Award-winning DJ, Producer, and Manager shares tips on how to make it in the music business. 

Josh Herman is a familiar name in the dance music scene. As the longtime manager for DVBBS (Canadian Production Duo Alex van den Hoef & Chris van den Hoef) Josh has pushed the duo’s career to the top of worldwide festival lineups, all while staying true to his artists’ sound, vision, and personality.

As the founder of management company STRVCTVRE, Josh and his team are helping new talent make it in the music business since 2012 back when DVBBS debuted their EP ‘Initio’, gaining international acclaim via their chart-topping single, “Tsunami”.

Now, Josh’s company is partnered with Patriot Management, a Live Nation company whose artists include Swedish House Mafia, DVBBS, Skrillex, Pharrell Williams, and One Republic, among many others.

The world of music has a dizzying number of producers, all of which are aspiring towards the same dreams – to make it big. While at times, it may seem almost impossible to find your place in this industry and make a name for yourself, here are a few tips from someone who has managed dozens of famous names in this industry.

Know Why You’re Doing it

If you don’t know where you’re going then how are you going to get there?  Wake up every day and love every second of what you do.

Put in your time, and make sure you’re the best you can be.  Write amazing songs, and stay inspired into a unique sound of your own.  Don’t worry about what others are doing, worry about what you’re doing.

It’s okay to not know everything. No one does. Recognize your talents and own them.  If it’s a specific instrument, or a plug-in or software – whatever it is that you do well – learn it in and out.

Give your fans a reason to care about you.  Make sure they can identify something important in your brand that draws them in and attracts new fans.  Strive to build your following both on stage and off.   Build a site, be active on socials, build the press, take initiatives towards marketing your brand.

No one knows what the next big thing will be.  The one thing that you can do is to keep a watch on the trends.  Listen to new music daily, even if it’s not your style of music. And when you do discover something new and different, move quickly!

Network, network, network…Build up your contact list of connections and executives in the entertainment business. This will help you to discover more opportunities, and further yourself towards goals.  Meeting people is the easy part, make sure to keep those connections and grow those relationships.

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