How To Make The Right Music Industry Contacts

You know that making the right music industry contacts is a key factor in developing a successful music career. The problem is, most musicians really don't know 'who' the most valuable music industry contacts are or where to find them.

Even fewer people know how to actually transform a 'first contact' into a meaningful relationship.

And that last point is why ‘music industry contacts’ do little to help most musicians to build a music career.

Here is what I mean:

If I gave you my complete list of music industry contacts (key industry people I have established important relationships with), do you think it would help you build a successful music career? … NO! Why? Music industry contacts need to become meaningful music industry contacts.

Meaningful connections are developed by building good relationships.

However, even if you have good relationships with the right people, this won’t help you until and unless you work on having the right things in place which enables your industry contacts to feel confident enough to work with you. You can see more about this specific topic in a free video on how to become a professional musician

So, who are the right music industry contacts you should message? … And when you get through to someone, what do you say to him/her? How can you make these important people pay attention to you if you don’t yet have a ‘name’ in the music business?

Let’s explore the first question “Who are the right music industry contacts you should message?” To answer this, you need to ask a series of other questions such as:

• Who are the right music industry contacts who have great influence and power?

• Who are the right music industry contacts who have the greatest number of key relationships with other music industry professionals and companies?

• Among the right music industry contacts, who are the easiest to locate in your local area?

• Who are the most accessible music industry contacts?

• Who are the music industry people who you can help to solve THEIR problems and/or help them to reach their goals?

Is there a single “type” of music industry contact person or (company) who fits ALL the above criteria? The answer is ‘Yes’. And if you do not have music industry connections, this ‘type of contact’ may be your best place to begin… So, who is this type of person or company?

The answer may surprise you... it is “Concert Promoters”.

Serious concert promoters have massive power and influence in the music industry.

They are the real entrepreneurs of the music business. They deal with thousands of the right music industry contacts every year such as: well known bands, record labels, artist management, tour managers, entertainment lawyers, production companies, merchandising departments, the venues, booking agents, radio stations, the press, and more.

If you live near an urban area, you won’t have any trouble finding concert promoters who live and work locally (use Google). Unlike the right music industry contacts, promoters are accessible and willing to talk to anyone who has something to offer them.

Generally speaking, concert promoters take on more risk than any other music industry contacts. All promoters lose large sums of money every year (because some concerts lose money). The successful promoters make more money than they lose throughout the year.

So, now that you know how important it is to think in terms of long-term relationships when looking for music industry contacts and you know whom to contact when you’re trying to build a music career, the next step is:

Figure out the problems you can help your music industry contacts solve.

Why is that important? Because you want your music industry contacts to solve (some of) YOUR problems, right? You want them to help you build a music career, become more known and secure opportunities that can help you reach your music career goals.

Well, guess what? If you want your music industry to help you, you need to do something to help them further ‘their’ career in the music industry.

And you need to be the one to take the first step (Because you are the one reaching out to music industry contacts who don't know you yet.)

Luckily, everyone in the music industry (or in any industry) has unfulfilled desires and nagging problems that make it hard to build a music career (or grow it further).

Specifically, what everyone in the music business wants is: help with getting things done.

What every promoter wants is a bigger and stronger team of people to help ensure that the concerts/tours they promote make more money! Obviously, it’s expensive to employ a large team of experienced people. However, you can join their team if you are willing to volunteer, intern, or earn a small salary.

Think about it from their perspective. If you were a big time promoter taking on huge risks, wouldn’t you want another person to work for you, for free or for a very low salary? Of course the answer is ‘yes’, even if that person could only work part time.
 

Question: “Tom Hess, is it better to work for free or ask for a small salary?”

Answer: When you are just starting to build a music career and have few or no contacts in the music business – work for free if you can. Earn your money at a part-time job (or start a guitar teaching business) to support yourself in the meantime.

Why? Because when you are starting to build a music career – you have no reputation. You want to prove your work ethic, your long-term thinking, your ambition and your loyalty to everyone you work with. The quickest way to do this is by volunteering your time to gain some valuable contacts in the music business

That said, this doesn't mean that you have to continue working for free indefinitely. As you rise through the ranks of the music industry, you can begin to command a small salary… and eventually – a much bigger salary.

This video shows how to rise through the ranks of any organization in the music industry and build a music career quickly:

Many musicians who want a music career are told to intern for a record label. The conventional wisdom is that when you do this, you will learn a lot about the music business. The reality is, most of these interns never get into a position where they can truly learn much at all as an intern. However working for a promoter, your ability to learn how the music industry REALLY works (at least on the touring and promotional side) goes way up because your level of access to what is going on 'behind the scenes' goes way up! In addition, the number of music industry contacts you can make are 200 times more than what you would likely make working at a record label. And compared to record labels, there is a lot less competition for internships or jobs with a promoter.

As excited as you may now feel, there is a catch...

In order to have any real chance of pursuing this opportunity and using the right music industry contacts to help launch your music career, you must work on having things in place which enable your music industry connections to feel confident enough to work with you.

Without this, you won’t be of much value to anyone in the music industry – even working for free. And as such, you will have a hard time finding contacts in the music business (much less – turning them into music industry relationships).

What are the “things” you must have in place to make it easy to build a music career?

It comes down to music industry value and skills. These skills include things you can do on TOP of playing your instrument and writing songs. I'm talking about: copywriting, speaking on camera, graphic design, video editing, accounting, instrument repair, computer programming and anything else that can be valuable in business. 

No, you don’t need to know how to do ‘all’ of these skills (or any of these skills in particular). The skills above are just ‘potential’ examples of music industry value you can offer to your contacts in the music business. 

Before you approach music promoters as one of your potential music industry contacts, assess their organization from afar.

Study their website and social media pages. Opt in to their email list (if they have one) and read the emails they send out.  

Think about what their challenges might be and the problems you can help solve for them. 

Then, call their office, go there in person or reach out via email and explain how you can help them solve one or more of their problems using your skillset and time. 

Then, actually deliver on what you promise. 

Question: “But Tom Hess, this sounds like a lot of work! I just want to play my instrument and get paid!”

Answer: Many people want to build a music career doing this. But when you are just starting out in the music industry and have no music industry contacts (and no other value to offer), it’ll be very hard to get paid ‘just’ for playing music. 

The good news is – the amount of competition willing to go above and beyond playing music is very, very low. 

So, if you’re willing to go even a bit beyond most people – you put yourself in a great position to create music industry contacts and build a music career in the music industry very quickly. 

You now know more about how to build a music career than most musicians who set foot in the music industry ever will.

The truth is, nothing in this article will help you until and unless you do take this critical step. You can see more about this specific topic in a free video on how to become a professional musician.

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