So You Want To Be… An Artist? Advice On Navigating The Industry
Entrepreneur and content curator Alexandra Ampofo better known as “Alex”, is back on IndustryMe being open and honest with invaluable advice on the music industry for all the upcoming artists out there.
In this candid conversation she offers her perspective, as content curator and the founder of Acoustic Live, on navigating the industry and the process of team building.
What advice would you give for artists looking for management?
It’s important to keep patience in mind, the process of finding a manager that you work well with can be a gruelling one.
Don’t settle for any manager out of desperation. Find someone that you connect with, someone that understands your music as well as the music industry itself.
Do you think having management is important and why?
Having management is important if you have no idea about the business aspect of the music industry, it’s not the be all and end all though.
It would help if an artist teaches themselves some small aspects of managing a musician for contingency reasons and just general sense of understanding from an alternative perspective.
Should management and artist development be the same team or separate and why?
Having management and artist development in the same team isn’t fundamental, different strokes for different folks, there is no blueprint. What works for you as a musician won’t necessarily work for a fellow musician.
That’s the beauty of trial error, if one set up doesn’t develop properly, you can always attempt to calculate another.
Why is networking important for musicians?
Networking is essential for musicians. I feel networking should be used as a means of expanding an artist’s perspective beyond their own musical mind.
We never stop learning as humans and one of the best ways to learn is to create a bridge between ourselves and others, like-minded or not.
Check Out our post on our Top 5 tips for networking for further guidance
Has the importance of having label backing shifted and why does this mean for upcoming artists?
Having label backing isn’t as essential today, as it was ten years ago or even five years ago. The music industry is such a rapid changing environment, the cycle of sponsorship, funding and acquiring money to push a project can be done without a label these days. This Can mean a number of things for up and coming artists, one being that they don’t have to rely on a label to take their music off the ground, which makes the whole process seem more organic.
