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It is so important to gain experience and learn what is right for your career.

Only you know what you deeply desire, and so a bit of experimenting along the way is the best signpost for navigating what is right for you.

Whether managing your own musical career or working towards finding a manager you should be following these tips!

1) Perform as much as you can!

Not necessarily for exposure when starting from scratch…. but for experience.

You learn from your mistakes, so don’t underestimate the tiny gig that you thought was beneath you…If you are starting out, take it!

Don’t let people take advantage of you or your skills, but be wise with your decisions…see every opportunity as one to get footage, images and content, or as a lesson learned.

More content means more engagement…more engagement means more exposure…more exposure can mean a manager will see you as more desirable to work with. Not only will they ‘get’ you and your ideas but they will know what is or isn’t working for you.

A Manager will want to improve you as well as support you - they are not there to stroke your ego and follow you about saying yes to everything that you suggest.

2) Build your own network and following to tap into a potential manager’s skills:

1) Network.

2) Be good at your job as an artist/performer.

3) Be Nice - don’t be arrogant.

4) Be helpful. Don’t expect everything on a plate…this is ‘your’ job.

5) Ask yourself are ‘you’ doing enough for ‘your’ career

6) Network some more

…repeat on a cycle.

3) Define your persona (In the real world)

By that I mean, remember you are the artist on stage.

You are YOU off stage.

Differentiate between the two.

That may seem a bit random or strange, but I have seen artists turn up to their first ever showcase/gig and walk in like they are a rock god and swan about.

Yes, be confident and yes, be optimistic about anything you are doing (I work endlessly with people that struggle with that) just don’t push it so far that you aren’t showing the real you. Remember the product is you along with your music. Don’t put people off.

Go all out on stage if you have a persona for performing. In real life, you don’t need that - keep it for the stage.

I am not saying ‘know your place, newbie’…just be you and show respect to the people that can help you. Don’t expect stuff and don’t be rude.

This should all be a given but believe me, from a place on certain industry panels, I have seen opportunities swiped away from bands/artists quicker than a blink of an eye.

4) Define your persona (In the digital world)

Don’t be an asshole on social media - end of.

Be professional and don’t think that being obnoxious to others to get attention will do you any good. It won’t at this stage.

Even recently I have seen someone kill their career in one tweet…and yes the fact it was a tweet means they are old enough to know better.

In one of my seminars we do an amazing task called ‘Mindful Uploading’ and we check out what our social media says about us and our music.

I have had bands and musicians delete their posts and start again in one swoop. Never prompted by me I must add, it is just a really powerful thing.

One young singer realised she just posted selfies of herself out drinking…nothing to do with her music. No branding, no content - just blurry photos that said nothing about her.

IF you have a stage persona and a brand/theme that runs through what you do, then you may need to keep your personal and music profiles separate.

If this has been helpful, show us some love and follow us on Instagram or Facebook, and if you need any questions answered then simply comment on the blog or on the socials…or email us at [email protected]

We love to help, so get in touch or share us to someone that might need some advice.

www.mountainmusicgroup.com

[email protected]

Defining your sound

At MMG we like to teach people how to manage themselves, but we appreciate that sometimes depending on each individual’s situation a Manager might be the answer!

Who knows? Every Artist or band is different.

We have created a series of blogs to help you with a few ‘Beginner Level’ considerations before you tread any further down your musical path. You need to have this stuff down, regardless!

WHERE WE START : Know who you are artistically

This isn’t about pigeon holing your sound…it’s about creating a way to tell someone who doesn’t know you (or your music) where you sit.

Imagine that a busy executive doesn’t have the time to delve into every tiny detail or contradiction from you about what you do. They want to know instantly where to place you and if you are worth a punt. They might not want to develop you, they might want you ready.

Hopefully a potential manager will listen to your music, and find that it clicks!

If you know what you are, and communicate this effectively, then they will understand where you are coming from, and they should know the trends and the industry well enough to be able to push you in the right direction.

The best way to start this is to create the dreaded ‘Elevator Pitch’.

If you got into an elevator (or a ‘lift’ to us Brits) with a big cheese of the music world and you had to describe your music to them before they exit in a few floors time….what would you say?!

Usually when presented with this question in real life, the answer is

“Well, it’s kind of a bit (Insert generic term) but a bit more (Insert generic term)”

I am really sorry to let you know that any vagueness doesn’t cut it.

This watery response is yawn-generating to anyone that listens to new music day in day out. They want you to know what you are and sell it to them, at the click of a finger.

Even if that means you are simply good old fashioned classic rock or avant-garde post punk theatrical ska.

When put on the spot about something so personal to you, it can be very hard to sum it up. Think it as a verbal way to get a foot in the door…will they think of you later with intrigue?

Or will they think there is a gap for you in the market at this time?

You don’t know what a manager, or a booker, or a casting director, or in fact anyone that hires musicians is looking for, so stop double guessing and aim to be unashamedly you.

Most things have been done before so the first rule is to know you haven’t invented the wheel.

But YOUR sound and what you do is UNIQUE.

It is unique to you and that is where the magic happens. Find what that spark is… and then you are on the road to creating music that is authentically you, and someone somewhere in the world will love it, relate to it, and buy it.

I have held many workshops, lectures and seminars in the power of defining your sound.

I work with the participants to define their sound on their terms, and then we listen to their music and make the necessary changes.

I have lost count of the times being told a band is Indie Rock, to find they are in fact more pop based. How we view our music might not be coming across to the outside world….and those are the customers in a business sense, so we need to always look from another perspective (which isn’t always natural!).

There are a few rules that you need to get your head around if you haven’t already.

Being commercial isn’t selling out.

How you view your music is a personal choice, and the important question of ‘why?’ raises its head. Do you want to sell your music or just make it for fun? If you want to be recognised and sell records and get booked for gigs and perform your songs then being commercial needs to come in somewhere. Don’t associate commercial with cheesy pop or novelty records.

Alternative to what?

In my seminars I ban the word ‘Alternative’ unless its backed up with more detail.

One session I had four bands in a row describe themselves as alternative.

My response : “So, you are all alternative? So there is nothing different about you, because you are all the same?”

When we listened to them perform later it turns out one was alternative folk, one was indie pop, one was alt-jazz and one was actually simply hard rock. VERY different sounds when compared with each other.

Alternative tells us nothing without the second part.

If you feel that you are alternative then tell us what you are an alternative to.

I realised that young bands want so desperately to be different. And that is a good thing.

But giving yourself a quirky elevator pitch might be misleading.

You are what you are - own it.

Indie = Independent

Does that say anything about your sound? (Another banned word if not)

It may do…I can write a whole book on the characteristics of singing Indie (it’s fascinating), and there is more to the style than maybe meets the eye. But when defining your sound this may or may not be vague, so use Indie with caution.

If you are an unpolished band and sing in your accent - then maybe you are straight up Indie, but like the word alternative, it’s helpful at these initial stages to back it up.

Remember this is not about putting yourself in a pigeon hole.

Of course you must evolve and experiment.

Nothing is set in stone, but if you only get that one chance then don’t mess it up by being vague, taking ten minutes explaining what your music is like, with the recipient walking away confused and being none the wiser, is not going to help you progress.

Now, about that elevator pitch. Keep it short and snappy.

I know many bands that have agonised over the elevator pitch. Don’t overthink it, just remember you want to keep it concise yet memorable.

There are many sub-genres that come into play.

Do you feel that you are in-between two genres? Put them together and what do you get?

Who are you influenced by musically? Do they bolt on and alter the description of your sound?

Research the genre you think you might be, and listen to some other artists because you might find that you have described yourself as Indie Rock yet you are in fact Noise pop. Or traditional RnB not necessarily Neo-soul.

And don’t be afraid to say you are just simply good old fashioned pop.

Or that you are just a really tight soul band.

Or experimental jazz.

We all need music whether it’s in it’s purest form or something off the wall.

With Spotify playlists skewing the younger generation’s genre knowledge, please don’t describe your music in the form of a playlist title. Calling yourself ‘Coffee morning’ or ‘Sunday Vibes’ means nothing. I write this as I have witnessed this in the past year.

Remember most people that are in a position to network and manage or help you, are ‘likely’ to be older. You might need to have a description for you and a description for the older folk.

IF you need help working out what the bloomin’ heck you are now, then feel free to post a link to your music here or get in touch via our website and we will help you.

Once you have found your sound, keep an eye out for the next part in this series where we will look at your artistic persona and what a manager may ask of you in an initial meeting.

Don't forget to follow us on Social Media and keep in touch about your music!

www.mountainmusicgroup.com

[email protected]