CHARLES SPIVEY ARTIST DEVELOPMENT MANAGER What do you do at work? Artist development is all about helping my client take the next step, depending on where he or she is in his or her music career. Some already have a couple albums under their belt, while others are looking to record a first demo. Fundamentally, I am a people broker. If a client needs a new Web site, I connect her to the best Web people I know. If a singer needs a new headshot, I hand him over to my best photographer. If a band needs 200 people at a show, I talk to every newspaper Copy TK and radio person I know and get them to push the band.
FPO -
Strong interpersonal skills, resourcefulness, creativity, contact management, and organization
Courses English language arts, math, business, music, computer tech Degrees High School, BA, or MBA
Entry-level opportunities exist for MBA graduates in virtually every field you can imagine.
What skills are most important to you? Growth about as fast as People skills, without a doubt, are the most important average for the next ten years aspects of my job. I know that PR means public relations but I think it means people relations. Know your clients, Source: Occupational Outlook Handbook know your friends, and know your business partners. They’re all people and want to be treated like people, not profit centers. My undergraduate education had nothing to do with music, PR, or management, but my MBA course load of marketing classes has certainly paid big dividends. The best lessons I’ve learned have come from other people in the business—people I admire and look up to. What is your key to success? It’s important to set high goals and be tenacious, but also have the ability to accept failure and see it as an opportunity to grow. Sure I want to succeed every time I pick up the phone to market my clients, but I have to be willing to accept the rejection that often comes in the music business; I just dust myself off and come back for more.
Why might MBA-level marketing courses be helpful, even in a career that was not specifically the focus of those courses?
20
UNIT 1 — THE WORLD OF MARKETING
Go to the Marketing Essentials OLC through glencoe.com to find a career-related activity. glencoe.com