Music Industry : The Business Side Q&A

[blackmagnus514]

Bump

 

[pj and bompton]

gotta agree with blackmagnus...

i'm throwing a Wiz show down here in SD in May...

talked to a couple people at the Clipse show in LA and had artists immediately trying to play the show...one of them is signed to IDJ and has a single with Jason DeRulo about to come out produced by JR...

There is not much more you can do than get yourself out there...meet people and the connections will come fast...

 

[robby valentino]

Issue!

I go to school in VA. I graduate in May. My shot @ the Internship of a lifetime (XM) fell apart a yr ago because I couldnt come home for the interview (I had a final

) I also still live in NYC

I'm about to graduate and I dont see alot of summer internships for people who have already graduated....I'll have a BS in Psych and a BS in Communications....I dont really know what to do because radio is what i REALLY wanted to do....Im just recognizing its a dying medium somewhat...I have experience in event planning and college radio too so....I'm thinking I want something centered around PR/Event Planning within the industry....

What would be my best course of action?

 

[stillwaterla]

Originally Posted by Robby Valentino

Issue!

I go to school in VA. I graduate in May. My shot @ the Internship of a lifetime (XM) fell apart a yr ago because I couldnt come home for the interview (I had a final

) I also still live in NYC

I'm about to graduate and I dont see alot of summer internships for people who have already graduated....I'll have a BS in Psych and a BS in Communications....I dont really know what to do because radio is what i REALLY wanted to do....Im just recognizing its a dying medium somewhat...I have experience in event planning and college radio too so....I'm thinking I want something centered around PR/Event Planning within the industry....

What would be my best course of action?

Well Robby, as far as internships go...I don't think you can miss the "internship of a lifetime."  
Internships are set up so companies can get people to do their repetitive grunt work for cheap/free.  I know plenty of people who have interned for labels and are mad that nothing happened for them.  It's up to you to be proactive and gain knowledge from the experience right?  Right.

So with that, find the place you want to work at (internship program or not), apply for an entry-level position there (or higher, you have a degree!) and get to work, network and soak in the environment yourself.  The point is to get yourself in the building, everything from there is in your hands!

 

[youngjordan1]

Great thread

Im still in college and i'm not exactly sure what i want to do but i would love to be involved in the music business specifically marketing. What kind of degree/internships are usually expected in this field. also as far as ghostwriting rap songs how does someone even go about promoting themselves

 

[armenexchange]

dope thread, hopefully keeps runnin.
i know theres some legit heads ive met thru nt that have a lot of knowledge...itd be nice to meet some more.

im in my last qtr of college down at ucsd, and really just been internin at the radio stations (PJ- 91x, z90, 92.5) n learnin how that all works in relation to record labels, artists, etc.
not really the field i wanna stay in, but best i could do bein down 2 hrs away from la.

reallyy want to get into artist management/marketing but not sure where to start. heard big labels internships and agencys are a waste unless can network ur way in real well, so is that the last main option i can do to break in? just cold call applications for now? :/

any advice would be much appreciatd!

 

[pj and bompton]

Originally Posted by ArmenExchange

dope thread, hopefully keeps runnin.
i know theres some legit heads ive met thru nt that have a lot of knowledge...itd be nice to meet some more.

im in my last qtr of college down at ucsd, and really just been internin at the radio stations (PJ- 91x, z90, 92.5) n learnin how that all works in relation to record labels, artists, etc.
not really the field i wanna stay in, but best i could do bein down 2 hrs away from la.

reallyy want to get into artist management/marketing but not sure where to start. heard big labels internships and agencys are a waste unless can network ur way in real well, so is that the last main option i can do to break in? just cold call applications for now? :/

any advice would be much appreciatd!

that me?

might just be me being drunk but honestly man we need to get in touch and discuss Biz...hit me with a PM...got a lot to discuss man

 

[armenexchange]

sent pm over. hit me back and lets make it happen!

kinda off question that might be too broad.
which city has more work/pull for music tday?
so for someone tryin to get a foot in, which city has stronger opportunities?
la or ny?
i know a couple dudes intern/work for idj out in ny and couple other gigs, but havent heard much from out here in la.

 

[robby valentino]

Originally Posted by StillwaterLA

Originally Posted by Robby Valentino

Issue!

I go to school in VA. I graduate in May. My shot @ the Internship of a lifetime (XM) fell apart a yr ago because I couldnt come home for the interview (I had a final

) I also still live in NYC

I'm about to graduate and I dont see alot of summer internships for people who have already graduated....I'll have a BS in Psych and a BS in Communications....I dont really know what to do because radio is what i REALLY wanted to do....Im just recognizing its a dying medium somewhat...I have experience in event planning and college radio too so....I'm thinking I want something centered around PR/Event Planning within the industry....

What would be my best course of action?

Well Robby, as far as internships go...I don't think you can miss the "internship of a lifetime."  
Internships are set up so companies can get people to do their repetitive grunt work for cheap/free.  I know plenty of people who have interned for labels and are mad that nothing happened for them.  It's up to you to be proactive and gain knowledge from the experience right?  Right.

So with that, find the place you want to work at (internship program or not), apply for an entry-level position there (or higher, you have a degree!) and get to work, network and soak in the environment yourself.  The point is to get yourself in the building, everything from there is in your hands!

thank you sir...very good advice I'm gonna get on it now...

 

[stillwaterla]

Bringing back this buried topic, been a while NT.

 

[kleankicks]

I work in the A&R dept. at IDJ, I'll help answer where I can.
As far as interns go, for the most part it's non-paying and you need to be ready for the attitudes and egos. I've seen interns get fired for the most ridiculous things before. As far as advancing within the company, as someone said above, it's what YOU make of it. If you're not having to do the grunt work for someone, and you have a break, then try to establish relationships with people in the area you are interested in. Basically work even when you're not working....get your face out there and let people know who you are. I know not too long ago some intern here brought in a singer that wound up being Jay-Z's backup singer on his tour, and now he holds a position over at Roc Nation. You just never know, but you have to stick your neck out there and grind it out. The people who have interned and said they got nothing out of it, are the ones that held bad attitudes with people, were lazy, and didn't do anything more than what they were told. Go above and beyond what people expect of an intern and at the end of the day it could pay off for you. Even if it doesn't immediately, people remember faces. A position could open up and they remember how well you worked with them in the past and they could give you a call to fill the spot.