Durham Enviro Stars

Many musicians are aware that making the right music industry contacts is highly important for achieving a successful music career. The problem is that, most musicians really don’t know ‘who’ the right music industry contacts are, where to find them, how to actually transform a ‘first contact’ into a meaningful relationship, and what ‘having the right music industry connections’ really means.

If I gave you my complete list of music industry contacts (key industry people I have established relationships with over the last 20 years), do you think it would help you develop a successful music career? … NO! Why? Because a mere ‘contact’ is not worth anything. Music industry contacts need to become meaningful music industry connections. Meaningful connections are developed by building good relationships… More on this later…

However, even if you have good relationships with the right people, this won’t help you until and unless you work on having the right things in place which enables your industry contacts to feel confident enough to work with you. Watch this free video on building a successful career in the music business to learn how to turn mere “contacts” in the music industry into meaningful relationships that will help your music career. 

So, who are the music industry people you should be contacting? … And when you get through to someone, what do you say to him/her? How can you make these important people pay attention to you if you don’t yet have a ‘name’ in the music business?

Let’s explore the first question “Who are the music industry people you should be contacting?” To answer this, you need to ask a series of other questions such as:

• Who are some music industry contacts who have great influence and ability to help your career develop further?

• Who are the music industry contacts who have the greatest number of key relationships with other music industry professionals and companies?

• Among the most important music industry contacts, who are the easiest to find close to where you live?

During The Pirate Bay trial, the music industry placed the blame for the decline in their revenues squarely on the shoulders of file-sharers. Their logic is clearly flawed, but it could sway the verdict if no alternative explanation is presented. So, if piracy isn’t to blame, then what is *actually* killing the music industry?

According to Per Sundin, CEO of Universal Music, the decline in music revenues in the past 8 years can be fully attributed to illegal file sharing. If this were actually true, many of us might even respect his decision to go after pirates as fiercely as the music industry is doing right now. However, the past 8 years have seen a lot more changes in the landscape of home entertainment than Per Sundin would like to admit, and some of those changes have had a massive impact on music profitability – much more so than any amount of piracy.

Let us refresh our memories and take a look at what actually happened during and just before the past 8 years:

1. First, the explosive rise of computer and console gaming. This competitive ‘third element’ has appeared in the entertainment landscape, beaten both music and movies to the curb and taken a huge cut out of the music industry’s revenues. Consumers don’t have infinitely-deep pockets, and billions of ‘recreation dollars’ that used to go almost exclusively to music, are now going into gaming.

2. International trade agreements have allowed consumers to buy their music across borders, rather than accepting local prices on music based on the ‘relative wealth’ of nations, rather than the actual value of the product.

3. New forms of distributable media, most notably MP3s but also CDs, have become mainstream. These new media don’t degrade over time and rarely break at all, making music rebuys a thing of the past, and allowing the second-hand market for music to thrive and expand – both of which take a cut out of the music industry’s former revenues.

Internet-Music Bond

The collaboration of Internet and music has shared a bond pleasing musicians and their audience since its inception a few years ago. On one hand, downloading music online allows its audience the option of obtaining music for free, a benefit to both the musicians and the audience. However, the Internet has also acted as the villain for opening a lot of avenues where talent goes unrecognised and do not get their due credit, which in a way is generally referred to as ‘online piracy.’

It doesn’t appear to be a new fad as streaming music sites with free accessible content are being used by a growing number of listeners as a substitute for buying music. For instance, a few years back, a survey revealed that music enthusiasts often spent a whopping amount of 0 per month buying CDs and digital downloads to fill their iPod.

Whereas, the internet and music bonding came a long way and proved less taxing, where in it has enabled music lovers to get their favourite music by spending only or less each month. Services like Imeem and Last.fm (CBS) have given the music listeners a golden opportunity to listen to any kind of music over the Web for free or at minimal cost.

Online and Streaming Music Services

A San-Francisco based graphic designer offers his excitement and love for the industry. “I listen to more music than I used to. I pretty much have music playing all the time. It’s because I can access so much of it, however I want.”

The idea of online and streaming music services like Imeem, Last.fm, and Pandora would allow people to listen to music on PCs, mobile devices, and home stereos, while collecting small fees and advertising revenue for the services which is shared with labels and artists.