This last week has been yet another hectic one, but it offered a great deal of experiences. Our Topics in Music Business class put on the concert we have been helping set up for the past few months and the Percussion Extravaganza took place last night. Many of my previous blogs have been written with the newly found advice I gained through working on this concert. The day of events were no different and having the opportunity to actually work with the artists gave me an even more detailed look at everything that goes into these shows. My work with the percussion studio is minor, but it always offer an interesting perspective on all that goes into putting on a show. This week’s tips come from what I picked up at both concerts this week!
1. Test Everything – There’s the obvious things that you should test before a show like your microphones and your amps. However, if you are working with more than just sound, there is more that you need to test. Test the video you are playing with, as well as the cameras you are recording with. Finally, and probably most importantly, if you are live streaming your event, test it! Even better, test it before the day of to ensure everything is working the way you want!
2. Promote – In order to get the large crowd or even the sell out crowd, a lot needs to be done. The class started promoting about three weeks before our show and we sold out about four days before the show. On the other hand, the percussion studio started promoting about week before our show and while we still had a really large turnout, we could have had more.
3. Invest Yourself – This is a topic we have been talking about in our class quite a bit and it really resonated with me. As a representative of someone else’s love and soul, you need to invest yourself in it as if it was your own heart and soul. It’s easier for people to relate if you are being genuine and you care passionately about what it is that you’re selling. On Friday night, I watched artist perform so passionately on stage and then come off stage and interact with fans in such a caring way that made them want to buy their product. If you can invest in whatever it is that you’re doing, you’re job is going to become ten times easier.
Woman of the Week:
I choose Julie this week because her job is a very unique aspect of the music business. Currently, she is the lead music booker for The Tonight Show Starting Jimmy Fallon and has worked many jobs similar to this prior to her position with with Jimmy Fallon’s show. Before she started working there, Julie worked with Today and booked their summer concert series with a record number of performers for 2014. She has also worked as a talent finder for Ellen before she started working with Today. Personally, I think working for a talent agency and looking for acts of all kinds has the possibility to be overwhelming. That being said, I’m really intrigued at the idea of working for a single entity and having the acts come to you and overseeing that entire process and that side of the music business. Julie has done a lot for artists and worked very closely with a different side of the business I had never really considered before and that’s why I chose to focus on her this week!
Until next week,
Emily
Emily K Johnson 