What is the Worst Music Industry Job?

Wednesday July 1, 2009

I get a lot of emails from people telling me that they want to work in the music industry, but they aren't sure exactly what they want to do in the business. They want advice on picking a good music industry career, and well, it's a good question but a tough one. The fact is that most people in the music industry have worked several different jobs in the business before settling in on their best fit. Sometimes you just can't help it. For instance, when you work at an indie label, you're kind of a labelmanageragentpromoterprpersondistributorcoverartdesigner. Other times, it just takes awhile to land in a job you like.

Which all got me to thinking, what are the worst jobs in the music industry? Of course, it's totally subjective, but I want to know about your experiences. Me, the thing I hate to do the most is call up some journalist or radio producer about a new release and get treated like I'm trying to sell them a used car. On the other hand, I think show promoters have one of the hardest jobs in the business - after all, if the show goes well, it's because the musicians did so well, and if the show was terrible, it's your fault - but I think it's kind of fun. What about you? Favorite jobs? I-will-never-ever-do-that-again jobs? Why? Share your stories!