Blog 21: Exit Interview

(1) My essential question is "What is the best way a musician can manage their own career in music and film?" My first answer is "By being involved in multiple aspects of the music industry," my second answer is "By creating a reel of work to use a resume and promotional tool," and my third is "By taking initiative of their own career." My best answer is my third answer because it is a smart career move in any field. Succeeding individually is more effective and fulfilling than relying on people to succeed. It also eliminates the distraction of unprofessional colleagues, and allows one to work productively while maintaining  a sense of independence.

(2) I came to these answers by reading a variety of articles and having long discussions with my mentor. The music industry is very broad and competitive, and it is very likely that a musician will never find success in the business. I learned that many successful music entrepreneurs are involved in many different areas of music, and they increase their chances of getting acknowledged by being experienced in many different aspects of music, which is how I developed my first answer. I am specifically interested in composing scores for films and I researched that extensively. Most jobs a scorer would get hired for have to be applied for by submitting a reel of their work. This allows employers to see what they are capable of and if they are fit for the position. The better the reel is, the more jobs they will get, which is why I felt my second answer is valid. Scoring is something most musicians do individually. This fact made me wonder if musicians work better alone as opposed to in a group, so I questioned my mentor on the pros and cons of not working with others. He convinced me that writing and performing everything yourself is a much better way to go about a career in music because people will often get in the way of a musician's career. However, doing everything independently means a successful career will be more difficult to obtain because of the more work a musician would have to do, especially if they are involved with multiple aspects of the music industry. I realize that if a musician is independent, they will never get anything done if they do not take initiative of their careers, which is why I chose my final answer to answer my essential question.

(3) In the very beginning of the year, I was stuck without a decent mentor. My mentor during summer was irrelevant to my topic because he was completely unrelated to music. I kept on thinking of people who could help me out, but none were useful mentors. I then went to my old guitar teacher. He was not a very exciting mentor, but he got the job done. This went okay at first, but after a while he informed that he was not able to mentor me because he did not have anything for me to do. Again, I was left without a mentor, until one literally magically showed up. I was with my dad at a coffee shop and he made a new friend who happened to work with music. He kindly said yes to me when I asked him to be my mentor, and all was good. So, the problem of finding a decent mentor was solved by luck.

(4) One book that helped me a lot throughout this project was "How Music Works" by David Byrne. This book is like the length of the bible. It is a very useful source because it talks about the relevance of each aspect of music (writing, recording, collaborating, funding, producing, distributing, managing etc.) The book is very credible because Byrne, who is the founder of the band 'Talking Heads,' provides a thorough understanding on the music industry from his experiences. Another source that I found very helpful was an article written by Christiana Usenza called, "The 7 Biggest Challenges DIY Musicians Face - And How To Conquer Them." I found it helpful because it introduces musicians to solutios of problems that can negatively affect a musician's career. It brings up wise points that I can add to my lecture content as well, such as surrounding yourself in a place where you can excel and having a professional, economically attitude.