How did you transit from engineering and producing to the music business side? What would be the ideal way to do it these days, and which field would make the most sense? A&R? I’m looking to keep things interesting and artsy.
I made a decision to move to the business side because of the personal challenges of having a young family and spending all my days and nights in the studio. The transition didn’t happen over night but I tried to find something in the business that I was passionate about, where i believed there was opportunity and I could use my resources, relationships and knowledge to build a pathway to a new career. At the time music, tech and the internet were coming together for the first time so I saw an opportunity to help build businesses that create tools for artists to better control their own rights. My work at Artist Direct and then helping to launch Kobalt led directly from that impulse. You have to have a hard look at what skills and assets you have and then find the area in the business that you feel you can be most successful and fulfilled in. Royalty collection can be interesting and fun for some people, as can being a lawyer or an A&R person. It depends on your passion for the actual work.