What Kind of Education Do You Have to Have to Become a Music Agent?
You will need both education and luck to succeed as a music agent. The field of commercial music is notoriously competitive, and agents need to be savvy and determined to carve out a niche for their clients. The more you know about music, business and how the industry works, the more successful you will be at promoting your clients' careers.
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Music
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The roles that agents play can vary widely depending on their personal skills and on the relationships they have with various clients. Some agents also work as producers, and this role requires a thorough knowledge of how music is written, created and recorded. An understanding of the process of composition, as well as what music is popular and how it is marketed, can help an agent to successfully navigate the complicated world of performing venues and recording contracts. Some agents are professionally trained musicians themselves, who gained an education in music with the intention of being a professional musician but ended up working as agents.
Business
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A degree from a business school is a valuable asset for any music agent. Agents facilitate relationships between their musical clients and the many venue managers, recording company executives and marketers who run the music industry. Without a thorough knowledge of basic business practices, an agent would have difficulty negotiating the best terms for his clients. Although the public face of the music industry consists of artists performing their creations, the inner workings are strictly business and involve many high-powered corporations.
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Psychology
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Music agents are constantly working and interacting with other people. Training in psychology and in the arts of persuasion and negotiation can go a long way in assuring an agent's success. Although an agent doesn't need a PhD in psychoanalysis, more practical classes and programs about how people think and interact can be an asset. Because an agent acts as an intermediary between his clients and the rest of the industry, he often finds himself trying to reconcile people with different interests, priorities and opinions. Having a background that provides insight into the mind can be very useful in this role.
Marketing
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The main job of an agent is to find work for his clients. Although an agent isn't selling a product, he is effectively "selling" his clients to record companies and to the public. An education in marketing can be invaluable for understanding how to convince people of the value of his clients' work and how to negotiate the many venues of music marketing and promotion that are available. The world is full of talented musicians who have never found success, often because they lack an agent who knows how to effectively sell them to the music buying public.
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References
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