Does anyone have any advice for sideways movement into the music industry? Mentors? Highlighting experience on my CV?
The industry seems to be one of those that's tricky to break into without specific experience. I currently work in Entertainment/Tourism, however I'm struggling to get my foot in the door against CVs that have specific music industry experience. Any advice would be taken with open arms! Thanks so much,
Replies8
- I'd love to hear success stories for things like this as I've been unsuccessful with sideways moves before. This is mainly due to political decisions and being defined only by your only title. The things that I tried that gained me some recognition rather than success were the below, i hope it brings you more value and opportunity:- Opening discussions with people in that sector through any means available (LinkedIn or possibly the Dots seems great so far!)- If it is inside the company, ask to sit in on presentations or meetings. Showing face and knowing more about the team could be the deal breaker.- If you have experience in it before, offer it and ask for feedback, or ask for dialogue.- Ask friends to ask friends - any warm routes in will always grant a better chance.- Prove it by volunteering or joining a small external team to try and get experience or tangible proof of ability outside of your current remit.- Try to not have imposter syndrome. Probably the hardest bit of all, but if you want to do it there is a reason for that.Best of luck, will keep an eye on the chain here and great question!
- @Stef Gough Pleasure. Feel free to message anytime.Have a good day.C
- @Stef Gough Of course! you can email me! just send me a message :)
- @Isabel Sachs Hi Isabel, that sounds really cool. I'll get some things together and send them your way. Thanks for taking the time to respond!- Stef
- @Christopher Spring Hi Chris, thanks so much for the response! Makes a lot of sense, same with all marketing - know your productand who's hands you're trying to get it into :) I'll take a look into that book also and definitely get in touch with you if I have any further questions.Thanks again for your time - Stef
- Below is a copy and paste from a similar question that I saw before about going to do a music business course:"Depends what you want out of it [the course, but in this case "why you want to work in music" - music is all about people you know, music you know and the infrastructure you choose to put around you.It's essentially a series of microbusinesses - as soon as your mindset is that way and you know how to see the interactions inbetween it can really help.Doing a Music Business degree has one massive advantage: the connections and networking whilst you are there. However, it is definitely not obligatory - and at the moment I would probably go to do something else that's a bit more "global-warming-y" proof as touring has shown how truly fragile it is. The complete collapse of the industry because of one pandemic is terrifying.What did you want to go into within the music industry?In the meantime if you're interested in reading up on it I would get this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Need-Know-about-Music-Business/dp/1501122185/ref=asc_df_1501122185/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=273092222521&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11133583997400148055&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045881&hvtargid=pla-828118326645&psc=1&th=1&psc=1It's an absolute bible of knowledge."The book goes into the structure behind the industries explaining the different terminologies and parts of the industry.There genuinely seems to be a lot of people asking this at the moment and actually might be easier to set up some kind of quick Q and A for people who are interested with a few people I know who work "in the industry".The thing to remember though is that it's like any other industry: know your product, know why you're there and what skills you have to be able to give to those within.Feel free to ping me any qs.C
- Ooo I’d like to know too, how to really break into the industry!
- Hi Stef, I am actually working on a networking and mentoring service for the creative industry - hoping to launch in the next month or so, but in the meantime if you'd like to send me your CV i'd be happy to send you some advice and share it with some people.!
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