A Rise in Unsolicited Information from People With No Experience in the Music Industry
If you’re reading this you should open another tab and google “How to Become Successful in the Music Business” and you would see 1,130,000,000 results pop up. A few ads to books, master classes, courses, pdfs, and some college/university articles will appear in the search result. Now at first glance you may think you just hit the jackpot on information that’ll get you to where you are trying to be. However, if you thought for a second longer you’d realize that you were getting information from a bunch of sources that can’t provide proof on what they are suggesting actually works. If the person providing the information can’t show any music credits, a CV listing accomplishments or past projects from within the music industry then how can they tell you what you need to do? This has been a question that has plagued my mind for years. Where can I find the right information that’ll get me to that end goal? I can’t tell you where to find yours as the information that works for me may not work for you. However, what I can tell you is how you can check if the person who’s providing the information is an actual credible source. Call it, research.
Google’s Your Friend, Bruh: Seems pretty simple yet you’d be surprised how many people actually don’t do this. Most get caught up in the amount of Instagram followers a person has, see a few pics with some celebs and think “this must be the guy.” Let’s be honest, a platinum badge at SXSW and a camera phone can make you look like a star if done right. I’ve seen plenty of promoters give the impression that they are always around celebrities but if you look at the dates on their posts you’ll realize they only post 14 times a year. If you look even closer you’ll see that they have the same clothes on, same hair cut, and even the background is the same. That person isn’t flying around the world to meet these celebs. All those photos were taken at the same place at the same time. He just spread them out to give the impression he’s been outside this whole time. Nothing wrong with batching content, but don’t fall for it. Google their name and see what comes up. If they’re claiming to hold a position at a record label you can easily look them up on LinkedIn to see if it’s true. In fact, there are a few social media networks dedicated to industry insiders where you can see who works where. Don’t know which ones? Google it.
Ask Questions and then more questions: You’re not here to be Dick Tracy but you can get to know the person a bit more. What’s wrong with getting them on the phone and letting them share their story. Let them tell you what they’ve done and decide you’ll reach out to them again in a week. You can easily google them or even reach out to some of the people they’ve worked with. I suspect that every time I meet a new person who’s in the business they’re asking about Hänz Nobe and who is he. I’m sure they want to know whom they’re dealing with. If they hear “he’s great to work with” then I’m sure if they’re still interested I’ll get a call back or text. If they hear “never heard of him” or “he’s a sh*t person” then they probably won’t. Don’t complicate things. Find out more about the person you’re dealing with before you take their advice or worse, sign with them.
Wait: This one perplexes people when I tell them this but bare with me as I explain. In a music video by Fabolous there’s an intro where he meets with Jay-Z in a luxury vehicle. They talk about a few things and then Jay says “the best way to see a person is to not look at them. Cause if you look at them they’ll be on their best behavior.” This applies to your network. Before making the decision to not only take advice from a person but also working with them give them time to show you who they are. How do they move, what type of energy are they giving you, what type of content are they putting up, do they appear consistent? These are the questions that you’re going to want to know before hiring them as a consultant or calling them your mentor. Let them paint the picture, not you.
So hopefully with those three points you’ll be able to walk away with something that you can use as a guide on who you should be listening to. It’s okay to be skeptical because this is your career. The last thing you want is to make a misstep because someone told you something that doesn’t work. Be smart about it.
Says the guy that’s never sold a million records.
