Intro to the Music Industry

Fundamentals for entering into a music career.

Created byJordan Armijo

Last updated 5/2021

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

How to book shows
How to communicate with talent buyers
The importance of networking locally
Backstage etiquette
What not to do as a new musician
What people don't often tell you about touring

Course content

1 section • 8 lectures • 1h 6m total length

Introduction to the Music Industry3:12
This course is for anyone who wants to play live music as a band or artist, but doesn't know where to begin. It is aimed at helping provide tools and guidance toward smarter moves in the music industry, so you can start off with the best chance at success possible. I will be deriving most of these lessons from my own failures, in an effort to help up and coming musicians avoid the same mistakes I made.
Lesson 1: Picking the right name, and marketing foresight9:54
This lesson discussed the importance of branding, why name selection is important, and how to choose a branding that will be sustainable and marketable.
Lesson 2: Support Local, Promote Local4:19
Lesson 2 covers the importance of starting at a local scale, while their are always exceptions to any rule, this one will almost always be the best route to begin.
Lesson 3: Networking9:35
In this lesson we discuss the importance of networking, connecting with others, and cross promotion.
Lesson 4: Building contact lists8:08
Lesson 4 covers the importance of building, keeping, and organizing contact lists for the sake of time management and stress reduction.
Lesson 5: Be professional, look professional7:03
It's important to portray yourself as professional even if you might not be a pro in your field yet. This lesson discusses how to set yourself up for success and complete your "professional image."
Lesson 6: How to book shows13:28
This lesson is very much entangled with lesson 5, but goes further into how to send inquiries to venues for desired shows.
Lesson 7: The realities of the industry10:47
The last lesson, and possible most important, is understanding what you're getting into. The music industry is a machine that can run a person down, but if you are aware of this ahead of time, you can better prepare and use the previous lessons to mitigate the strenuous nature of this industry.

Requirements

Description

This course was designed to help up and coming musicians or struggling musicians see things through the eyes of the other people involved in the music industry. I myself have been playing live music for over 10 years, and I hit a lot of pitfalls and struggles along the way. There were many things I learned through my own failures, so I thought, "why not take all of my mistakes, and boil them down for others to learn from?" My aim is to help people understand where there may be challenges and shortcomings in the music industry and why certain aspects are important and often overlooked. Everything here seems really simple, straightforward and almost redundant at times, but you'd be surprised how many musicians I know that did not learn these things and continue to wonder why they aren't progressing. I sincerely hope this course will provide you with some insight as to why your music may not be getting the attention it deserves, or how to get it the attention it deserves through simple, tried and true methods that are often not spoken of or discussed within the industry. If you bought this course and you sincerely did not find any help from it, I will gladly take time from my schedule to try and help you figure out whatever it is that might be missing.

Who this course is for:

Musicians looking to start playing live shows or who are having trouble booking shows
Artists who don't understand the business side of the music industry
Anybody who has music or art to share with the world who doesn't know where to start
Solo musicians or bands who want to do things independent from a music label