Working in the music industry I have learned a few vital pieces of information.
1. When you go out, always plan on having to listen to an artist go on and on about who did this and who produced what on their latest EP.. If you are really lucky, you will get a demo cd to take home. There is no shame in name dropping for most here in Nashville. This includes the musicians as well as the music industry vets.
2. You need to have balls of steel and not give a sh*t what anybody thinks or says about you and stick to what you believe in.
3. Brings me to the topic of this article. You need to value your worth and your time and you must remind yourself of this every day. Seems like a pretty obvious rule to live by right?
When you’re out there
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When I say countless hours, I mean we easily spend 12 hours at our desks sending email after email to all of our relevant contacts and new contacts. All to share the music of an artist or band that we represent in hopes of getting their music heard. Don’t get me wrong I love the bands I work with and I am passionate about all projects that I take on, as I think every good publicist should be, but this is a long process that requires a lot of persistence and patience.
This is where your value of time comes into play. If while we are spending all of our time and busting our butts to represent that same artist and all you get back is an unappreciative musician who undervalues you is de-motivating, to say the least. Who wants to work for someone who doesn’t respect the time and effort you put into their brand daily?
After years of working my ass off and bending over backwards to help artists getting nothing in return, I have changed my ways. If this has happened to you, you should take this article as a sign that it is time to make this change yourself.
I refuse to work harder than any musician that I work with. What makes them think our time and expertise are dispensable? Why should we spend all of our time, energy and efforts for an artist’s career when they don’t put forth the same hard work and effort needed for