The Music Business as a Relationship Business
This past winter, I was a Teacher’s Assistant for a great class offered by UCLA Extension called “The Music Industry: Where is it Headed?”
The teachers were:
• Jeff Jampol (manages the Doors and the Janis Joplin estate)
• Lenny Beer (co-owner of HITS, manages The Bravery)
• Tom Sturges (V.P. of Universal Publishing)
Each week, we had several high-profile guests share their insights about the music industry. We were lucky enough to have the heads of MTV, XM, Epic, Live Nation, Linkin Park’s manager, and so many others.
The one recurring insight that almost every guest shared was that the music industry is a relationship business.
While our industry does have its fair share of vultures, at the highest level, it is not a business of fleeting “connections” or opportunists trying to use one another for their own personal gain.
Rather, it is a business built on strong, real, mutually beneficial relationships that are cultivated over time.
As artists, we have to develop real relationships with real people and patience is a virtue.
If you are an empowered artist and you treat people with respect, act with integrity, and truly care about their well being, the sky is the limit, especially in our industry.
Tags: "The Music Industry: Where is it Headed?", Jeff Jampol, Lenny Beer, Tom Sturges