EXPLORE THE MOVEMENT OF HIP-HOP MUSIC IN SOUTH AFRICA

Music Industry Facts and Opinions which Every Musician Needs to Know !!

Knowing A Lot about Music Does Not Mean You Know A Lot about The Music BusinessI hate to start out on a negative note, but this one is a really big one to get out of the way up front - and I say this because this is a lesson I myself had to learn the hard way. Having the pub music quiz on lockdown, going to tons of shows, being able to rattle off a list of labels - these sorts of things don't automatically make you able to book the shows, run the labels and so on. There are practicalities - financial and otherwise - in the music business that are simply not apparent until you actually have to, say, make sure the manufacturing is on schedule and the review is really going to be published when promised. Even if you understand the relationship between labels, distributors and retail or what have you, you don't really "get it" until you "get it" - and that won't be until you experience the process from the inside rather than experiencing it as a fan. The two worlds are VERY different.

Don't get me wrong. Loving music and know a lot about it is required if you want to do well in the music industry (well, not really REQUIRED - some people running music businesses don't know much about music and are just skating, but that house of cards always collapses). However, don't enter the music industry with the idea that a lifetime of music nerd-dom has made you a music biz expert. Not only will you annoy people, but you'll also be dead wrong and miss out on the chance of really learning what makes things tick.

Choosing any career path is a big deal, but deciding to take a shot at the music industry is an especially major step. Working in music is more than just a 9 to 5 job - it requires a lot of commitment, often for not a lot of compensation or recognition. It doesn't help that there is so much misinformation about there about how to get into the music industry and what to do once you're there. So, here we have a few home truths about the music biz. Some are for musicians, some are for people on the business side of things, and some are for everyone. Some are encouraging, and some fall into the category of reality check.They all, however, are pretty important to understand...