In this chapter:

• How to improve your chances
• Where to find out about vacancies
• Making contacts in the industry
• Preparing for an interview

There’s no easy, normal or traditional way to get a job in the music industry. You may read all the suggestions inthis book and then end up getting a job because you spilt a drink on a record producer at your neighbour’s barbecue.

Whether it’s a major record label or a small recording studio, many of the same principles for getting a foot in the door apply. What follows in this chapter is a series of tips on getting jobs that apply to almost all sectors of the industry - work experience, for example, is a good idea whatever job you’re eventually after. Many of the same ‘ways in’ apply, so rather than repeat the same things in every separate chapter I’ve listed them all here in one handy reference guide. But for more specialist tips on impressing potential employers in a particular field you refer to the relevant individual chapters as well as using the pointers in this chapter.

Unfortunately, entry-level jobs in the music business are few and far between, and many vacancies are only publicised by word of mouth. Many people are ‘poached’ from elsewhere in the music industry. So what can you do?

To maximise your chances of success, try a multi-pronged attack consisting of all the following.

(For all contact details Useful Addresses on page 142.)

BEFORE YOU START . . .

You won’t get far without a copy of the industry bible, the Music Week Directory (see Useful Addresses and Further Reading), an exhaustive list of every music industry contact you’ll ever need. If your local library or careers service hasn’t got a copy you will have little choice but to invest in one. At £65 it isn’t cheap, but it is worth it.

The Useful Addresses section has contact info for most of the main players and companies mentioned in this book.

You’ll also find it very handy to have access to the weekly trade magazine Music Week (yes, publisher of the above), available from larger newsagents or libraries or by subscription.

AT COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY/SCHOOL

Become a member of the entertainments committee, ball committee, or even better the Social Secretary or its equivalent. I won’t pretend this is always easy - in many universities this alone can be as competitive as getting a job! So if the cliques have it all sewn up round your way, do something like:

• Form your own band or promote other people’s
• Set up your own society devoted to your own favourite genre of music
• Go to gigs
• Buy, download or borrow plenty of music
• Read the music press
• Start a fanzine/webzine
• DJ
• Start up and promote your own club night.

COURSES

It must be mentioned here that the majority of employers within the music industry are not overly impressed by academic qualifications unless they are backed up with relevant experience and the right sort of personality. If you merely do a course and expect that to open doors, you will be sorely disappointed. That said, certain courses related to the music industry are pretty essential for some jobs - sound engineering and other technical skills for example. And even the more theoretical subjects will give you great support when in the workplace.

There are far too many courses on or related to the music industry to list here - more than 500 different courses at over 150 colleges and universities at the last count. These range from GCSEs right up to MAs and can be part-time, full-time, face-to-face or correspondence courses.

• The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has a huge database of these courses. See www.bpi-med.co.uk or badger your careers advice centre to purchase the BPI Music Education Directory.
• Phone or log on to Learn Direct.
• Your local education authority will have details of relevant courses in your area.

WORK EXPERIENCE AND STUDENT PLACEMENTS

Contact companies you are interested in and offer to do unpaid work experience, showing a willingness to undertake anything they throw at you. A lot of companies are grateful for the help - many permanently have a work experience person helping out in the office, each staying for a few weeks at a time. If you’re fortunate enough to get work experience somewhere, slog your heart out, make friends and make the most of it. Afterwards, stay in touch, stay interested in them, keep emphasising how keen you are, and if a job comes along you’ll stand a chance of being in the right place at the right time.

Short-term and long-term student placements are available at many record companies. They are nearly always unpaid but expenses such as travel costs and food are refunded. Send a CV, covering letter and details of availability to the human resources department, marking it ‘Work Experience’ to ensure it gets to the right person in the quickest possible time.

The Music Week‘Jobs and Courses’ section regularly features ads for internships and work experience slots.

GRADUATE RECRUITMENT

Look out for recruitment fairs at your college or university, check the Guardian graduate and creative/media jobs sections and keep an eye on the major companies’ websites.

You’re not going to walk out of a fair with a job: it’s just for information about vacancies and graduate recruitment schemes really, but if you make the most of it you’ll walk out with more than just a company brochure. Arrive in good time – not too early, definitely not last through the door just as everyone’s looking forward to getting home, and not over lunchtime if you can help it.

Take a CV and a big smile and talk to as many people as you can. The first thing you’ll notice is the big scrum around the A & R and promotions departments’ stalls as some hapless employee tries to talk to 25 clamouring wannabes all at the same time. This is not only unnerving it’s also an inefficient use of your time. So don’t be a sheep, be clever – go talk to someone else. Pick the brains of someone in a less frantic corner like classics or business affairs, find out as much as you can about the company, who’s who, and make friends.

When it comes to graduate recruitment, never forget that a good degree is not enough. You must back this up with experience, just as a non-graduate would have to.

TEMPING

If you can get out of bed and be ready for the office at short notice of a morning, temping is a brilliant way to start. So if you have all the basic necessary skills (typing, knowledge of main software packages, good interpersonal skills and command of English, etc.) contact one of the temping agencies that supply London record companies, such as Handle PR (see Useful Addresses). They supply temps to most majors and indies when members of staff are ill or on holiday, and if you send them a CV and covering letter, and have some useful experience, you could end up being sent by them to all sorts of exciting music industry hotspots. See their website www.handle.co.uk.

Two other favoured music biz temping agencies are The Music Market and Career Moves (see Useful Addresses).

WHERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT VACANCIES

• Company websites
• Music Week
• The Monday edition of the Guardian’s creative and media jobs section
• Dig out addresses of companies from the Music Week Directory (see Useful Addresses and Further Reading) and send on-spec CVs and letters
• Specialist websites such as www.uk.music-jobs.com

SUGGESTED FILL-IN JOBS

Assuming you don’t have a trust fund, wealthy spouse or hyper-indulgent parents, you will need something to tide you over whilst you wangle your wily way into a proper music industry job. If circumstances allow, the following will all look somewhat more impressive on your CV than launderette attendant:

• Working in a record store (the number one option -see also Chapter 10)
• Working in a musical instrument or sheet music shop
• Any sort of events/promotion work
• Box office or ticket agency staff
• Bar staff at music venue
• Customer services
• Working in a CD distributor’s warehouse (see Chapter 3)
• Sales rep.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK ...

Ah, the most elusive part of the whole job-seeking process. You need contacts. This is all very well if you move in the sort of hip, happenin’ circles where everyone knows someone who knows a pop star. But if you’re straight out of rural Northumberland and all your friends are primary school teachers, where on earth do you start? Don’t be scared - networking or ‘making contacts’ is just a daft, modern way of saying ‘making friends’ or ‘striking up acquaintances’. So, make friends. It starts with a hello, offering someone a light or asking for the time. It moves on to talking about music, generally chewing the fat and hopefully ends up with your face lodged in the memory and your number in the Nokia. Don’t stalk, don’t hassle, don’t butt in like a big, fat pain in the rear; just try to fit in, be your normal likeable music-loving self and make friends.

So, here’s where to find music industry people:

• Industry get-togethers: Midem (more on page 35) in Cannes, France, or In the City, Manchester
• Columbia Hotel, London. Where nearly all the visiting bands stay. Therefore full of industry types and journos too
• Awards ceremonies (you’ll have to try to win tickets as entry will be by invite only)
• Any decent pub close to your chosen ideal workplace
• The bars of important gig venues, especially the upstairs bar of the Shepherds Bush Empire, where all the journos, PRs, and record execs hang out before, during and after the show.

PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW

A time will surely come when all of the above efforts pay off and you start submitting applications for jobs for which you feel relatively confident of at least getting an interview. Of course you already satisfy the criteria in Chapter 1. So at this stage you should now also:

• Listen to music- old, new, stuff you like, stuff other people like but you don’t know why, stuff you hate . . . You don’t have to spend a fortune. Many artists’ websites have free tracks you can download. Libraries lend CDs and stores have listening posts on which you can hear new releases for free. If they tell you to get a move on, tell them your leg’s gone into a seizure.
• Read interviews and articles in Music Week about industry figures and note down names. If a name appears more than once you know this is an important person.
• Research thoroughly the company and what they do. Employers hate it when candidates are too vague about their aims and instead just say they want to work ‘somewhere in the music industry’. You’ve got to want to work for them specifically.

Dressing for an interview

As a cursory glance around the offices of most music-based companies will prove, every day is dress-down Friday in the music business. As a general rule, you can wear whatever you like to work -jeans and trainers even. But for an interview, be it for a fledgling start-up or a global corporation, smart-casual is recommended. Dress as you would if you were meeting friends for lunch. While there’s no need to be a fashion-slave, don’t look like you’re completely clueless about current fashions either. So if you do opt for a suit, avoid looking like a petrified librarian by selecting a trendy shirt or cool record bag to take the edge off it.

NB: There are exceptions! International headquarters of major record companies, legal and accountancy departments, plus any jobs in which you are the ‘public face’ of the company (e.g. sales jobs) are often a little smarter -so play safe. Still unsure? Loiter inconspicuously at the company’s front door around 10 am one day and note what employees are wearing.

Attitude

Friendly, streetwise confidence is key. During your interview, bear in mind the traditional rules of interview etiquette, but also be aware that this is the entertainment industry and thus not constrained by the rules and customs of, say, a merchant bank or legal firm. So roll your shoulders back, loosen up and walk into the room determined to give the impression you are happy and self-confident, resilient, flexible, loyal and hard-working. Humour is welcome, but don’t overdo it. Be intelligent, but not arrogant or nerdy. In fact, behave as well as you would on a first date with someone extremely gorgeous, rich and clever. Just be your own lovable self.

Dos and don’ts

• Don’t say, ‘I just want to get into the music industry somehow’.
• Don’t name-drop.
• Don’t fawn or gush.
• Don’t swear, yawn, smoke or chew gum.
• Do express your interest in and talent for marketing/talent-spotting/number-crunching/journalist-courting/plane ticket-booking [delete as applicable].
• Do know the name of the company chief, and the names of those interviewing you.
• Do smile.
• Do have an iPod, or a personal stereo and a few good CDs poking out of the top of your bag.

Some favourite music industry interview questions

• What was the last CD you bought?
• What was the last gig you went to?
• What are your favourite top ten albums and why? (This isn’t necessarily to judge your musical taste, it’s to measure your passion for music and ability to convince others.)

Psychometric tests

Many larger companies have now introduced psychometric, numeracy and literacy tests as part of their recruitment procedure. Just how much value these have in determining a person’s suitability for a job is doubtful, and many employers only go through with them to appease their Human Resources Director. The face-to-face interview remains the most important element of the procedure. However, you may like to brush up your maths and English skills with one of the many books on the market that contain sample tests; and as for the psychometric test, just be honest (but not too honest).