Saturday, January 21, 2006

About Your Friendly Editor, and What I Do

Welcome to my blog! Make yourself at home. (The Food's to the right, the bar's to the left, and non-alcoholic beverages are there too...)

Frankly I'd rather dive right in, but should probably tell you something about myself...

I'm the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of
MusicBizAdvice.com, and a music business consultant. I started as a singer-songwriter in a band, hated it (those of you who are reading this with a sore throat from last night's gig or recording session, I salute you), and discovered that although music was (and still is) my passion, I liked the behind-the-scenes aspects a lot more than performing.

I won't tell you how long ago that was, but over the years I've worked in artist management, booking, and concert promotion at the national level. Along the way I was also an assistant manager at a record store, a personal assistant to a platinum artist, and was the editor for another platinum artist's official fan club newsletter.


The most adamantly anti-business artists (why you're reading this I don't know, but welcome) say I think too much like a suit. The most business-minded non-creatives (ditto to you) say I think too much like a musician. Often on the same day. I can live with that, because balancing the two isn't easy. But I can tell you that I'm fiercely protective of my clients, even if I don't always tell them what they want to hear. (Sidebar: A good manager should tell you what you don't want to hear. If you're surrounded by yes people who only tell you what you want to hear, you're screwed.)

MusicBizAdvice.com came about when I lost my job at a major Hollywoood entertainment firm after getting a chronic immune system disorder. It affected the part of my brain that controls math functions, reading, and writing, and was so bad that at one point I couldn't read a calendar, dial the phone, read, or use a computer because the numbers and letters scrambled in front of me. (Really conducive to booking bands, right?) My sensory perception was also affected, so watching TV or listening to music made me dizzy and nauseous. (Remember how you felt during the worst drunken episode of your life, when you felt sick and the room wouldn't stop spinning and you felt like you had to hang onto the floor so you wouldn't spin off? That's it.) I was confined to bed for quite a while, and coming back was a slow process.

During my convalescence I started outlining ideas for projects on a legal pad from my bed. In 1997,
MusicBizAdvice.com was one of them. So, here we are. I hope it helps you get where you want to go in your career, helps one of your clients, or is helpful to that research paper you're writing.

As for this blog? This is where I get a little more personal, a little more editorial, give kudos to people I like, and rant about those I don't. Here's hoping it's entertaining
.



©2006 Randi Reed