I wanted to keep the mindset related themes going and after covering the concepts of playing the long game and momentum the last 2 weeks, I thought it’d be worth talking about the idea of “following up” in this week’s newsletter.

This newsletter highlights:

• The importance of following up in the entertainment industry

Let’s dive in ⬇️

While reflecting on my 10 year anniversary of working in the music industry this summer, I couldn’t help but think about the idea and importance of “following up”. Sure, there’s tons of other factors, variables, and events that happened that have helped me find success in music but one thing that goes severely overlooked is the importance of following up with people.

This idea can apply to almost everyone working in the entertainment industry (and life in general) - artists, managers, executives, interns, etc. Literally anyone who is trying to push something forward.

The idea of “following up” and persistence is largely what helped kickstart my career in the music industry…

While reflecting on my 10 year anniversary earlier this summer, I came across the initial outreach email I sent to pitch my now employer. (I actually cringed looking at the email I wrote from 2014 - I can’t believe I said “Dear ___” as if I was writing a letter…sigh).

Cringe aside, I noticed that in the email correspondence, I had followed up and checked in multiple times after not hearing back - it actually took almost 2 months to schedule a call from the time I initially reached out. I checked in once a month for two months until the call was set. 10 years later, I realized I must’ve made a mental note to check in (as opposed to just hoping the conversation continued or letting it go) because it was that important.

Now, this newsletter isn’t about my email outreach but it is about the power and importance of following up (in a polite and respectful way) when you don’t hear back.

The truth is…most people don’t follow up. They send the initial email, text, or outreach, hope someone responds, and if they don’t hear back they just move on. There is power in being persistent for everybody:

Artists

This applies to literally everything. Reaching out to someone to try and create an opportunity for yourself and don’t hear back? Try checking in again (politely of course) or take another route. If they don’t respond on email after 2 follow ups, try a social media DM if it’s that important.

Looking to get in touch with a specific producer and they don’t respond to your first message? Without bombarding or spamming them, it’s okay to follow up once more.

It also applies (conceptually) to releasing music. Many artists just release music few and far between and don’t really follow up their music with consistent releases. You can make things in your favor by following up releases with more releases. Following up is in many cases code word for persistence.

Managers

Doing outreach on behalf of your artist and not getting in touch with the people you want yet? At some point maybe your outreach needs to be tweaked but it’s important to not give up.

Be persistent (politely) and check in a few times if you need too. People’s emails get overflowed and emails and text messages get missed. People are more overstimulated than ever so it’s easier than ever to miss things.

Internships

I hear so many stories of those in college or recent graduates applying for an internship or entry level job once, not hearing back, and moving on.

Did you send 2-3 follow up emails?

Did you go on LinkedIn to see who the hiring manager was and message them directly?

Did you message another person in that department to see if you can get in touch? There’s a fine line in being persistent and annoying but so many people give up so easily nowadays.

Overall

This applies to literally everyone - working at a record label, trying to set up a marketing campaign for your artist and the agency you’re trying to get in touch with isn’t responding? Follow up again or try finding another point of contact.

Following up not only increases the chances of the other party seeing it, it also communicates that you’re taking the matter seriously and there’s some level of importance.

Let’s be real…communication in the entertainment industry (specifically music) is a mess lol. It’s spread across text messages, social media DMs, emails, Slack, and more. It’s so scattered that there’s actually a decent likelihood that whoever you’re communicating with may forget to respond. Persistence is key.

Hopefully this in your career communication.

Thanks for reading, until next time.