And That’s a Wrap…

Posted on by Emily K Johnson
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

Perfecting the Perfectionist

Posted on by Emily K Johnson
As a musician, it’s no secret  that most of struggle with being a perfectionist. While this may sound like a good thing, it does actually come with many unique struggles. I’m going to use my story, since it’s the one I’m most familiar with, to give an inside look into what I currently do to help when things get tough. I am in no way an expert in dealing with the anxiety and other symptoms that often accompany our perfection tendencies. However, I do have a lot experience in exploring different techniques to help combat these negative side effects. Essentially, I have spent the better part of my nineteen years perfecting my perfectionist and while not everything is going to work for you, you have a whole life time to perfect your inner perfectionist, too!
As far as my story goes, it’s as simple as constantly fighting the fear of disappointing people close to me. I’ve always done really well in school, and the thought of anything less than perfect constantly scares me into long nights of studying and early mornings cramming as much information down my throat as I can. When it comes to musicianship, I push myself every week to make sure I am making the best progress possible. Most of my anxieties in the music hit me the hardest when it comes to performing. Ever since I began performing soloistically, my performance anxiety has been crippling. I don’t think there has been a performance where I haven’t cried in anticipation of stepping on stage. I’ve never liked the idea of other people judging my playing and my playing alone because I felt I would never live up to expectations people have set for me.
I’m here to tell you, you’re not alone in fighting with the struggles attached to being a perfectionist. I’m also here to give you some tips on efficient ways to deal with those struggles.
1. Take a break – Sometimes you just work better after a break, whether it’s from studying or practicing. If you get frustrated, you aren’t going to be able to accomplish anything. Take that break, even if its just for a few minutes to clear your mind. In all honesty, if I get really upset at something I am not able to get in the practice room, I am willing to try and take up to a full day off because my brain cannot handle working under the frustration usually attached to the practice stresses.
2. Get an audience – Let’s be honest, this is going to be the hardest thing to actually do just because it goes against everything we want to do. At the beginning of my first semester of flute lessons, I was in full-blown panic mode and my professor told me to perform in front of someone every day until my recital. If you end up doing this, and I highly recommend that you do, make those experiences meaningful. Grab people who are going to give you more to work with than just, “yeah, you sound good.” In reality, you’re probably going to be so terrified the first times you do this you won’t even sound that good. Don’t worry, the more you do this, the better you will sound! I promise!
3. Accept Reality – There is no such thing as a perfect performance or perfect grade. We’re humans and we mess up and that’s okay. It keeps life exciting and we should always strive to learn something from those mistakes. Keep yourself surrounded by the right people because they have no set expectation for us. The fear we have of disappointing of them is usually something we’ve conjured up in our head to justify our irrational fear of letting someone down. Understand and accept that perfection doesn’t exist, but never stop chasing down the idea of progress. If you’re pushing yourself to be the best you possibly you can be, you’ll never be disappointed.
Woman of the Week:
Tamara Hrivnak recently joined Google Play and YouTube as the Director of Music Partnerships. She received her Master’s Degree from Queens University in Political Sciences and her Doctorate from University of Toronto in Law. While neither of her degrees were in music, most of her very successful career has been spent in the music industry. Before her time with Google Play and YouTube, Tamara spent almost ten years working in multiple positions for Warner Music Group. She has also had a few jobs working in various fields of technology before she got into the music business. Currently, her job at Google Play and YouTube has Tamara in charge of  licensing strategy and business development with major record labels and music publishers and oversees current and potential partnerships in music for Google Play. Tamara’s education and work in law are what inspire me the most. She is no doubt another inspiring woman giving the next generation of music business women someone to look up to.
Until next week,
Emily

Revival of Vinyl

Posted on by Emily K Johnson
Hello all!
This week’s blog is going to be on a topic that has interested me for quite some time now and I finally have the opportunity to do some research on it! Vinyl records are back and there is no denying it! I recently read an article on Alternative Press discussing the large increase of sales in the last year. This article inspired me to take a break from my normal advice blog and dive into some research!
About the Revival:
Based on the Alternative Press article, in 2015, sales of record EPs and LPs surpassed the revenue free music streaming sources obtained from advertisements! Sales from last year reached the highest level since 1988 reaching a total of $416 million dollars from records alone. According to Nielsen, 2015 marked the tenth straight year of growth in vinyl sales and stated the biggest contributor to the sales increase were independent record stores. In another article by Nielsen, I discovered that sales of vinyls have grown by roughly 3 million units every year for at least the past three years! Billboard adds to this saying record sales have grown by 260% since 2009! Vinyl has come back with such intensity that the ‘Vinyl Revival’ is an actual page on Wikipedia!
 
Why I Support It:
Last Christmas I took all of my gift money and went to Hastings with my best friend to buy a record player and we spent hours looking at all the new and used records they had to offer! Since then I try and spend a least a day a month where I just listen to my record player for the sole reason of the pure sound it puts out. It is hard for me to put into words the way the sounds come out of the player compared to songs I listen to on my iPod or phone. I think the biggest reason for the purity of the sound is the fact that vinyl has an exact replication of the sound wave in a physical form whereas digital music samples the waves and reconstructs them. Honestly, I really just like the idea of being able to play something like a vinyl and that’s a huge appeal to me! As anything goes in life, it’s a personal decision on whether or not you enjoy listening it. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re listening to music, you’re doing it right!
Woman of the Week
Sticking with the theme of vinyl, I sought to find someone who has a large impact on the Vinyl Revival. After some preliminary research, I found multiple articles about Maggie Derthick, an active member in the music scene in the Detroit area. While not everything company she has worked for has been music based, she has many skills which are similar to those a great artist manager would have! She has been an account manager, a marketing manager and marketing director, and even was the founder for various companies over the last nine years!  One of her biggest and longest ventures has been her work on Girls Gone Vinyl, an entity dedicated to fighting the stigmas of being a female in the DJing field. Every year they put on an all female DJ concert and last year it was 15 hours long and all the profits went to a scholarship Girls Gone Vinyl started to send one artist to Production Classes at the Music Industry Academy, a woman-owned and operated non-profit in the Detroit area. Currently the woman working at Girls Gone Vinyl are working on a film to document all of the struggles and segregation facing a woman in the DJ field. Maggie Derthick is doing so much to change the way woman are looked at in the music industry and I think it’s about time we had more role models like her for our field!
Maggie Derthick
Until next week,
Emily

Shut Up & Share the Music

Posted on by Emily K Johnson

In an era where everything is fueled by competition, I think music should just stay out of it. I get it, I’m not saying the music industry shouldn’t be competitive, in fact, I’m all about a little competition when it comes to the field. However, what I’m not about is keeping music hidden. In my opinion, there shouldn’t be any reason to keep music all to yourself for the sole reason of not wanting there to be more fans. The best part about music is that it’s a universal language and people all over the world are free to interpret it however they want. If we choose to keep music confined to ourselves, we really are doing a disservice, not only to the band but to other potential fans as well. I recently saw a comment on a YouTube video that captures how I feel about this idea perfectly. In response to someone saying, “I want them to become popular but at the same time I don’t because if they blow up, that means tons of fans :(” a user replied with, “Oh shut up and share the music.” Music is meant to be shared. Plain and simple.

Here are some ideas on how to avoid becoming the first person in the conversation:
1. Pick a friend and share your favorite song with them once a week. Not only will you be looking for new music to show them but they will be giving you something new to listen to.
2. If you’re part of a fan base, don’t be a jerk. Be open to new fans just discovering the music. In the long run, how many shows you’ve been to or how long you’ve been a fan means nothing. What matters is if the music had a positive impact on your life.
3. In addition to purchasing your music on iTunes or something of the sort, I recommend picking a good streaming source. They usually have an option to listen to similar artists and this is one of the best ways to find new music.
Woman of the Week:
I chose Marsha Vlasic because of her impressive history in the artist management industry. Currently, Marsha is is the president of Artist Group International. When she joined the company, she was able to bring all of her clients with her, expanding the already impressive client list at AGI.  She has been in the industry for over 30 years and worked with to ensure the touring careers of Neil Young, Elvis Costello and many, many more were successful. Before her time as president at AGI, she worked for International Creative Management, eventually working her way up to the Vice President of concerts. All of the work she has done over her time in the industry make her the perfect role model for anyone just beginning their journey.
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Until next week,
Emily