Music Industry Dante Zhu Jason Kurohara Joshua Chang

Music Industry Dante Zhu Jason Kurohara Joshua Chang

Meet the Team Dante Drums Jason Trombone Joshua Conductor

Needfinding Methodology

Colton Professionals Interviewee s Garrett Steven Students Rachel Erik Consumers Music Community Demi

“Tell me about your last gig and how you got it. ” “How do you find other musicians to play with? ” “How has Covid impacted your music opportunities? ” “How do you stay in touch with your audience outside of your music? ” “What prevents you from listening to music more often? ” ? “Can you tell me about the last time you performed (virtually or in person)? ” “Can you tell me about a time that you didn’t know when your next gig was going to be? ”

Colton ▰ ▰ Works in finance Lives in Connecticut Manages a professional band Plays in the band occasionally “The biggest friction in talking with potential clients is the price. We need to be polite, transparent, and empathize with them ”

Garrett ▰ ▰ Church music director Lives in New York Free-lancer Private teacher “Social media is the reason I have a job right now. It lets me share my repertoire and share my work”

Steven ▰ ▰ Professional jazz trombone player Lives in Miami Free-lancer Private teacher “Finding gigs is all about knowing the right people, being in the right place at the right time, and saying yes to everything”

Rachel ▰ ▰ Piano performance major Attends Eastman Private teacher Applying to grad school “Playing in an empty hall feels different. It’s awkward, but I’m less nervous”

Erik ▰ ▰ Music production major Attends Belmont University Free-lance projects Entering the industry soon “I met my boss at a coffee shop…”

Demi ▰ ▰ Casual music listener Lives in Kansas City Non-musician Wants to discover new music “I get intimidated when I need to use technology to discover new music. ”

Say “Finding work is 90% word of mouth” “Not having a gig is one of the most devastating things that can happen” “More connections, more opportunities. ” “We need to know how a musician sounds and how they perform” “We don’t have a budget for advertisements” “It’s important to be a good hang” “I don’t have time to manage my business on top of my full time job” “Searching for a potential student is hard” “I met my boss at a coffee shop” “Building and managing a website for a band is a big headache” “The last thing I want is an escape with music” “On Fiverr, you only find people below you. It’s cringey, over-promoted, and desperate”

Network with people in bars and restaurants Use Instagram to evaluate other musicians Send work to individuals who ask for samples Maintain an online presence and portfolio Share past performances on Youtube Follow email list to stay in touch with performers Maintain a website for band on Wix Build a network for substitute musicians Scramble last minute for subs Host virtual concerts on FB Live Advertise private lessons with pamphlets Music competitions to build a name for themselves Do

Think Who you know is as important as what you know Teaching provides more stable income than performing (during Covid) A dedicated fanbase is way better than a million fans that don’t care I wish I had a central platform to post my portfolio Finding work relies on interpersonal connections Social media helped artists stay afloat during Covid How can I find gigs other than word of mouth? Live streams can be inaccessible to the older generation (60+) I want a more efficient way to find subs for gigs I need a place to post assignments for my students People have worse attention spans over Zoom than live performances I would like a waiting list for potential students

Devastated without work Concerned for the future of the music industry Turned off over desperate selfpromotion Uncertain in the pandemic Stressed when I practice Frustrated when customers don’t understand pricing Joy while working on an interesting project Frustrated when Facebook takes down my live performance Awkward and less nervous when I play in an empty hall A need to connect with other musicians Teaching on Zoom is painful and tedious Uncertain about how to enter free-lancing market when moving to a new city Feel

Insight: Musicians believe that “Networking plays a huge role in finding musicians” connections are the most important thing in the industry Need: A natural and more accessible way to expand networks virtually and in person

Insight: There is a disconnect “The biggest friction in talking with potential clients is the price” between pro musicians and clients and it’s difficult to communicate about prices Need: A transparent, informative way to communicate to clients

Insight: Everybody has online “Building a managing website for the band is a big headache” content and musicians want a centralized place to display portfolios Need: An authentic, organized and accessible way to share and display digital content

Insight: Word of mouth is the “I found my freelance work all through somebody I knew” primary way of finding work but can be unreliable Need: A reliable way to find gigs, potential customers, or subs

“Facebook took down my live stream midperformance because of incorrectly perceived copyright violations” Insight: Virtual performing and teaching is awkward and quite difficult Need: A better way to engage with students or audiences online

Insight: The stress of making a “After work, the last thing I want is an escape with music” living removes the joy from creating music Need: Better management of business and administrative logistics to save time and stress

Summary ▰ ▰ ▰ Our problem space is the music industry We listened to professional musicians, educators, and students Networks are everything Finding work/customers through word of mouth is unreliable Musicians have been hit hard by Covid-19