career in the music industry

i am determined to get ajob in the music industry
i have applied to do music management at university
but i wanted to know how to get a starter job, that i could work up from?
i am either going to be staying in oxford next year on a gap year
or going to do a HND in high wycombe
if i stay at home, one of my options is to find an iternship, possibly in london, and go get some work experience before i go to uni
but i kind of want to go to uni this year, simply to get out of my house as i have a very poor relationship with my parents, so would also appreciate anyone who has a music industry career, if you could suggest any part time jobs in the industry that are not too hard to come across.
i have applied to work at oxford carling academy but as i am not 18 yet i am not expecting an offer
i have also applied for an internship at Sony BMG however i do not have experience in the industry yet so i think the majority of placements will go to uni graduates.
its like a vicsious circle, you cant get a job in the industry unless you have already had a job in the industry, which you cant get because you havnt had a job in the industry.
if anyone could shed any light?? thank you, i appreciate any help given x

Reply 1

unsure2

Only just came across this so sorry for the late reply but being totally blunt is the music industry the most secure of careers to be pursuing at this moment in time? The internet is destroying it at a very fast pace. You could say everyone is part of the music industry these days, since anyone can upload stuff onto MySpace, YouTube etc and have a crack at exposure.

Sorry, don't want to burst the bubble, just wanted to be straight :smile:

Reply 2

jesscaa

hiya thanks for the reply.
yeh i totally know about that cos iv done so much research before considering it
but im not necessarily going to try to crack the highest up jobs ever
im thinking about a less direct career atm,
maybe opening a club or a starting a management firm
hopefully the course i do will give me more of an idea which part of the industry i want to pursue a career in
anywho, iv decided to go to london and do music industry management
and maybe do a sandwich with work exp. in a biggy london firm :smile:

thanks again, wasnt expecting any replies from that anymore
xxxx

Reply 3

mendelssohn

jesscaa, again I just want you to realise how bad a time it is to try and break into a notoriously hard industry to crack. EMI for example under its private equity ownership is cutting 2000 jobs.

opening a club and starting a management firm-

where are you going to raise the capital for either of these ventures?
who is going to invest in a completely untested student in the hope that she can somehow set up a successful management firm?

IF you are really desperate to break in, go for the big big firms. But like i said, really bad time to try and get into those too...

Reply 4

Angelharpist

It is near-on impossible to get a career in the Music Industry and I'm speaking from experience...

For two years, I've applied to hundreds of different companies, radio stations, tv stations, recording studios, publishing companies, royalty agencies, Musicians' Union etc etc. The reply from all of them is the same - it's hugely hugely competetive and there are rarely any jobs available. They all said that it's a question of getting your foot on the ladder, i.e. getting a job as a tea girl or postboy etc and 'networking' to gain essential experience and promotions within the same company. Initially I took the rejections quite badly as I feel I'm a good candidate - MASSIVE interest in Music (Classical, Mainstream and Alternative), straight A's, am doing a Music degree, play four instruments to grade 8, three years retail and Customer Service experience, previous work in admin, speak French fluently alongside basic German etc etc. The point is, it's not a question of calibre, it's a question of luck.

Again, the few posts that I have been offered, as 9 to 5 admin assistants and secretaries at Music Publishing firms are all UNPAID. Sadly, they don't even pay expenses and I couldn't afford to pay three months of London travelcard. It's a vicious circle, however, as if I took these posts, I wouldn't be able to take another part-time job to pay for it, as nearly all my time will be taken up with the unpaid work experience.

Unsure2 and Mendelssohn are exactly right - BMG also made thousands of employees redundant the other month, due to losses from the Internet market, so the Music companies just aren't looking for people. As a result, my long term plan is to move into Music Research once I graduate. My other option is to become a freelance harpist, which has always been a major source of income for me since I began at University.

Either way, Music will be a precarious and dangerous career path as it's non-essential and non-vocational. People with law degrees and medicine degrees have the pre-destined path as a lawyer or doctor, whereas musicians have to fight for the few posts there are that are related to their degree.

Basically, it's not a good time, as everybody else has said.

Reply 5

manormouse

I don't think getting in the industry is much of a problem.. making money though, is. It's a case of who you know a lot of the time, not always what you know. Gotta be in the right place at the right time and if you want it bad enough you'll get it. I'd love a career in this industry & i've applied to do the same course as you Jessica.

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