \u201cIt\u2019s not about\u00a0what\u00a0you know, but\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0you know.\u201d This is certainly true, but only to a degree. Just as important as whom you know in this business is\u00a0what you can do for them<\/strong>. You shouldn\u2019t be handing out business cards to every potential ally you encounter. You should first ensure that you have something of value to offer\u00a0them<\/em>. In a proper networking situation, a mutually beneficial exchange of resources occurs where both parties benefit from one another. If at first you seek to help others, and do so genuinely, you will gain leverage in earning what it is you\u2019re after. Yes, while everything\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>sales as I mentioned above, it\u2019s important to remember the art of \u201csellling without selling\u201d \u2013 to give in order to get.<\/p>\n

4. Collaborate \/ Create Partnerships<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an ideal world, we\u2019d all have large amounts of capital that we can allocate to pay top-quality help. This obviously is not the case, but sometimes money isn\u2019t what is needed to gain the services we seek. If you can\u2019t exchange dollars, exchange services. Either way, you\u2019re building relationships and displaying a genuine desire to help the other person out.<\/p>\n

5. Collect and Surround Yourself with Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surround yourself with\u00a0firelighters<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 people who recognize your passion (your flame) and encourage you to move forward, and try to avoid the\u00a0firefighters<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 people who diminish your spirits by trying to bring you down \u2013 intentionally or unintentionally. You\u2019re known by the company you keep, so affiliate and associate yourself wisely. Do some research on successful people and try to model\u00a0their<\/em>\u00a0success. Also, if you haven\u2019t had a mentor yet, consider seeking one out. Personalized and experienced professional guidance can work wonders for your career.<\/p>\n

6. Take Risks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overcome shyness, fear and doubt, and don\u2019t be afraid to venture outside your comfort zone. Experiencing discomfort or anxiety really means that you\u2019re entering areas that you\u2019re unfamiliar with \u2013 which means you\u2019re growing! Don\u2019t be afraid to do a little traveling, either. Not every opportunity is going to present itself conveniently in your backyard.<\/p>\n

7. Be Optimistic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cut loose the people who are continuously bringing you down. It\u2019s a tough space we\u2019re in, and pessimism will only make it tougher. This touches upon my earlier point of surrounding yourself with winners, because winners tend to be optimistic people. It\u2019s always the losers that tell you that it can\u2019t be done.<\/p>\n

8. Be Professional<\/strong><\/p>\n

Present yourself professionally in every medium that you exchange conversation or information with other professionals. From proper sounding voicemails, to practicing good email etiquette (well thought-out subject lines, following up, etc.), to wearing the proper attire to networking situations, it\u2019s important to brand yourself as a professional in every situation you place yourself in. This also pertains on and offstage, as well.<\/p>\n

9. Educate Yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is where most of you readers already have the leg up. By keeping up on your music industry news, you place yourself ahead of the curve of other would-be professionals in this business, and you position yourself amongst a crowd of legitimate industry professionals. By being informed, you not only are more likely to execute better business strategies, but you\u2019ll always have proper and appropriate conversation to ignite in a networking situation \u2013 for instance, \u201cWhat do you think about RootMusic\u2019s new\u00a0Social Touring<\/a>\u00a0integration\u00a0for the BandPage app?\u201d<\/p>\n

10. Become Remarkable<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of the day, it\u2019s all about being memorable. Personal branding is all about the mental associations people have of you. In order to stand out or move ahead, you must become remarkable at what you do. This also means being authentic \u2013 which shouldn\u2019t be too difficult if you\u2019re truly passionate about what you do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Via RapRehab<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter where you are in your career, it\u2019s important to look back at the basics. It allows you to think like a beginner again; back to when you could visualize the most possibilities. The following\u00a0ten tips, taken from a\u00a0NARIP\u00a0event in San Francisco, will help move forward your career in the music business \u2013 however far along you may be. 1.\u00a0Have a Plan Write it down \u2013 on a piece […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[14,153],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-tips","tag-music-business","tag-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions\/813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vakseen.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}