Work Your First Big Tour Part 2: Booking and Budgeting So you’ve set the groundwork for your first big tour. You’ve mapped out the most logical dates, located your audience and found similar-sounding artists to play shows with, harnessed social media connections and community support, and have all your travel and accomodations booked. You’re this close to taking the stage and sharing your music with […]
Work Mother of Rap: The Success & Controversy of Hip Hop’s Sylvia Robinson Sylvia Robinson, once singer-songwriter turned founder and CEO of Sugar Hill Records, set the musical landscape for many of today’s most recognizable names in hip hop. With millions of album sales under her belt and a handful of Billboard chart-toppers, Sylvia built a diverse – yet controversial – musical legacy. Dubbed “The Queen of Rap” […]
Work Grants: Why You Need Them & How to Get One There’s no shortage of hurdles for independent artists to get over before releasing new projects. Major labels are notorious for prioritizing their interests over their talents’, and self-funding just isn’t a reality for many musicians and producers. So what’s the best way to get your project across the finish line? Grants! If you’re looking for […]
Work Tips on Writing an Artist Bio – And Why You Need Several Contrary to popular belief, or what any archaic industry exec would have you think, there is no set formula to writing a successful artist bio. What’s most important is that it reflects who you are as an artist and the persona you have created. No matter if you’re a producer, sound designer, or a creative, […]
Work Your First Big Tour: How to Plan, Pack, and Prepare This is it: your first big tour. The moment you’ve dreamed of since you started making music is finally here. You’ve got an awesome show together and you’re ready to hit the road, perform in a different city every night, make valuable industry connections, and gain lots of loyal new fans from all over. But […]
Work Working with Major Artists: Advice from a Grammy-Nominated Producer Vinay Vyas, who goes by I Am Vinay when he’s producing, went from spending his rent money on plugins to working with artists like Nicki Minaj and David Guetta. The now Grammy-nominated producer has scored multiple songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and created an original song for the Marvel movie Venom. How did he […]
Work Building a Network in Your City In many industries, you’ll often hear the saying “it’s all about who you know.” This rings especially true in the world of music, where collaboration is at the core of most (if not all) projects. Building working relationships with people from a variety of knowledge backgrounds and skill sets is one of the most valuable […]
Work Blurred Lines: The Evolution of Plagiarism in Music Part 3 Throughout this series, we’ve taken a look at the twisting tale of musical plagiarism, from confusing copyright laws to high-profile cases of prolific copycats. In part 2, we explored how sampling marked an unpredictable yet necessary step in the evolution of music and its history of plagiarism. Despite what your reservations about the technique may […]
Work Building an Online Presence These days, it’s hardly surprising that the mark we make in the digital realm is an important factor when it comes to job hunting or building your career. We now instinctively pull out our phones to look up every new company, product, and person we hear about. And if they can’t be found, we tend […]
Work Career Opportunities as a Sound Engineer Sound engineers play a crucial role in most forms of media production, whether they’re working with artists on new songs or albums, scoring the soundtrack to a film, or creating foley for a tablet or video game. That said, career opportunities aren’t bound to a studio; you can find audio engineers working at conferences, theaters, […]
Work Tips for Writing Professional Cold Emails Despite email being one of our primary methods of communication in business, people often overlook the importance of proper email etiquette. When emailing someone that you know very well, it’s reasonable to write informally. When sending what is known as a “cold email” – one that is unsolicited or sent to a recipient you haven’t […]
Work Sample Me This: The Evolution of Plagiarism in Music Part 2 In part 1 of The Evolution of Plagiarism in Music, we took a look at historic cases of sonic copycats, before the industry had even caught up and set clear copyright laws. Though the early days seemed messy enough, when sampling came into the mix in the ’80s and ’90s, it opened a whole new […]
Work Blowing Up on TikTok: Tips & Tricks from a Viral Pro Devon Cole has mastered the art of viral videos. Her rewrite of Robin Thicke’s controversial “Blurred Lines” (converting it into a feminist anthem about consent) is currently sitting at 5.7 million views on TikTok and 3.4 million views on Instagram Reels – and this isn’t her first rodeo. Devon has hit the million view mark […]
Work How to Make a Press Kit Imagine this: You’ve spent months working on your debut album, re-recording and perfecting every song who knows how many times, and you’ve finally decided on a release date. Now, the final obstacle is getting people to listen to it. You may find yourself in a position where you don’t want to waste all your hard […]
Work Audio & Visuals: Bridging Mediums to Break into TV & Film Francis Hooper is a musician, audio engineer, and the production editor on one of the most popular animated TV shows of our time: Rick and Morty. He’s built a career out of fusing his passion for both sound and video, and is always looking for inventive new ways to bring his skills together. On top […]
Work This Sounds Familiar: The Evolution of Plagiarism in Music Part 1 Plagiarism in music is nothing new. In fact, it’s been around as long as the music industry itself. The idea of what exactly belongs to whom, however, has been changing throughout the years, leading us to an interesting crossroads in music. What was once a simple case of someone blatantly stealing another’s music has evolved […]
Work Tuning in: Establishing a Career in Radio Broadcasting Diving into the career of Anthony Conte, it’s plain to see he has always had a passion for audio. His curiosity has taken him far – from his early days of making personalized birthday cassettes for friends, to working as a radio producer for CHFI, to his latest chapter as Production Manager at Rogers Sports […]
Work Online Tools Every Artist Should Know About If you’re an emerging artist in the early stages of your career, chances are that you’ll be wearing a lot of hats as you build your foundation. You’ll handle the craft, the business, and everything in between, so it can feel overwhelming as you try to manage all the moving parts that go into growing […]
Work Live Sound: Expecting the Unexpected As the live sound engineer and co-founder of Montreal venue The Diving Bell Social Club (and an RAC alumnus!) Evan Johnston has set up and recorded live performances in every musical genre, whether it’s for rock bands or orchestras. His work is guided by simple tenets that wholly apply to both live performances and recordings: […]
Work Making Your Mark in the Recording Industry On top of founding her own label and artist management agency Hot Tramp, Sarah Armiento has worked as a publicist, show promoter, and co-founded Montreal music venue The Diving Bell Social Club. Starting out in PR for a music promotions company, she built up enough connections and skills to go independent, first freelancing, then launching […]
Work Setting the Stage for Creativity: Personalizing Your Process Vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ, Janette King can do it all. She’s toured across North America, performed with major artists like Cupcakke, Jamila Woods, and Sudan Archives, and headlined festivals in the US and the UK. In 2021, she released her debut LP on Hot Tramp Records, which was lauded by fans and media alike. […]
Work How to Build a Home Studio Anywhere: Maximizing Small Spaces Solomon Krause-Imlach is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and sound designer who understands how sound has the power to move people. He brings audio and ideas to life with his experienced ear and versatile musicality, which he has gained from over a decade of experience working on a wide range of freelance projects. Five years ago, […]
Learn Work What’s your unique selling point? It’s what will determine how an audience or market sees you, and whether or not they will see the value in what you have to offer.This article is borrowed from a lesson in the Music Industry course taught during the third semester at Recording Arts Canada. Scenario 1: Selling beats Trent is a hypothetical beat-maker trying to […]
Work Break Into the Music Industry as a Songwriter A career as a songwriter is a rewarding and beautiful ride, with plenty of exciting projects to pursue. From scoring a soundtrack for the next big blockbuster to penning a jingle for your local radio show, there are many directions a songwriter can travel. Before you can jump into your first big gig, however, there […]
Work Building Your Network for Artistic Success Nowadays, talented artists are everywhere: online, at your local coffee shop, or busking in the street. Unfortunately, many don’t go much further than that for reasons that have very little to do with talent. Building Your Network for Artistic Success Building a strong network is absolutely essential in creating a name for yourself as an […]
Work Break Into the Video Game Industry as a Composer In the past two decades, video game composers and sound designers have become major players in the entertainment industry. Music has always been an integral part of the gaming experience, but it hasn’t alwaysbeen a viable or common career path for music creators. These days, composers are creating sweeping scores for elaborate worlds and have become a fundamental […]
Work Breaking into the Industry: Top Tips for Your Resume A CV is one of the most important elements in your professional profile. Getting it right will take many revisions, a lot of research, and a bit of trial and error, but will pay off in separating a good candidate from a great one (you!) in the hiring process. Here are some top tips for […]
