1) Update your Music Jobs profile! I can’t stress this enough. I see lots of profiles for people who sign up, no picture, no CV, and then sit back and wait. The industry doesn’t work like that, you have to show what you can do. That includes on your profile page; scores of companies view hundreds of pages every month (stats) – make yours one of them

2) Become ACTIVE in the social communities. They really are shaping the future on so many levels, from the way people share feedback on internet radio to Obama’s US election campaign. If you are potentially going to become one of my employees, I want to know that you are serious about the industry. One way I can see this is if you comment on the big music news; it shows that you are on the ball and that you are able to form an opinion. This is a whole new dimension to networking in person, and that has always been a key to the industry. Now, I’d honestly say that BOTH are of equal importance.

3) Start a blog. A blog should be seen as an extension of your resume. It can offer proof of your knowledge and insight, as well as a way to exercise your brain and keep you on top of your game, even if you only get 10 hits a day. This article should fully convince you, and also offers start-up tips, in the form of due diligence (not as scary as it sounds), finding your true voice and beginning in ‘stealth’ mode.

4) Keep your CV up to date. There are endless websites offering helpful tips, including how to make your CV a good, readable length, a smart and original layout and even helping to explain recent layoffs and career changes. Suck at spelling and grammar? Get a friend to check it over with you.

5) Internships. Yeah, I know, working for free sucks, and maybe it shouldn’t be allowed. But to be brutally honest, supply exceeds demand in the music industry, like many of the arts. Internships should not be seen as a step down, as they can open up so many new avenues and a whole new career opportunity. Even if they don’t lead directly to a new position, your CV will look so much stronger if you have got off your butt and worked one day a week at a radio station for a few months, then you spent 6 weeks helping out at a magazine. If you’ve not had anything music related since your education (or at all), you should really think again about internships.

6) Create your own work. There has never been a better time to go Indie, and you can apply that way of thinking to any aspect of the industry. Start that record label you and your buddies have always talked about. Invest in some equipment so you can hire yourself out as a Mobile DJ. Even write your own e-book. You will be surprised where it may take you, onto remix work for other labels? A regular gig at a guy’s bar (who’s brother’s wedding you performed at)? A publishing deal or magazine column? It may take a while, but you stand a far better chance if you are out there hustling away doing your own thing. Again, it’s proof that you are dedicated.

7) Go to events. Prepared. I’ll be honest (again!), this is something that I’m slacking at. I know it is important to get out there and meet new faces, check out new technologies, swap details and then follow up, but I have been a bit rubbish over the last couple of years. Being prepared simply means spending a reasonable amount of time and money on some good business cards/ CDs/ DVDs/ Press kits. I know it will greatly improve my media and marketing base if I get out to parties, conferences and exhibitions, and that is what I’m going to start doing. Join me.

So, there you have it. Of course I’m not saying this is definitive, and results may fluctuate with the weather, but I promise that these are fundamentals on your path to success.

Lee Jarvis.

So here we have it, the final part of my Berklee assignment a few weeks ago that discussed the good and bad sides of a strong internet identity, based on this article from the NY Times. In this final section we discussed how to apply the lessons learned to your own music career promotion, and I thought these would make good tips for you to follow too. Just in time for the Holidays!

Adhering to learn from this article and the example artists given, I feel revitalised in my Indie stance and very positive about the online marketing possibilities. It reinforces some of what i do already, and has helped me ‘brush up’ on how I can achieve further. I will be careful regarding the personal depth of my blogging, and try and strike the right balance between the ‘exclusive’ information that my fans want, and not ‘ruining the aura’ that an artist should have. I will aim to achieve, as Thomson described one artist’s approach, “a nuanced ability to seem authentic and confessional without spilling over into a Britney Spears level of information overload”.

I like the ideas that both Coulton and OK Go embraced; their ’song a week’ and ‘treadmill-dance video’ respectively. While it would not be good practice to copy these too closely, I feel that what they do preach to me is the importance of how viral the internet can be, and it’s possible subsequent explosion in fan numbers. This is something I aim to use in my career for certain, and i see it as a vital part of a low-budget musician’s armory.

Something else to take away from the article, is when Thompson states that of the artists he interviewed, “many of them also said that staying artistically “pure” now requires the mental discipline of a ninja”. This kind of need for focus and discipline is something I consider myself to be currently good at, maybe even approaching a trainee ninja level, and it is something that I intend to maintain in the future.

One comment that Thompson made really hit home for me; “It seems likely that the artists who forge direct access to their fans have the best chance of figuring out what the new economics of the music business will be”. I see this as ringing very true, as these artists are adapting and evolving with the music industry, and collaborating with new media entrepreneurs and technologies all the time to produce fresh, innovative ideas and business plans. Proof of this is even included later in the article, as it mentions that Coulton has set up deals without any record label contract involved, and “uses a growing array of online tools to sell music directly to fans”. Various online companies offer opportunities to not just distribute the music digitally to popular online stores, but they can also store physical CDs, process credit card payments and then ship the CD out. Interaction between forward-thinking artists and companies like this shows that an online promotional route really can be a successful one for Indie artists.

This new route to success is only achievable when “the artist has the correct emotional tools”; I believe that I have, and I aim to project myself as part of the new breed of empowered independent artists (Lee Jarvis 2.0 ?), fully embracing the new wave of internet consumers and contributors, along with the opportunities that it provides.

Happy Holidays, and check back in the ’09 for more blog posts from the UK Music Jobs team

Lee Jarvis.