Breaking into the music industry, not as a musician

G

grime

New member
So, I'm 19 years old. Went to Univ. of Conn. last year as a freshman, to get a "standard" BA. **** went wrong, I'm now out of school working full time for minimum wage. Well, I've been a musician and die hard music fan for over 10 years. Now, I've always wanted to work in the music business, but like many of us know, the job listins involved in the music business are never really clear.

So my question is:
If I want to work in the music business, under any job, besides being the artist. How would I get in? What are some of the other jobs?

I always thought it would be a dream to work every day in the studio, helping musicians acheive their dreams. But besides the standard Audio engineer, audio technician, and maybe Manager/Lawyer. What does everyone else in the studio do? There must be people who do all the behind the scenes ****, right?
 
that's like asking if there is a job in politics without being a politician

or is there a job in security where you are not a security guard.

or is there a job in retail where you are not a cashier.

the music business, is a multibillion dollar industry. there are many many different career options.

you need to be less vague.
 
"working in the music industry" is no different from working in any other industry... It us no different from working in the automobile industry or the footwear industry... The only difference is instead of making cars or shoes, they are making records.

It is not particularly "glamourous"... 99.99999% of it is the same as any other job in a typical business.

Even the "glamourous" jobs in the music industry (being the artist) is not, in reality, very glamourous.


Most if the jobs in the music industry have nothing to do with making music and almost none of the jobs involve actually being in a studio.

You get a job in the music industry in the same way as any oter job... Send out resumes... Be an intern... Network... Work your way up...

If you want to have a "creative" job in the msic business, then it all comes down to your talent and skills and getting really really lucky.
 
A lot of the time it's more to do with the people you know than the skills you have. You can be an amazing bedroom guitarist but you won't get anywhere because you're still in your bedroom.
You need to get out there and put the effort into participating. Make contacts, network, hang out with other like-minded people, get in touch with companies, businesses, bands, etc etc. Communication is a very important tool.
 
it's not that you need to have better connections than be skill or talent. you need both equally. talent or skill is just a prerequisite. you need it no matter what. like any other profession, you need to be proficient at what you do to do it. it's like any other business. you need to reach the people you want to do business with. the problem people get stuck in the whole this is art nonsense. no, it's a business and you need to treat it that way.
 
Getting a job in the music industry is like getting a job in any other industry.

One place to start is checking out the careers/jobs sections of companies' websites. Like any other job/career, you usually have to start at the bottom and work your way up to what you want to do.

Just to start you out, here's the Big 4 job boards:
EMI: http://www.emi.com/page/emi/Careers/0,,12641,00.html
Warner Music Group: http://www.wmg.com/jobsoverview
Sony: http://jobs-sonymusic.icims.com/jobs/intro
Universal Music: http://www.careers-umusic.com/umusic/jobboard/searchjobs.aspx

There are tons of other types of organizations to look at besides record labels though. Collection societies (ASCAP, BMI, Soundexchange, Harry Fox), interest groups (Alliance of Artists and Recording Musicians, Future of Music Coalition), placement firms, publishers, etc.
 
EMI a big four. lol. technically. granted as a publishing company they are the shyt. but as a label group? what is there biggest asset? Capitol? who's really on capitol? Twista? okay, in country EMI is strong, but urban. not really.

as for WMG and Universal? all I got to say is Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Sony is good
 
I recommend you have skill in something that pertains to the "industry" Marketing skills, Media Arts skills, Money Management Skills, just as any medium; the way to get a job has to do with you having a certain amount of skill at it. BTW the music industry is one of the harder industries to actually get money in. Very much dependant on your connections, so get connected!
 
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