How to become a professional musician/artiste ...

 DISQUS_COMMENTS Toyin Adeniji

Building a successful and sustainable career in the music business today requires the artiste/musician to learn the art and science of professionalism. The artiste/musician more than ever in the quest to build a lasting career and livelihood in the music business is interacting and engaging more with the corporate business establishments.

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Artistes/musicians are finding themselves been invited to executive boardroom meetings for business proposal presentations, discussions etc.
Even when there is a management representing her or his interests, occasions will sometimes demand personal appearance and presentations from the artiste/musician. The ability to present a solid professional or businesslike front for your music business can be the difference between success and failure for the artiste/musician.
I have established in previous editions of Music Business 101, that the artiste/musician is a business entity providing music and entertainment products and services tailor-made for an identified market (audience). The keyword here is ‘business’. In the marketplace, the realities of business-to-business interaction and communication are inevitable; the artiste/musician as a business must brace up to conduct itself in a businesslike or professional manner. Jay Z, P Diddy and 50 Cents are prime examples of artistes who have demonstrated the very essence of professionalism by adopting a more structured and balanced businesslike and professional approach to their music business. (Dbanj is a notable example in the Nigerian context). They have taken the idea of an executive business image to a new level by projecting an image that represents the quintessential consummate business executives in their expensive three-piece suits.
They have been able to attract corporate investors from the financial world to invest in their businesses because they understand that performing music is one thing, running a business empire is another, a task that requires a different set of skills.
Professionalism is an attitude. It is a mindset. It is abiding by an established code of conduct for business. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word ‘professional’ as “exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace”.
The dictionary.com also define professional as “following as a business an occupation ordinarily engaged in as a pastime”. It means you cannot afford to treat your music career as a hobby anymore the moment it becomes your business.
No artiste/musician will be taken seriously when you appear in a business meeting or rehearsal high on drugs, drunk or reeking of alcohol. No business investor wants to invest his or her resources in any artiste/musician no matter how talented, when the artiste is not professional in the way and manner he handle his music business.
However, it is not uncommon to see or hear about artistes/musicians engaging in unprofessional conducts or scandals that are against professional, moral and ethical standards.
For instance, the stories and videos of some artistes/musicians sex-tapes and escapades abound online and in soft sell magazines.
Some artistes/musicians’ business communication and inter-personal skills is so poor and appalling. Some do not understand the difference between a rapport with a friend in the club and a business conversation with a banker for instance.
The concept of courtesies or phone etiquettes seems foreign to some artistes.
Some artistes/musicians cannot keep appointment or dress appropriately for a meeting.
Every business executive knows and understands the implications that unprofessional conducts can have on the chances of a business becoming successful in the marketplace. Success for businesses in the marketplace is about maintaining reputation and credibility through professional conduct.
Potential investors need reassurance that the artiste/musician as the business is capable and businesslike before they can invest their resources into the business. The goal of every business is to make or generate profit. In this era of artistes/musicians running their own music businesses, the ability to convince interested investors to invest in your music business successfully is dependent on how you portray yourself as a business professional.
When you choose to professionalize as an artiste/musician, it means you accept to take responsibility for your business and for the welfare of other people whose source of livelihood is potentially connected to yours.
It means a higher standard of presentation and communication, as well as greater attention to business and strategy.
It means learning to communicate and express yourself professionally within the confines of acceptable contemporary business practices.
It means learning to separate pleasure time away from business time.
Nigel Martin-Smith, the man responsible for creating and managing the massive career success of ‘Take That’, one of the UK’s all time most successful boy band in the early 90s. He observed after seeing ‘New Kids on the Block’, a successful boy band from the US, that they were still popular in spite of their rude and arrogant personalities. He thought to himself “how massive a boy band could be if they were polite, professional and nice to deal with”. These missing qualities in ‘New Kids on the Block’ became the foundation on which ‘Take That’ was founded, and on which they were idolized by fans young and old all over the world. They were on record as one of the most professional music group in history. Their record label, RCA A&R, Nick Raymonde notes about the group that “…the ability for them to turn up at a TV studio at half six in the morning, looking bright, fresh, ready to go and cracking jokes when everyone else is blotchy-eyed, it was a hefty potential asset”.
Being a professional for you as an artiste/musician begins with being organized. Plan your day-to-day routines, time-management skills is an invaluable asset in your quest to become a professional. Being a professional means being punctual, calling ahead when you are going to be late, following up agreements, presenting yourself professionally, devoting time to mastering your talent, appearing at shows on time, learning business communication and interpersonal skills, being courteous and respectful etc. It also means getting relevant education and training about the music business. It means setting up your own business office with business communication tools such as an attractive stationery or letterhead paper with your logo and a business card. You may not be able to afford an assistant or a manager early in your music business career, but you can learn how to sound professional and project a serious business front with conversations on your phone.
The sooner you make the move to professionalize, the sooner you will make the progress you crave in your music career.