The Hook: Do today’s young music biz professionals need to study business?

19 January 2012

by Lars Brandle

Richard Slatter
General Manager, We Are Hunted
Study is certainly a great brain workout. It doesn’t really mat- ter what you’re studying. It’s more the practice and discipline of study and the way it opens you up to new possibilities and ways of thinking that is important, moreso than the actual facts and techniques you learn. When it comes to business, there are basic ideas and conven- tions that pervade, almost universally, across industries and workplaces.

Studying that stuff is always going to help. But do you need to “study” at a learn- ing institution? Studying formally can force you into particular ways of thinking when in fact the key to business is imagination. Without it, you have no business. All of what I’ve learned about business, and particularly the music business, is not thanks to Uni. It’s come through my own reading, or personal study. And from ex- periences, or in other words, my mistakes. It’s also come from dealings with other people, who generally know more about it than me. The best way to learn anything is to find an expert, get close to them, ask a few questions to get them going and then listen and watch everything. But I would call this study. So, I suppose I just answered “yes” to the question.

Leanne De Souza
Artist Manager, The Medics & Vice Chair, Q Music
Firstly, if you’re a musician doing a tertiary music degree then there is great value in including some business subject elec- tives. It would give a broader context and knowledge to assist your career. Accredited “music business” courses taught by informed lecturers are a great first step for school leavers who are interested in under- standing the music industry. However, without practical experience working with the dynamics of an artist’s career they aren’t particularly helpful in the longer term. Every artist’s career and artist-manager relationship is very different and there is no single “pay and know everything” solution. With a few years’ experience in music management you ideally should know your skills and ability well enough to close any knowledge gaps, such as marketing, accounting, copyright, and counselling skills. In Australia we are lucky to have some valuable support programs like The Seed, Con- trol and DownloaD that can really accelerate your skills, knowledge and confidence.

Andrew Kronfeld
President of Global Marketing, Universal Music Group
It depends on which area in the music business you intend to work in. It tends to be a very unique business in that nothing replaces living in it and being passionate about it. I still main- tain that passion for music is the number one requirement that everyone going into this business needs. I’m not sure if it’s “required” to have a busi- ness degree, but it absolutely depends on where you intend to go. It would be kinda scary if all our A&R people had business degrees, wouldn’t it?

Jai Al-Attas
Founder, One. Meaning. Communicated. Differently.
I don’t think that young music biz execs need to study business but they should probably look at studying something. The rea- son I say this is the core of the music industry is shrinking but also expanding into other areas such as technology and branding. However, to get into these fields you usually need to have some qualifications outside of being a fantastic hustler that gets shit done. I speak from personal expe- rience here as I am basically unemployable. Yes, as an indie label owner you really do have to do everything, but in the “real world” unless you have a specific skill set the future may be bleak for young music industry execs looking to broaden their horizons.