Imani St.James
LA 291-ESR
Unit 5
10/ 17/2016
The Unconventional Pathway to success, trying to break into the Entertainment Industry
I am learning that long-term goals are more attainable when I break them down to short-term goals. My short-term goal is to find a way to take my current radio show to a bigger platform. I realized that can only be attained after I’ve completed a set of mandatory studies, that will entail I am marketing myself in a way to be seen by the right people.
My philosophy on art used to be relegated to pictures, sounds, and images. I know that art comes from within, and it is expressed outward in a way that the artist can convey the message they want, but it took me a while to connect with that concept mentally.
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Communication is everything, whether its radio, podcasting, video production, etc. The salary ranges for talk show host are different depending on first the artist popularity, agent negations, what company they represent, or who are their sponsors for the brand of talent. Starting out like myself…..my salary right now is $0 dollars. I’ve had to learn to earn a living doing other things while I build my brand, cultivate my professional relationships with a variety of artists who fit into my vision and the talent there are promoting. The media communication industry is very competitive; I have not figured out all the pieces of my puzzle that sets me aside from other talk show host, I am working on it. As my contact and my talent grows it will increase my listener base as …show more content…
The organizations I am personally associated with are not the conventional ones. While I am not a member of many Broadcaster affiliations, I am connected to musicians; I attend their venues, listening parties, networking events and get to know what drives the artist, who are their sources of inspiration, and what are they trying to convey thru their music? In addition I also interview business professionals such as Dr. Shari Hicks, Ph.D., in clinical psychology, who practice locally in the Bay Area, and Dr. Zakariya Diouf, of Diamano Coura Dance Company, who is not only a Dance Instructor, Musician, but holds a PH.D in Ethnomusicology, and Science as well, just to name a few.
Sometimes I meet people in the industry and we cross promote each other. I also connect with them thru Facebook events that I know they will be attending, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I visit conventions, and places artists like to hangout, talk to their connections, and hope for the best outcome. Connecting on a more personable level is always better, or at least it works for me. Most of these events cost little to nothing to attend, and I like to attend venues where I can put my name on the guest list to get in for