Supporting music careers – Pathways Into Music

Our flagship scheme supporting young people embarking on a career as a music-maker is the Artist Pathway Programme.

It provides practical advice for artists via online and in-person workshops and seminars, and one-on-one mentoring sessions, led by music industry experts. There is more information about this programme below.

We are also currently developing two new programmes that will support people considering or embarking on a music career.

THE FANBASE BUILDER PROGRAMME
This is a new education and mentoring programme aimed at young people considering a career in the music industry, focused on developing skills in music marketing and fanbase building.

MUSIC CAREER SEMINARS
This a new event providing insights and information for young people interested in a music career, combining interviews and panels with one-on-one mentoring sessions.

THE ARTIST PATHWAY PROGRAMME

The Artist Pathway Programme is our education and mentoring scheme that supports DIY Phase artists as they progress their careers.

It provides practical advice for artists via online and in-person workshops and seminars led by a team of music industry experts.

The full scheme also includes a practical project element in which participants get access to funding and one-to-one support in order to grow and develop their fanbases and frontline artist businesses.

We deliver this programme in partnership with leading music industry and talent development organisations. That includes music charity Help Musicians and the MOBO Unsung initiative.

Details of the workshops and seminars run as part of this programme are given below. To discuss utilising this programme as part of your talent development work get in touch at info@pathwaysintomusic.com.

Sessions delivered as part of this programme include…

YOUR PATHWAY INTO MUSIC
How do you go about building a fanbase and a business around your music-making? In this session we breakdown the career of a frontline artist into ten steps, discovering that the conventional music industry only really gets properly involved around about step four.

What do artists need to do to build momentum during the DIY Phase? What tools and programmes offer support? And what are future music industry business partners looking for when seeking new artists in which to invest time and money?

As momentum builds, music industry business partners will want to come on board, potentially including a manager, lawyer, booking agent, record label, music publisher and more. When and why do these relationships happen?

MAKING MONEY FROM MUSIC RIGHTS
When you write songs and record tracks you create copyrights. Copyright then gives you control over what happens to that music and you can exploit those controls to generate income around your music-making.

Copyright control is automatic, but getting it right requires some important conversations and administration. Get to grips with how music copyright works, what you need to do as soon as you start making music, and how your music rights will start to make you money.

PLANNING YOUR RELEASE ON A SMALL BUDGET
Once you’ve made the record, how do you get it to market? How do you plan, deliver and evaluate a release campaign? This session explains the different ways to get music streaming and what services you can expect from a DIY distributor.

It looks at the different ways you can go about promoting the release and encouraging people to listen. What role do media, playlists and other influencers play in getting your music to an audience and growing your fanbase?

DIY Phase artists are unlikely to have the resources of a label, but what do their release campaigns look like? What are the best ways to spend a small budget to support your release, tour or fanbase-building programme? What are the pitfalls to avoid?

MAKING MONEY FROM LIVE
For many artists live is traditionally a key revenue stream. For new artists, it is also an important marketing platform.

Though, gigging and touring is a challenge at the outset of an artist’s career – how do you find opportunities to play, how do you transform your recorded music into a live performance on a tight budget, how do you ensure you break even, and how can you use shows to grow a fanbase?

This session looks at the ins and outs of performing live and putting on shows, explaining the roles of different business partners in the live sector, and providing lots of practical advice for building a successful live career.

CONTENT CREATION
Music marketing today involves creating and sharing a wide assortment of visual content – artwork, images and videos that populate social media and other digital channels; stand out in the feeds of fans and potential fans; and encourage a reaction and response.

But how can you produce great marketing content on a super tight budget? This session looks at content creation, offering practical tips on making great content, preparing it for different social media, and responding to how your fans respond.

FANBASE BUILDING
Social media and other digital channels play a key role in the fanbase building process during the DIY Phase, as well as being an important part of any release campaign. But which social media? And what should you be doing with each different platform?

This session provides a practical guide to using social media as marketing tools, plus explains how the artist website and mailing list are still an important part of the mix.

THE FAN RELATIONSHIP
Developing a relationship with your audience is vital to creating a sustainable career in music. During this session we’ll look at the different platforms that you can use to grow, manage and monetise a fanbase, including email lists and websites

Email might seem old fashioned, but it gives you a chance to really connect with your audience in the way you want to; to share your music and your stories directly with your most loyal fans.

We’ll guide you through setting up your mailing list and share tips on ways to move your social followers over to email subscribers.

We will also consider how an artist website sits among your communication channels, the various options for building and managing one, and the role it plays in selling your music, merchandise, tickets and experiences.

FUNDING – ARTIST INCOME, GRANTS, CROWDFUNDING, PATREON
Growing an artist business costs money, but how can you fund that growth before you start partnering with potential investors in the music industry?

This session will look at the revenue streams and funding schemes available to DIY Phase artists, and how effectively managing that revenue and identifying relevant funding can help provide a modest budget for building a fanbase and solidifying the business.

The fanbase in itself is also a potential revenue stream. You need to work out who your fans are and what they will spend money on, and then work out how to provide those products, services and experiences in a cost effective way.

This session will also look at the potential of monetising the direct-to-fan relationship.