Graduate of the Music Management course, Jo Howarth, visited Solent University to give a talk to current students about her experiences and how she broke into working for a massive management company, where she is directly involved with some big names.
“Every-day is different”
Jo was someone who knew what she wanted from the word go. Even if it meant doing an internship at Riverman Management and then going back to university to start the grind of the final year. She explained to students that even though she spent months away from university and it benefited her career to focus on studies, join the music managers forum and search for jobs early so students feel prepared. This is what a lot of graduates have noted as well as the fact that networking is a key part of this industry, hence why she created a female-based music industry company/conference for her final major project so that more females can feel a lot more confident to go out there and get into this tough industry.
The recent graduate also spoke to students about the day to day life working in a music management company. Whether that is at Riverman Management or at her current job where she’s working for Tap Management.
“The biggest issue is no-one cares when you start managing a band”
That quote right there, is the absolute truth in any part of the music industry but even more so in music management. You have to work at it and keep going at it, doing things like networking to get your band’s music out there and Jo mentioned in her lecture that networking was the key to getting anywhere for interviews or even freelance work. She also talked about how when you go into interviews, for whatever position in the industry, you need some level of backbone. This is because they will take you seriously and become more intrigued about what you can do and bring to the table.
Jo concluded that working harder than the next person is what will help you get noticed, which had some students nodding with some level of inspiration from her story. Graduates like Jo, who try new things, create projects that are different and persist are what make the three years of blood, sweat and tears all worth it in the end.