Why Artists Need Coaching - Where Do We Start?

As someone whose career goal is to essentially help artists connect with their fans and build a lasting career in the music industry, the first question I had to ask myself is, “Where do we start?” I know many artists who are doing independent demos, performing at any venue that will have them, and attempting to market themselves through social media. These artists just want to share their music, their creation, with the world. But in the world of digital media, it’s hard to get noticed. Not everyone can be a YouTube sensation like Justin Bieber or Karmin and suddenly get a record deal with a major label. That just doesn’t happen for the majority of artists, despite how incredibly talented they may be. So I started searching out in the world of cyberspace for established businesses that focused specifically on artist development. One site I found actually listed a directory of several major artist management firms. The site also offered a book written by Paul Allen called Artist Management for the Music Business. Many of these firms boast that they will organize an artist’s career so that they can be successful. Instead of shopping their music around to record labels for potential contracts, artists can now partner with these artist managers to develop their entire career. It would seem that in this day and age, with the flood of artists trying to get noticed so that they can connect with their fans, it is absolutely essential to have an artist manager. The artist manager role is one of a true partner with the artist, putting their needs and interests above all else. My goal as an artist manager is not just to make my artist commercially viable (after all, it IS the money that we all want to make) but also to develop that artist as a person. I don’t want to just manage…I want to COACH. Life coaching is my strong suit. It’s what I bring to the table that sets me apart from other artist managers. It is my feeling that any artist trying to make a lasting career for themselves needs to not only be interested in the business aspect of their career, but personal development as well. Without growing as a person, an artist will likely have difficulty making the right choices for their career. It is this pairing of an artist’s career management with their personal development that I hope will make me an effective, sought-after artist manager and coach. Thus why I branded myself as The HipHop Coach! Finally, after years of personal development on my part, I finally know what I want to be when I grow up.

Artist Managing and Branding: The Need for .MUSIC

As I began this journey of thinking I wanted to be an artist manager, I had no idea of all the aspects that I needed to learn about in order to be the best manager/coach/promoter that I could be. So I started reaching out to some people who I knew could point me in the right direction. One of the resources I found was a great website that offers a book on artist management. It is aptly called Artist Management Resource. Did you know that there are 6 types of managers in the music business? They include: The Music or Personal Manager, The Business Manager, The Road Manager, The Tour Manager, The Production Manager, and The Technical Manager. These roles are all described on the artistmanagementresource.com website, so for more information, CLICK HERE. They also have great resources for sale, of which I plan on purchasing as I begin my own career in this wonderful business of artist management and artist development.

As a manager for any artist, one of the things I consider to be most important is branding. In this day and age of digital music, it has become critical for any artist to have an online presence. I recently read a great article by Constantine Roussos that addresses the need for a .MUSIC domain name for the music industry. He makes a very compelling argument that a .COM extension simply isn’t sufficient enough for artist branding anymore. For today’s artists, having an Internet presence is absolutely crucial, so Roussos makes a great case that a .MUSIC extension is the perfect way for any artist in the music industry to accomplish this goal. The hard truth is, no matter how talented an artist may be, if they don’t have effective branding, they will have a very difficult time connecting with the people they want to hear their music - their fans. One of the ways to accomplish this branding effectively will be the use of the .MUSIC extension. This gives a very clear message as to what an artist’s website is all about. Roussos gives a great example that I will illustrate here: If I were an artist who wanted to be found online, would it make more sense for my web address to be amydawn.com or amydawn.music? Obviously, the amydawn.music tells the person searching me that my website is about MUSIC without even clicking on the link. I fully support this initiative, as I think it will provide a great resource for the branding process of any artist. If you want to get behind the initiative as well, CLICK HERE. I think this initiative will be an incredibly simple way to unite the music industry and help all artists connect with their fans more effectively, as well as help with copyright/trademark issues that are only getting more complicated as the digital age progresses. After all, anything that helps get the music to the masses is something that all of us in the music industry should support, right?

This issue is only one aspect that is covered on Roussos's website. I highly recommend Roussos's blog. It's full of great articles on the every aspect of the music industry from Artist/Band to Website Strategy and everything in between. If you visit there, be prepared to learn!

DJ Soulchild and Faye B - Bringing Back R&B in Switzerland

I have the pleasure of being friends with one of the most sought-after DJs in Europe. DJ Soulchild aka Denny Sutton has created quite the stir of late. He is one of the top Urban Music DJ of North-West Switzerland and the countries number one poster child for R&B. He has a constantly full agenda with headlining gigs and resident spots in Switzerland and across Europe. In 2009 he created Nu Level Artist Management and is currently working with up-and-coming R&B artist Faye B. DJ Soulchild is the first and only Swiss DJ to be honored in the UK's legendary No.1 selling urban lifestyle magazine TOUCH (“DJ Heroes”). He has released two extremely popular official mixtapes with NextSelection/Universal artist and Ryan Leslie-protogé UNeSS, has been in countless TV, radio, magazine and newspaper appearances, and his popular self-produced R&B club remixes collectively gain thousands of downloads, YouTube views, worldwide radio airplay and club spins. His work ethic is superior, his attitude is incredibly positive, and he is an excellent example of how to succeed in the music industry. Hats off to DJ Soulchild. Here's a peek at his latest endeavor, Faye B's video for her first single, Finally. Enjoy!

Thoughts on Success with TJ Saddler

The other day I had the pleasure of sitting down with studio owner and Full Sail University Alum TJ Saddler. TJ, along with his friend Lucas Kellison, founded SadSon Music Group, LLC after TJ graduated from Full Sail University. SadSon Music Group is a multi-faceted professional music company based in Lincoln, Nebraska since 2009.  With an independent recording studio ranked among the nation's best, they can accommodate virtually any recording project. As native Lincolnites, Kellison and Saddler are proud to be establishing SadSon as an up-and-coming, young and energetic business in the community. They love the state of Nebraska, and are excited to give their best effort to make it a destination point for musicians, labels, commercial businesses, film producers and other creative minds from around the world. Their facility was purpose-designed--not renovated like a house or basement--to be among the nation's top independent recording studios, and their intention is to make an affordable hub for clients to work comfortably and assertively in fulfilling their personal and professional artistic goals. TJ is also beginning to record his own music as a vocalist. I had a chance to sit down and talk to him the other night about his career and also picked his brain on some topics that may be of interest to the fledgling music industry entrepreneur.

Me: When you first started your career, what did you want to accomplish, and how closely does that initial vision match what you’ve created today?

TJ: When I first started interning as an engineer, I just loved music. I wanted to gain more information and more experience recording, mixing, editing and vocal arranging, so I just wanted to be in the studio all the time. I just wanted to learn everything I could. When I was in school (at Full Sail) I just wanted to get as much studio time as I could. The business aspect of it was never a concern for me initially. I think I’ve done a pretty good job progressing as an engineer and a businessman, but I have room for growth.

Me: You’ve recently started performing as an artist and recording your own music. How have you integrated that new role into your busy schedule?

TJ: Really that has to take a back burner right now. With the business I’m in, owning a recording studio, I have to make sure my overhead is getting met. Every time I record, it’s expensive because that’s time I’m not getting paid for from someone else. So I have to really take my time on my recording career.

Me: Do you have a plan for moving the recording artist part of your career forward, or do you take a “wait and see” approach?

TJ: I am taking a “wait and see” approach for now, but don’t get me wrong. I’m always working on some things. When I put out my first single (Believe In Beautiful)

 and my second single (Deal With Your Daily Daily), I was spending a lot of time making sure I was comfortable with my music and making sure I loved my music. Right now, I’m not “in love” with anything I’ve created recently. It just takes time to develop that relationship with a piece of music, and that’s how you create an album…a nice project that you want to put out there.

Me: Since you spend a great deal of your time working with the artist who record in your studio, what is the role you play in the projects they create?

TJ: I do a lot of artist development, and that just comes naturally. If somebody asks me for my opinion, I can assist them in creating what they want to hear. It’s really up to the climate of the session. If it’s not my place or my time to say anything, then I don’t say anything. Sometimes it has to do with the relationship with the artist, but other times it depends on my role. If there’s a producer in the session, and I’m acting as the engineer, then I’m not going to give input on anything unless that producer specifically asks me for it. Here in Nebraska though, there are not a lot of times that the artists have a separate producer in the room, so I sometimes take on that role. Taking that on can be a disadvantage though because I do try and make clear-cut lines with what I do with an artist, because production is another service the artist should be paying for versus just engineering. That is the business side of things that I always have to be mindful of. Usually, I just say, “ok whatever” so we can just get some work done. But if I were in a bigger market, it would be a different situation.

Me: Speaking of bigger markets, do you see any advantages or disadvantages being in a smaller market such as Lincoln versus a larger market like Chicago or Denver, or the larger coastal cities?

TJ: The advantage to being here in Lincoln is that if you’re an owner of a studio and are producing music, the property value is pretty low versus a bigger city. Yes the market is smaller, but there’s less people doing what I do, so there’s less competition for me. But then if I go to a market where there’s more studio competition, there’s also more artists to work with as well. Either way, you have to put out a good product.

Me: What challenges have you faced in developing your business and how were you able to overcome those challenges?

TJ: I think the hardest thing is to gain capital to invest in a recording studio, first and foremost. It’s just work. Once you get out of school, you just can’t stop working. You have to learn more, network more, and work on your craft every day or else you’ll lose it.

Me: What specifically do you do to network?

TJ: A lot of it is word of mouth and people hearing the quality of the music. Word gets around town. And then as far as nationally, we’ve been blessed to have local artists bring national artists here. Travis Porter came through recently as well as a few others. We’ve been able to work with them and have a good time! We’ve just been blessed and placed in a special situation, and for that we’ve been grateful. Our HipHop scene is growing. I’ve always been recording HipHop here in Lincoln since I got out of school, and I’ve been fortunate enough to see the growth that has happened. With the new facilities that have been built, the sound just keeps getting better along with the artistry available.

Me: In your journey becoming a leader in the music industry in this city, as well as the state and regionally, what do you see as the keys to your success?

TJ: Just keep making hot tracks. [laugh] That’s what you have to do, really, though. You have to put your best work out there and hope that the people love it. And if they don’t, try it again. Be original. Don’t be a copycat because nobody wants to hear that. You don’t always have to conform to the perception of what you think people want to hear. You have to get outside of your brain sometimes, outside your stubbornness, and try something new. And you just have to be patient. Your work ethic has to be up to par. The biggest thing for me was not to dream without a plan. I had to make a plan, and then work my plan. A lot of times people get caught up in the moneymaking aspect or the glitz and glam they see and hear about the industry. I mean, those opportunities are really good when you can get them, but your focus should really be on local and home-grown grass-roots organizations that support you and your passion. You have to show the passion to create and give something back. That’s really what it’s all about for me. Stay encouraged! You know it’s hard in these economic times, so we really have to buckle down and keep working. You never know what is being planned for the music you’re working on. You just might be in the right place at the right time, but you won’t ever be there if you don’t keep working.