Within 3 months I was booked out for 2018. In September of that year I had my first sold out show. At the time I was doing about 2-3 shows a month, I had started managing & booking select out of town dates, and working part time at a club, a retail store, and as a personal assistant. I’d wake up at 8 am to be at my personal assistant job by 9, leave in the afternoon to work at the retail store, and work from 5pm-2:30 am Friday & Saturday at the club.
In January 2019 I had 3 sold out shows, an intern, and was booked through the end of April(While working all 3 jobs in addition). February I had to quit my part time jobs so I had enough time to put my all into shows, managing, and tour booking for my management clients. I learned how to do PR campaigns. If I was out having dinner- I was networking or working on my phone. If I was out at a bar- It was so I could promote & I was sending emails on my phone. In photos from my 22nd birthday dinner my mother took-I was sending emails.. on my phone. I worked on shows & for my clients from the time I was up to the time I went to sleep- only sleeping about 6 hours a night. I worked 60 hours on a light week.
Please let it be clear that I love working in the music industry, more than anything. However-over the past two years nearly all the messages, texts, calls, etc. were only because people wanted something from me. Could any of these people even really be trying to make friends? Or did anyone not outright asking for something want a favor like nearly everyone else? Whether that was a guest list spot, trying to get me to do a service at a discounted rate, a pre-sale ticket after doors opened, their band put on a show, their band on a tour with a client, or a placement.
Very rarely did anyone care to ask(let alone care) about how I was doing, or what was going on in my life aside from what I could do for them. I held almost all non-industry people at a good distance- because in most cases all what people wanted was to get into a show for free. I’ve dealt with dishonest staff who stole money, didn’t show up, showed up late, showed up drunk, etc. I’ve dealt with belligerent drunk people defacing venue property, having to kick people out for harassing other patrons, and decompressing confrontational situations. I’ve missed birthdays and funerals because of shows.
One of the most unhelpful and frustrating things I’ve heard people that are outside of the industry say is “take a break!” This is a never ending, never stopping career. People in the industry don’t really get down time or off days. It’s a reality of that you’re either all in or you’re out. There are always phone calls you have to make, emails you have to send, there’s always the next show you have to focus on, booking the next tour.
Post-Covid please think & be more patient to anyone you might reach out to for booking, pr, placements, shows, etc. Just because they didn’t reply to you doesn’t mean they were rude. Just because their messages or emails were shorter and not super chatty does not mean they are being rude. They simply did not have the time, and you are one of a hundred or hundreds of emails and messages. This is a world where more often than not you are expected to work 24/7, and not have any mental health problems- and if you do you should shove those way back in a filing cabinet because we don’t have time to deal with those- cause the tour dates in Colorado and premieres aren’t going to book themselves!
Did I accomplish a lot of successful events? Yes.
Did I book tours where my clients made money? Yes.
Did I land PR placements in outlets that helped my clients? Yes.
Did I answer phone calls and emails at all times of the night? Yes.
Did I put everything work related first before everything in my life including my mental health and personal relationships? Yes.
Did I ever stop and take a break to re-cooperate? Only when I got so sick I couldn’t get out of bed.
Did this negatively effect my personal & romantic relationships as well as my mental health? Yes.
Did this leave people in my life feeling bitter and neglected? Absolutely.
-Anonymous Contributor