Many musicians are aware that making the right Music Industry contacts is vital for achieving a successful music career. The problem is that, most musicians Ride forever really don't know 'who' the right Music Industry contacts are, how to locate them, how to actually transform a 'first contact' into a meaningful relationship, and what 'having the right Music Industry connections' really means.

If i gave you my complete list of Music Industry contacts (key industry people I have established relationships with throughout the last 20 years), do you think it would help you produce a successful music career?... NO! Why? Because a pure 'contact' is not worth anything. Music Industry contacts need to become meaningful Music Industry connections. Meaningful connections are developed by building good relationships... More on this later...

However, even if you have good relationships with the right people, this won't help you until and should you not work on having the right things in place which enables your industry contacts to feel confident enough to work with you.

So, who are the Music Industry people you should be contacting?... And when you get right through to someone, what do you say to him/her? How can you make these important people pay attention to you if you don't yet have a 'name' in the music business?

Let's explore the first question "Who are the Music Industry people you should be contacting? inches To answer this, you need to ask a series of other questions such as:

• Who are some contacts who have great influence and capacity help your career develop further?

• Who are the contacts who have the greatest number of key relationships with other Music Industry professionals and companies?

• Among the most important contacts, who are the easiest to find close to where you live?

• What contacts are the most approachable?

• Who are the people who you can help to solve THEIR problems and/or help them to reach their goals (thus start to build a relationship with them)?

Is there a single "type" of Music Industry contact person or (company) who fits All the above criteria? The answer is 'Yes'. And if you do not have Music Industry connections, this 'type of contact' may be your best place to begin... So, who is this type of person or company? Record label management? A&R people? Producers? Publishers? Operators? Entertainment Lawyers? Famous bands? No... The answer may surprise you... it is "Concert Promoters".

Serious display causes have massive power and influence in the Music Industry. They are the real risk takers of the music business. They deal with thousands of very important Music Industry people every year such as: well known bands, record labels, artist management, tour operators, entertainment lawyers, production companies, merchandising division, the venues, booking agents, stereo, the press, and more.

If you live near an urban area, you won't have any trouble locating display causes who live and work locally (use Google). Unlike almost every other important Music Industry contacts, causes are generally accessible and will also be ready talk to anyone who has 'something real' to offer them (that's where you come in).

Generally speaking, display causes take on more risk than any other person or business in the entire Music Industry. All causes lose large chunks of money every year (because some events lose money for various reasons). The successful causes make (and keep) more money than they lose over summer and winter (because they are able to promote other events with bigger bands which make a lot of money).

What every supporter wants is a reliable network of people to help with making certain that the concerts/tours they promote bring in more cash! Obviously, it's expensive to employ a large team of experienced people. However, you can join their team (at least on a not professional basis) if you are ready, intern, earn a small salary or even work for free just to get your foot in the door and get the experience of working with a supporter. You may not yet know anything about promoting tours, but some promotion companies would be eager to train you if it isn't expensive for them to do so.

Think about it from their perspective. If you were a big time supporter taking on huge risks, wouldn't you want another person to work for you, for free or for a very low salary? Of course the answer is 'yes', even if that person could only work not professional. If you can do that, they will remember you and relationships will begin to develop.

Many musicians who want a music career are told to intern for a record label. The standard wisdom is that whenever you do this, you will learn a lot about the music business. The reality is, most of these interns never get into a posture where they can truly learn much at all as an intern. However doing work for a supporter, your capacity learn how the Music Industry Does work (at least on the touring and promotional side) goes way up because your level of access to what is going on 'behind the scenes' goes way up! In addition, the number of Music Industry contacts you can make are 200 times more than what you would likely make working at a record label. And compared to record labels, there is a lot less competition for internships or jobs with a supporter.

As excited as you may now feel, knowing that you can actually do this.... there is a catch... a big one. In order to have any real chance of pursuing this opportunity and using these Music Industry contacts to help launch your music career, you must work on having the right things in place which enable your Music Industry connections to feel confident enough to work with you. The truth is, nothing in this article will help you until and should you not do take this critical step.