#industryadvice

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]