For Task 3 in this unit, I will be discussing what I’ve leant over the last two terms at college, and how it will benefit me in the industry throughout my career.
When I started the course, I wasn’t really aware with the business side to music, however I did know about royalties due to learning about it in secondary school. What college helped me to understand, was why I needed the royalties and how I was meant to gain them, which is of course very helpful and now I am aware on what money I can gain from certain things. I have also learnt about types of contracts and band agreements. At the moment I am in a band with two friends from college and we have made an agreement that we are all happy with, which entails any rules that we have to stick to whilst being together. On the contract side of things, I knew nothing and I found it interesting to see how many versions of contracts there actually were. I know what to expect in one and also what to look out for in case the contractors are being sneaky in any sort of way. This is because the groups who run contracts are in it for the money, and aren’t interested in the band/artists personal gain so they will try and catch you out to make more money off you.
Within Unit 3, I have learnt a lot about social media presence and how to ‘get your name out there’. Because of this, I now upload (usually weekly with a performance I have done at college on Facebook and my YouTube channel. Although I am not getting many views on YouTube, I am gaining around 100 on Facebook and it is helping put together a good portfolio for anyone who wants to see my skills if they were looking to hire me or ask me for a job. Thanks to college, I have realised the importance of social media presence and how much it can impact your career. For example, I am now in touch with quite a few local bands and have got to know them and the processes they have been through to get gigs and build their audience. This is benefitting me as it is improving my networking skills and will definitely help open up more opportunities for me.
I was also given the chance in Unit 3 Task 1 to explore a variation of job types within the music industry and it gave me an insight to what my future could potentially look like. I looked at teaching/tutoring, being a session player and also becoming a music publicist. These jobs interested me a lot, and being given the task to do research about it really enhanced my views on the possible careers. I was also taught that I would never have a 9-5 job and I am glad I was told that because it has given me a better perspective on what to expect in the years ahead which I found quite helpful. Finding out about these jobs made me appreciate the industry so much more as I understood that it’s not just ‘famous’ musicians who make up the industry and there are so many important behind the scenes jobs that create an impact on the world too.
In Unit 5, I have learnt about stage plans, types of microphones and how instruments really work. We covered many different aspects, including how to set up a stage, drawing stage plans, what microphones suit what instruments, and how to use a sound desk and work with amps and monitors. I enjoyed this a lot and it helped me to understand the set up for gigs, benefitting me as I now know how to set up a bass/guitar amp and many types of microphones. The reason this helped, is because I was originally unaware due to being drummer and only ever having to set that up, but now if I was called in to set up a stage for a 5 piece band, I would definitely be capable of doing it as I now have the knowledge.
The past two terms have helped me improve my skills so much, not just through playing and performing, but also with the business and tech side to the music industry.
Fran Adams Drums 