Building Healthy Relationships In The Music Business

After 10 years in the music business, I can truly say I've learned so many lessons. But in my opinion, nothing is more important than the valuable lessons I learned through building, burning and restoring relationships. While I always knew that "who you know" played a major role in your success, it never occurred to me that how those people know you to be, plays an even more important role in your success (or failure) in this business and any other business for that matter. In this post I'm going to discuss 3 major factors required to build healthy relationships in this business and any other business.

Personality

Being likable is important because being involved is a key component to having success. People aren’t going to want you around if you aren’t likable. It’s important that you’re aware of who you are for others. The best way to find that out is to ask. Interview people. Ask them questions about who you are to get a picture of how they see you.

Here's a few questions you can ask someone, in order to get an idea of how they (and others around them) perceive you:

1. What are my strengths?

2. What are my weaknesses?

3. What does everyone know about me?

4. What can I be counted on for?

5. What can I not be counted on for?

Another thing that will help tremendously in building on your personality, character and outward version of yourself, is to read. There are plenty of books out there to help you better navigate in the world of business, no matter what industry you're in. One that comes to my mind that I know to be one of the most popular books is "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. This book is a must read if you want to succeed in building solid business relationships.

Communication

Being able to communicate effectively is huge in any area of business, especially in the music industry where most of the business is unspoken. For whatever reason, there aren’t too many people in this business that are openly willing to educate the individuals who are coming up. Therefore, a lot of success comes from trial and error. Don’t be concerned if people aren’t communicating back with you, most people in this business (and many others) suck at communicating. They either aren’t willing to be transparent or they aren’t willing to acknowledge their own lack of integrity. Develop and maintain a way of being that allows for open and clear communication and you’ll attract the people who are willing to communicate on that level. They’re out there.

Integrity

Integrity is a big one. Honor your word. If you tell someone you’re going to do something, do it. Send off music, write to their tracks, register records, show up to the studio when you said you would, etc. This is the best (and only) way to actually be taken seriously. We as humans don’t hear your words as much as we see your actions. So act on your word so that who you say you are is consistent with who we know you to be. Music is a business. Treat music like it’s a job. Come to work on time and treat every project like an assignment.

#buildingrelationships #howtowinfriendsandinfluencepeople #musicartists