How to overcome anxiety whilst networking in the music industry
Networking is something that gives a lot of producers within the electronic music industry anxiety. Whether it’s meeting industry executives, other producers, playlist curators, or anyone else, it can be daunting expanding your network – especially if you are introverted. But with a strong network comes a lot of benefits. For example, bigger collaborations, international shows around the world, and releases on the biggest labels within your genre. During this article, we’re going to discuss how you can be confident whilst networking in the music industry, and how to do it effectively so that you’re able to reap the benefits of fostering a strong network.
As the famous phrase goes, it’s not what you know… it’s who you know. There are thousands of producers in the world who are extremely talented – yet their music will never see its true potential because the artist isn’t great at networking with people in the electronic music industry. Ultimately, the success of your entire music career is dependent on your network of contacts that are able to help propel your music to the top tiers of electronic music. After all, the music industry is solely reliant on people’s connections with each other & the quality of great music being released to consumers.
Reducing stress and anxiety is not a task that comes easily to most people. But the quickest way to overcome the fear is by facing it head-on and embracing the opportunities that networking may bring to your career. If you see a producer at the club, go and say hello. If you spend some time backstage at a festival, utilize the opportunity to speak with venue owners, artist managers, tour managers, and a variety of other people that are present during the occasion. Essentially, you want to reach as many people as possible every single day to expand your list of contacts.
But what effect does networking truly have on your career? Firstly, it strengthens relationships immensely if you are able to help people with their problems. For example, you may have somebody who you look up to unable to get their track into a certain Spotify playlist. But if you have the contact information for the curator, and are able to get their song into the playlist, they will appreciate you, and thus the relationship will strengthen. As you add value to every single person’s life, they will do the same to you down the line as they’ll remember the selfless actions you took in order to progress their career.
Next, investing your resources into strengthening relationships is a great way to progress your music career via networking. Whilst most of the electronic music community is constantly trying to take from others, the successful people realize that giving is what will accelerate your artist brand to the top tiers of the music industry. After all, you’ll become highly respected by everybody you encounter. As an example, if there’s a blogger you want to write about your song, take them out to lunch if you’re in the same city & talk about the state of the music industry. By generating a personal relationship with them, they are much more likely to care about your artist brand.
Gauging people’s reaction around you is a great way to see how people perceive your artistic brand. If people run up to you, hug you, and are extremely friendly, there’s a probable chance that you’re making people feel positive within their lives. But in contrast, if you turn up to events and people ignore you, there’s a strong probability that you aren’t emitting a positive vibe. Even if you don’t know somebody, try and smile, be happy, and engage in conversation with them. After all, if you’re able to act positively around others, they will most likely have a similar reaction to you. By doing this and having confident body language, it makes it much less awkward to interact with strangers.
Networking with people in the music industry can be difficult for some people as they may live in a remote location. No matter whether it’s online or in-person, making a daily effort to connect with new people can be a great way to accelerate your music career to new heights. For example, you could connect with A&Rs of your favorite record labels on Linkedin, add a few of your favorite producers on Facebook & have a discussion with them, or simply connecting with friends in the music industry and helping them get one step closer to achieving their goals. By building the habit of connecting with as many people as possible each day, you will increase the number of opportunities that become available to your artistic brand.
Networking is undoubtedly a powerful tool within the music industry that can be used to accelerate a producers career. Spending as much time as possible with people you aspire to be like can be a great way of reframing your thinking. For example, if you are achieving 100k streams per month, spend time with people 1 million so you can figure out exactly how to get closer towards the next step. Although it may seem daunting at first, it’s actually something which will make your career be propelled into the top tiers of the music industry. So by using confident body language, helping others with their weaknesses, and a variety of other tactics, you can eliminate the fear of meeting new people in order to become the best version of yourself.