Who wants to be a music promoter (because I don't)?
June 9, 2010 3:01 PM Subscribe
My mom is a singer/songwriter. She asked for some help with some online-marketing, website-redesign etc type ideas, and I said "sure"! She's now got me hooked up with a whole list of "tasks" that are really beyond my skillset, and interests, and has set it up for me as a 20-hr per week job (since I'm only working part-time). I'm sure there are people who'd love to do this as an internship (she's even willing to pay!), who are interested in music/music promotion -- what are they called, how can I find them, and how do I convince my mom that she'd be better-served hiring them?
Some of things she wants me to do include maintaining her social-media presences, discovering non-traditional performance venues, and getting her CD reviewed in music publications.
I'm really not interested in music-promotion and have no background in the music industry at all. I tried to explain to my mother that although I'm certainly perfectly capable of performing these tasks, she might be better off finding someone with experience/interest/contacts in the field (even someone who goes to lots of small, live performances -- I don't). She brushed it off as modesty, and since I couldn't explain the position/skills/career that would be more suited to this work, she was sure that there wasn't any.
I'd like to have an alternative solution for her so that it doesn't just sound like "Hmm, changed my mind, don't feel like doing this -- Good luck!" Would this not be a good internship/freelance gig for some plucky, salesy, live-music-oriented person? She's in Los Angeles, I'm in New York, so it would have been telecommuting anyway. Is this a profession or a job title or something? Music promoter? Online music-marketing?
Ideal situation -- I can post something on Craigslist with a descriptive and recognizable-to-the-right-person job title, and pre-screen candidates for her.
And yes, it's partly reluctance to spend 20 hours doing something I have no interest in, but I also truly think there are people out there who can do an amazing job for her where I couldn't.
Some of things she wants me to do include maintaining her social-media presences, discovering non-traditional performance venues, and getting her CD reviewed in music publications.
I'm really not interested in music-promotion and have no background in the music industry at all. I tried to explain to my mother that although I'm certainly perfectly capable of performing these tasks, she might be better off finding someone with experience/interest/contacts in the field (even someone who goes to lots of small, live performances -- I don't). She brushed it off as modesty, and since I couldn't explain the position/skills/career that would be more suited to this work, she was sure that there wasn't any.
I'd like to have an alternative solution for her so that it doesn't just sound like "Hmm, changed my mind, don't feel like doing this -- Good luck!" Would this not be a good internship/freelance gig for some plucky, salesy, live-music-oriented person? She's in Los Angeles, I'm in New York, so it would have been telecommuting anyway. Is this a profession or a job title or something? Music promoter? Online music-marketing?
Ideal situation -- I can post something on Craigslist with a descriptive and recognizable-to-the-right-person job title, and pre-screen candidates for her.
And yes, it's partly reluctance to spend 20 hours doing something I have no interest in, but I also truly think there are people out there who can do an amazing job for her where I couldn't.
This would be perfect for a college student. Does she live near any colleges? They are constantly looking for opportunities like this to set their students up with. I could see a young savvy music student who already knows the ropes because they're already doing this for themselves.
posted by amethysts at 3:15 PM on June 9, 2010
posted by amethysts at 3:15 PM on June 9, 2010
I know for a fact that some early level marketing and journalism courses in college do music promotions as their main project. So look into those types of institutions, as well as the trade schools that advertise for this sort of thing.
posted by Think_Long at 3:19 PM on June 9, 2010
posted by Think_Long at 3:19 PM on June 9, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks already. Those are really good ideas about where to find someone.
So what is such a person called? I want to be able to say "Mom, I think what you really need is like a _____, because they would be able to _____ and would know all about _____. How about I start looking for someone like that? I'll prescreen!"
posted by thebazilist at 3:40 PM on June 9, 2010
So what is such a person called? I want to be able to say "Mom, I think what you really need is like a _____, because they would be able to _____ and would know all about _____. How about I start looking for someone like that? I'll prescreen!"
posted by thebazilist at 3:40 PM on June 9, 2010
Music promotions or marketing is usually what I've seen this promoted as.
posted by divabat at 3:44 PM on June 9, 2010
posted by divabat at 3:44 PM on June 9, 2010
I'd say what your mom is looking for mostly falls under the auspices of public relations. Their job would be mostly to write stuff up about her music (e.g. press releases) and distribute them to media outlets.
Booking shows and finding venues is more traditionally the manager's job.
I'm actually looking to start a business myself doing these sorts of things (I sent you a Mefi Mail by the way).
posted by Jess the Mess at 5:57 PM on June 9, 2010
Booking shows and finding venues is more traditionally the manager's job.
I'm actually looking to start a business myself doing these sorts of things (I sent you a Mefi Mail by the way).
posted by Jess the Mess at 5:57 PM on June 9, 2010
I just finished an internship at an ad agency and you've just described exactly what they do. Website (re)design, online marketing, social media presence, getting the product in the hands of reviewers, non-traditional stuff to get attention ... however, I'm not sure if there's a single Job Title that encompasses it all. The first few things are digital advertising; the latter few seem to be either traditional marketing or management-type things.
posted by Xany at 11:21 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by Xany at 11:21 AM on June 10, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:09 PM on June 9, 2010