five career endangering networking mistakes and how to avoid them

8/13/2019 Five Career Endangering Networking Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

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Five Career-Endangering Networking Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Written by: Cliff oldma!her " www#Ed$!ated%ongwriter#!om &

'ntrod$!tion(ne of the great mysteries in the m$si! b$siness is how to meet the de!ision makers who !anhel) bring s$!!ess to yo$ and yo$r songs# However* the se!ond greatest mystery is why* - on!e

in !onta!t with one of these el$sive ind$stry )eo)le - so many songwriters throw !ommon senseo$t the window and behave in ways that !an only h$rt their !a$se and* $ltimately* theirre)$tation in the eyes of the ind$stry# 'n my years as a )rofessional songwriter and )rod$!er*'+ve been on both sides of the e,$ation and so '+d like to* ho)ef$lly* hel) yo$ refrain from someof these easily avoidable mistakes#

# .osing /o$r 0atien!e1Cool'f yo$r )lan is to be in the m$si! b$siness for more than 2$st this week* then take a dee) breathand know that* more than anything* )atien!e is essential for a long and healthy !areer as asongwriter# 't+s not an e3aggeration to say that yo$ may have to wait many years before thenetworking seeds yo$+ve )lanted bear any fr$it whatsoever# 4e!oming im)atient with someone -

whether it+s a )$blisher for not ret$rning yo$r !all or a re!ord label e3e! for mis)la!ing yo$rs$bmission - !an only end badly for yo$# ' have a m$si! ind$stry friend who still talks abo$tsome of the threats* angry voi!emails and )oisoned )en letters he+s re!eived over the years# The)roblem is that by losing yo$r !ool* no matter how 2$stified it may seem at the time* yo$+vebranded yo$rself as $n)rofessional in the eyes of that )arti!$lar ind$stry )erson# And* by theway* did ' mention that m$si! ind$stry )eo)le meet for drinks after work and !om)are notes5The last thing yo$ want is for yo$r name to be the to)i! of !onversation at some m$si! ind$stryha))y ho$r# My re!ommendation wo$ld be to remember that no one in the ind$stry is )$r)oselyavoiding yo$ and yo$r songs# More likely* they+re overwhelmed by s$bmissions for a variety of)ro2e!ts and will get to yo$rs in time# The best way ' know not to be!ome im)atient is to have asmany irons in the fire as yo$ !an at any given moment so yo$+re not waiting for 6that one thing7

to !ome thro$gh#8# %$bmitting Too Many %ongs.et+s say yo$+ve had a really ni!e intera!tion with a )$blisher who has e3)ressed interest inhearing some of yo$r songs# While ' $nderstand the tem)tation to send this individ$al everysong yo$+ve ever written in!l$ding a few that aren+t finished yet* restraint sho$ld be yo$r defa$ltsetting# '+ll give yo$ a s!enario to e3)lain why this is not a good idea even if yo$+re !onfidentthat all nineteen of the songs yo$+re sending are great songs# 'magine the desk in a )$blisher+soffi!e with every in!h !overed in C9s# 'f a )$blisher is looking for the ne3t C9 to listen to andone C9 has two songs on it and one C9 has nineteen* whi!h one do yo$ think they+ll )i!k $)54elieve me when ' tell yo$ that if a )$blisher likes what they hear* they+ll ask yo$ for more b$t ifyo$ overwhelm them from the start* yo$ might never get listened to at all# /o$r best bet is twoor ma3im$m three songs on a C9 or in se)arate emails "on!e yo$+re !ertain yo$+ve gotten)ermission to s$bmit an m) My e3)erien!e is that there+s no need to in!l$de lyri! sheets* bioinformation or any )hotos# 't+s always better to start small and b$ild $) rather than the other wayaro$nd#

# Telling %omeone /o$ Have A Hit1/o$+re A reat %ongwriter'+m a big believer in the 6talk softly and !arry a big sti!k7 a))roa!h when meeting with anyone
http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/


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in the ind$stry# The hallmark of a novi!e is informing the ind$stry )erson yo$+re talking to thatyo$+re a great songwriter and yo$+ve written a hit song if only it got a !han!e# Even - es)e!ially- if it+s tr$e* yo$+ll do more harm than good by !oming on so strong# This doesn+t mean yo$sho$ldn+t believe in yo$r work or be ,$ietly !onfident abo$t what yo$+re doing# 't does mean*however* that the best way to a))roa!h anyone whom yo$+d like to have listen to yo$r m$si!

with h$mility and an $nderstanding that yo$r m$si! isn+t the only m$si! in their world# %ayingsomething more along the lines of 6' think '+ve got a song that+s a))ro)riate for yo$r artist7 or6if yo$+re looking for songs* '+d like )ermission to send yo$ a song or two7 will go a long waytowards establishing yo$r )rofessional bona fides#

;# Forgetting To


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Bio

Cliff oldma!her is a songwriter* )rod$!er* session m$si!ian* engineer* a$thor and owner ofre!ording st$dios in Nashville* TN and %onoma* CA# Cliff+s site*

htt):11www#Ed$!ated%ongwriter#!om * is f$ll of reso$r!es for the as)iring songwriter in!l$dingmonthly online webinars# o to htt):11www#ed$!atedsongwriter#!om1webinar1 for the latests!hed$le#

Cliff+s !om)any* htt):11www#Nashville%t$dio.ive#!om * )rovides songwriters o$tside ofNashville with virt$al a!!ess to Nashville+s best session m$si!ians and singers for theirsongwriting demos#

/o$ !an download a F>EE sam)le of Cliff+s e4ook 6The %ongwriter+s $ide To >e!ording0rofessional 9emos7 by going to htt):11www#Ed$!ated%ongwriter#!om1ebook #

Fa!ebook: www#fa!ebook#!om1Ed$!ated%ongwriterTwitter: ed$songwriter
http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/webinar/http://www.nashvillestudiolive.com/http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/ebookhttp://www.educatedsongwriter.com/ebookhttp://www.facebook.com/EducatedSongwriterhttp://www.educatedsongwriter.com/http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/webinar/http://www.nashvillestudiolive.com/http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/ebookhttp://www.facebook.com/EducatedSongwriter

five career endangering networking mistakes and how to avoid them

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