UNIT 10: PREPARING FOR PROGRESSION

I confirm that the attached assessment is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself and sources have been appropriately referenced.

For this unit, we will be thinking about who we are and where we want to take our career once we finish college. We will be developing our professional persona and presenting ourselves to the creative industries with our CVs, portfolios, networking skills, etc.

UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT

Throughout my studies I have become attentive to the way marketing impacts the music industry and how effective campaigns make all the difference. My work both inside and outside of college has allowed me to work with a wide range of performers and professionals at different stages in their career, gaining more of an insight into the world of music business and photography.

At 15, I started work in the music industry with a work experience opportunity at a record shop. However, I have always had an interest in music, attending gigs from nine, as my dad used to host house concerts in our living room. Since then, I have regularly attended networking events and completed work experience with other companies including Warner Music and Independent Venue Week. My placement at Warner Music made me realise how much I wanted to work in the music industry.

I have many inspirations, one being Phoebe Fox, a music photographer who studied music marketing at UCA. Her work with artists is something I look up to, as she produces incredible photographs, unlike any others I have seen. Her unique style sets her apart from other photographers and her creativity is something I admire.

An issue I'm keen to address is the lack of women in the music industry. I attended DICE's 'Girls Music Week' event in 2019, where I had the opportunity to network and attend workshops promoting females. Being in the industry as a young woman has led me to believe there needs to be more women in higher positions, and this is an issue close to my heart.

My current course focuses on live events and artist promotion and I have a thorough understanding of how campaigns work and how beneficial they are to artists, labels, and festivals. I have a keen interest in how bands market new releases, an example being The 1975's campaign for their sophomore album. In the build up to the release of this album, postcards with new neon imagery (a contrast to their debut) were sent out to fans. This was extremely successful in generating buzz around the release and bringing new fans to their music.

Outside of college, I thoroughly enjoy networking with music professionals, such as promoters and managers. I have built up my own music photography business and have amassed clients who I regularly work with to produce great photos, including musicians, managers and a club night. I have taken photos at venues such as Brixton Academy and The 1865 as well as Citadel Festival. I have run About That Record for over 2 years, and share reviews of new music and gigs as well as interviews with artists. Since starting it, I have gained experience in web design, copy editing, assigning writers to articles, and sorting through music PR.

I am well experienced in the live sector and can use my knowledge to successfully plan, market and host events. I was part of Music Venue Trust's 'Fightback Promoter' programme and had already started planning a gig and booking artists before the Covid-19 pandemic. Alongside this, I have volunteered as an Independent Venue Week rep, where I attended gigs at local grassroots venues. I ensured the venue and staff were prepared before doors were open and conducted field research with the audience to put the data together to present to IVW at the end of the week.

Outside of music, I have worked in hospitality in kitchen porter and barista roles.

From these, I have gained skills such as customer service, leadership and working in a team which will benefit me greatly in a music course at university. I enjoy the challenge of solving problems, both in and outside of the industry.

My experience has equipped me with the relevant skills for the course, including networking with bands, labels, managers and creating visual content, which I have done as part of my photography and About That Record. I am eager to expand my experience in the music industry and further develop my skills and knowledge.

As I want to work in the music industry when I leave college, I tailored my CV to only include experience relevant to that industry. I took out all the information about my part-time hospitality work and instead listed all the music experience I have.

Once I was happy with the draft, I had a friend in the industry (who works at a label) read over it and check it was alright. I had listed my experience by relevance, but she said it would be better to change the order to by date, starting with the most recent at the top. I adjusted this and she checked it again and said it was perfect and ready to send off to potential employers.

APPLICATION FOR SOMETHING

I have been working on my UCAS application for university. This has been alright for me as I already knew my top 5 uni choices, having researched this since Year 11.

I have also been applying for freelance photography jobs with different management companies. I have a list of artists I would love to work with and believe my photography style suits and have been finding contact details for their management and sending over my portfolio. The email template I have been using is:

Hi,

Hope you're well!

I'm a freelance music photographer based in Brighton interested in collaborating with ______ on any upcoming projects they have. I've been working on some big projects recently and would love to collaborate with you and your artist!

I have shot the likes of Catfish & the Bottlemen, DMA'S, Jade Bird & Inhaler and worked closely with artists including Flowvers, Starcrawler, Oxide & Neutrino and Matilda Cole. worked with artists such as Starcrawler, Flowvers, The Big Moon and Matilda Cole. Current clients include Big Hug Management, Sucker, Young Heart Promotions and More Human Than Brighton.

I am experienced in live, portrait, studio and behind the scenes photos. My work has been used for artwork, posters, Spotify profiles, and PR, I believe ______ would be the perfect fit for my photography style and it would be great to work with them.

My portfolio can be viewed here - www.indybrewer.com - and my Insta is linked here.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Kind regards,

Indy

*email signature*

I received a response from a management company with an impressive roster, and whilst they currently don't have any upcoming work, they added me to their list of creatives and will contact me in the future when something suitable comes up.

I only received that one response out of the few emails I sent but I know a lot of management companies aren't doing anything yet and are waiting until next year to plan new work with artists depending on the current coronavirus restrictions, so I will chase the emails up in January.

I have also made a couple of phone calls with previous clients to enquire about any potential new work, and have been able to book a couple of shoots from these calls for the next couple of weeks in December. Being freelance hasn't been easy this year but I am finally booking more work and getting the opportunity to work with lots of new clients, ready for 2021.

PRESENTING YOURSELF IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER

I have been posting my work and networking online for a while now and in that time I have built up my profile on online platforms to reach more people and further my opportunities.

Photography Portfolio

Back in April, I signed up for a photographer's fund Format were offering. However, I wasn't successful but was still offered a year's free membership to the website so I switched from Adobe to Format for my Photography Portfolio. Format allows you to have more control over the design of your site, create client galleries, have a store, etc. I use it for my photography portfolio and recently updated it to include a new section - 'Music Video BTS'. Before, I had the photos from this section in the 'Backstage' section but that wasn't clear they were from a music video shoot and as I have more planned, I decided it needed its own section. I also updated each page with new photos and took out older ones that I didn't think were relevant to my current work anymore. - www.indybrewer.com.

Instagram

I have been using Instagram for years, first as a personal page, and now to showcase my photography. I kept my personal account as my photography one when I first started to post my photos as I already had a network built up on there and wanted to optimise that. With my Instagram, I post a few photos from shoots I do, tagging everyone involved and using relevant hashtags in the comments. I follow other photographers and people in the industry, and regularly update my story. People I have worked with normally share my photos too, which broadens my audience and opens me up to new networking opportunities. I give my Insta handle to people I meet at gigs and other music events to stay in touch and show them what I can do. My bio states that I am a music photographer, my location, my contact email, and a link to my portfolio.

Facebook

I set up a Facebook page for my photography recently as I didn't have one before. I have one for my music site About That Record, so setting up the page was easy as I already knew what to do. For the cover photo, I used a crowd photo that I get a lot of compliments on, and just a picture of myself for the profile photo. I included a short sentence as my bio which states what I do and where I'm based so people know as soon as they look at my page. I also included contact details and links to my other social media accounts in the 'About' section, then posted a few photos from a recent shoot I did with an artist that I am really proud of. I then invited my friends to like the page and shared the post to my personal, and have already received nearly 100 likes. I included a link for it to my portfolio website too.

Twitter

I have been using Twitter to network with the music industry for a couple of years now and have received many opportunities as a result of it, but rarely tweet, never mind promote my photography on there. I retweet the photos artists post that I have taken of them, and sometimes tweet about music industry news and issues in the world, but it isn't enough. I have recently started to post some photos I have taken on there, and while the engagement is nowhere near as much as it is on Instagram, it's still nice to have the photos on there incase someone discovers me via my Twitter. I plan on using it more as it is such a useful platform for networking in the music industry and I could be missing out on a lot of opportunities just from not having a good presence on there.

LinkedIn is a great networking site for all industries, and I have used it previously to find writing opportunities for myself and give them to others with About That Record. However, I haven't used it that much at all over the past year and my profile was pretty empty. I recently updated my profile to make it appear more professional. Once I had completed my new music-tailored CV, I copied all of the experience section from it to my LinkedIn to make sure it was all up to date. The previous job descriptions for the roles I already had on there weren't great at all, but the new ones are much better and present myself a lot better. I then updated my profile picture & cover, as well as my bio. I also created a job page for About That Record as I hadn't yet set up one, but still need to work on promoting that. I also updated my job preferences and alarms so I will be made aware of any relevant jobs that become available which I can apply to. I now need to go through and network with more people on there and create more job opportunities for myself.

The Dots

The Dots, like LinkedIn, is a networking site but for those in creative sectors. I discovered it last year and set up a profile, but forgot to use it for a few months. However, I have been using it again recently and connecting with people on there. I updated my profile in the same way as LinkedIn, but focused more on the photography work I do. I have networked with a few creatives on there and exchanged opportunities for possible future opportunities.

Business Card

Last year at a gig, I was asked for a business card by an artist. I hadn't thought about getting them before, but after I was asked I decided to get some printed. These include my name, website, Instagram, phone number & email, and one of the pictures I have taken of Flowvers on the front. These have been great to have on me at gigs and networking events (like BBC Introducing) as I have been able to give many out and received some incredible opportunities from it. I do feel that my design is outdated, but as I still have a few left due to lockdown I won't be printing new ones until I have given these ones away too.

NETWORKING SKILLS

I am a freelance music & events photographer based in Brighton who has built up an impressive portfolio & client list in less than 2 years. Artists I have worked with include Starcrawler, Flowvers, Matilda Cole & Emilia Tarrant. I have also shot artists such as Catfish & the Bottlemen, DMA'S, Bastille, Jade Bird and JAWS. Clients include Big Hug Management, Sucker and Young Hearts Promotions.

As well as being a music photographer, I also run a music website dedicated to showcasing new music, reviewing live music and interviewing up-and-coming artists - About That Record. Being the editor of this site has allowed me to attend gigs such as DMA'S and Are as press, as well as Citadel Festival. I have a large network which includes PR companies, music managers and A&R at labels.

I also manage an upcoming band - Ember Tree. We are currently working on building a campaign for their third single, which involves me assisting the band in their rebranding, planning a shoot, and getting a press kit ready to send out to websites, radio stations, etc for the single. I also organise meetings with the band to discuss what they are doing each week and any potential upcoming opportunities they may have.

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I started networking in the music industry when I was 15. I did my Year 11 work experience in a record store where I was able to talk to the customers for 2 weeks and learn more about them, as well as attend an instore performance for the artist Sean McGowan. This helped build my confidence and helped me understand how to network in the industry. After that experience, I sent out lots of emails to various music companies asking to shadow work in the holidays and eventually got the opportunity to work at Warner Music for a week in the summer. This led to me networking with label professionals at 16 and being able to develop my network massively and help me break into the industry.

My networking is a strong point of mine and has led me to networking with many artist managers, and the artists themselves. I have received a few photo passes for gigs from my networking and have also landed many paid freelance photography roles from my networking efforts.