There's a popular saying when talking about getting jobs in the media: "It's not what you know, it's who you know".
This is especially true when talking about jobs in the music industry. Getting a job in the music industry usually involves starting at a low paid, often temporary position and working your way up whilst making as many contacts as possible. Whilst I would ideally like to work as a press officer it is likely that I will have to work in many different areas of the music industry before gaining enough experience and making enough contacts to get the job I want.
The most important thing is to get as much experience as possible. As I mentioned previously I have already had a week of work experience with Drowned In Sound, a music website and record label based in london. As well as this I am in regular contact with a relative who has worked for several record labels in the past and now works for a management company representing several artists, who in turn has contacted several record labels on my behalf to enquire about further work experience.
I have also been in contact with Peter Robinson, founder and editor of pop music website Popjustice as well as journalist for The Guardian and the NME, as well as The Pop Factory, a music and television production company based in the Welsh valleys.
It is important to make sure to familiarise yourself with new technologies and ways of keeping up with news when trying to become a Press Officer, so I do just that. I have accounts on Myspace and Facebook, as well as the newest and currently hugely publicised service Twitter. Using Twitter is a good way to keep incredibly up-to-date, as record labels and artists are able to 'Tweet' things as they happen, which means any new information gets to me straight away.
This is especially true when talking about jobs in the music industry. Getting a job in the music industry usually involves starting at a low paid, often temporary position and working your way up whilst making as many contacts as possible. Whilst I would ideally like to work as a press officer it is likely that I will have to work in many different areas of the music industry before gaining enough experience and making enough contacts to get the job I want.
The most important thing is to get as much experience as possible. As I mentioned previously I have already had a week of work experience with Drowned In Sound, a music website and record label based in london. As well as this I am in regular contact with a relative who has worked for several record labels in the past and now works for a management company representing several artists, who in turn has contacted several record labels on my behalf to enquire about further work experience.
I have also been in contact with Peter Robinson, founder and editor of pop music website Popjustice as well as journalist for The Guardian and the NME, as well as The Pop Factory, a music and television production company based in the Welsh valleys.
It is important to make sure to familiarise yourself with new technologies and ways of keeping up with news when trying to become a Press Officer, so I do just that. I have accounts on Myspace and Facebook, as well as the newest and currently hugely publicised service Twitter. Using Twitter is a good way to keep incredibly up-to-date, as record labels and artists are able to 'Tweet' things as they happen, which means any new information gets to me straight away.
