Work Smarter, Not Harder

When it comes to getting involved in music business networking, most people experience a certain degree of fear. That’s perfectly normal. While the prospect of having your own business is exciting, if it’s your first time considering such an ‘independent’ A&R venture, many pitfalls also come to mind. Stop right now and turn those negative fears into positive actions. Let’s focus instead on the skills you need to succeed.

 

The skills you need most are “people” skills. This includes an understanding of some very basic principles involving how and where to meet new talent, making good first impressions, getting to know them and building the relationship.

How and Where to Meet New Talent

We all meet new artists, their managers or their independent label owners all the time through our jobs, while traveling, at social events, and so on. Yet, when we think about ‘having’ to meet new people to build a business, many panic at what to do. That’s because meeting new people has moved from being an unconscious act to a conscious act. When we are consciously aware of situations, we tend to over-analyze and become something other than our pleasant selves. Make meeting new artists, their managers or their independent label owners a natural part of your daily life. Do not stress over whether or not anyone will reject you or your business proposition. Just be yourself. Meet people like you’ve always met them. Just make yourself meet more of them.

Take a normal day’s activities and consciously notice how many people you could meet without moving outside of your usual patterns. You’ll be surprised at how many people whose day would be made better if you simply smiled and treated them with courtesy. They’d take notice of you and many would even give you the opportunity to move into the next area of people skills–making new music business acquaintances.

Make New Acquaintances with Positive First Impressions

In the business world, it’s natural to get a brief background on people you’re considering doing business with. This same premise applies to meeting new potential music business partners when you’re in A&R business for yourself.

It’s time to get to know the people you’re meeting. Begin with a friendly smile. Look them in the eyes. It’s a natural human tendency not to trust anyone who won’t look you in the eye. So build that trust. Next, establish common ground. If you’re at a social gathering, ask how they know the hosts and build your conversation from there. If you’re at an event with your children, ask other parents which children are theirs. Say hello to the shop keeper. Call him/her by name. Thank them for the job they do for you. Show an interest in them. This makes them feel important. You must suppress any desire you have to expound about who you are and what you do. Instead, draw them out.

Getting to Know Artist, their Managers or their Independent Label Owners

Once you’ve gotten comfortable with the previous skills, it will be time to get focused. This is where you gently and warmly ask questions, the answers to which will tell you whether or not you are likely to do business with this artist, their managers or their independent label owners. In the profession of marketing, this is called ‘qualifying.’ Your goal is to come up with three or four strategic questions that you can ask in conversation that will indicate whether or not this artist would be a good candidate to use our products or distribution services.

Let’s say you’re an  independent A&R with phenomenal music distribution services. In conversation, you might mention that you’re working with these great new Digital Music Distributors’. Mention a specific benefit you get from them–more exposure, fewer show cancellations, improved bookings, whatever. Then, ask the artists, their managers or their independent label owners if they distribute their music online. Ask if they like the distribution company they’re working with. Get them talking about their likes and dislikes. If they hate distributors, this person may not be a candidate. Ask what benefit they would be looking for in a Digital Music distributor. It could be something to do with exposure, meeting a specific sales figure, or radio play. Once you get to this point, you’ll know if you could or should be recommending our product to them. If the challenge they have with digital music distribution is the economics of it, you could have a potential new client.

To break this down into easy-to-remember steps, there are really three simple questions:

·         What distributor they have now?

·         What do they like/dislike about it?

·         What would they look for in something new?

The answers to those three questions will tell you whether or not you can do business with this artist.

Solidifying the Relationship

Once you know some artist is a good candidate for either our product, build their interests to a level where they’ll want to either try the product or learn more about the business. You might say, “If I could show you a way that you could move more MP3s, you’d be interested in that, wouldn’t you?” Or, “If I could show you a way to earn extra income each month selling your digital music online without investing a lot of your valuable personal time, you’d be interested to know more, wouldn’t you?”

When they show interest arrange a time to meet. Don’t ask, “When can we get together?” They’ll most likely hesitate. Offer two dates for them to choose between. “I can visit with you about this tomorrow evening or would Thursday be better?” Whichever answer they choose, you’ve got an opportunity to share with them what you know about our product and the music business.

At this point, the relationship becomes a matter of fulfilling promises, sharing fun experiences and growing together. If they get involved with our product, you’ve benefited them personally. 

People do not decide their futures. They decide on their habits and those habits determine their futures. Do you think you could make it a habit to meet at least ten new artists every day? Do you think you could make it a habit to ask three simple, non-threatening questions of every artist you meet? Could you do those things to create the lifestyle of your dreams? If so, an Independent A&R career could be just right for you.