Networking as an EDM producers will become beneficial to your career. 9 times out of 10 it will take someone within your network to get you a major opportunity. Opportunities like playing a mainstage, signing with a major label, or even getting a big collab.
As you evolve, so too will your network. People will introduce you to newer and bigger people, and those people will keep the ball rolling down the hill.
But when you’ve hit that point in your career where you need to grow your network, how do you go about that? Well as I like to do, let’s start in person and locally.
Local Networking as EDM Producers
It’s no secret that one of the best ways to gain notoriety in your country, is to start locally. Grow regionally, and finally, nationally. Before you can get that notoriety, you have to, as I stated before, start in your local scene.
This is something I constantly preach, become more active in your local area! This is honestly the key to growing your network just as fast, if not faster than online.
In fact, growing your network locally is usually the fast track to achieving your goals quicker.
Find out where and when the local shows are happening in your area, and go to them. There will be times where there is a show on a Wednesday night that goes till 2:00 AM. You’ve got to decide if it’s worth staying out that late.
Some days, you just have to lose sleep to advance yourself for your music.
If there are any young EDM producers reading this right now, there’s one piece of advice I can give to you. If you truly are SERIOUS about wanting to be full time with music, never have a job that you can’t throw away tomorrow and get the same type of job next week.
It’s true that these jobs normally don’t pay well, you might not have a consistent schedule, and you may even need to get a 2nd job. I usually recommend artists try getting a job at their favorite venue.
Doing this gives you the freedom to not have to worry about your job, you can put 10x more energy into music. This includes going out to multiple shows a week to support the people within your network.
When you find out when and where your local shows are happening, go to them and start shaking hands. Be the first one there, and the last to leave; oh and don’t forget to bring friends!
Introduce yourself to the bartenders, the people running audio and lights, opening DJ’s, promoters, people at the door; ANYONE AND EVERYONE.
You want your good name to be spread around by every single person. This makes the people within your EDM network want to be around you and work with you more. Make sure that more people have better things to say about you.
The one book to read that I will go to my death bed preaching to anyone who wants to grow their network is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This is the one book that will make you realize how much of a piece of shit you are, until you finally decide to do something about it. Follow this book as your guide when you introduce yourself to people.
When you do introduce yourself, don’t immediately announce to the person that you’re also a producer/DJ who is also looking for a gig. These people have heard this a million times and don’t care.
Instead, ask them questions, keep them talking, be interested in who they are and what they do, and keep that going for as long as possible.
Everyone wants to tell someone about themselves, how amazing they are, and what they are doing is special and different. Almost no one wants to hear about it… except you… You should be the person that cannot wait to hear about what they are doing, and how amazing it is.
Now obviously, you shouldn’t be fake, so if it doesn’t interest you, find a way to change the subject or leave. However, if you have an intense passion for music, and you’re at a show with people playing music that you’re passionate about, it should be easy to talk to someone about how fervent they are for the music you are also passionate about!
It should get to the point where they’ve been talking, and you’ve kept them talking, for 10-20 minutes, but the longer the better. If you’ve gotten to that point and they finally ask what you do, now’s the time to tell them that you’re a producer/DJ.
More than likely they’d be willing to hear more about what you do, but don’t keep the subject about you for too long.
Again, the key focus is to keep the subject on them, not on you.
You want the other person to walk away from the conversation thinking, “Wow! *insert your name here* is such a great listener! I can’t wait to talk to them next time!”
If you get that kind of reaction, you nailed it!
You have just successfully added someone to your network. But not just any someone to any network, you’ve established a strong link in an already strong, and growing network.
You want every person in your network to be as strong as the link next to them, so that when you finally go to ask them for a favor, they would be more than happy to help you out.
At this point I’m sure you’re thinking, “That’s it? Just act like I like someone and they’ll help me out?”
Well, no. There’s more work that needs to be done in order to make them an even stronger link in your network. If you’ve finally introduced yourself to someone you want in your network, it’s time to support them until the cows come home.
Before you end the introduction, you’ve probably already heard them talk about the things they love to do, and if it’s a producer/DJ then they’ve probably already told you about the music/shows they play.
Now you need to determine how you can support them, ask when their next show is coming out, ask for their Spotify artist profile and pull out your phone, immediately follow them, and start adding their tracks to your playlists.
This shows support right in front of them, it goes a long, long way.
Go to their next show, add them on Facebook, and keep talking to them, you need to establish a relationship.
Support them as much as possible, and as often as possible, sometimes it just takes a simple Facebook share to show your support.
Networking as EDM Producers Online
Networking as EDM Producers online is a little bit different than networking in person. Though they share similarities in tactics, there are many unique ones that are solely for online interactions that would otherwise not work offline.
The first step is the actual interaction. Instead of outright introducing yourself the way you would in person, you’re going to do a bit of lurking around their profile for a few weeks.
Anytime you immediately jump into someone’s inbox before they either:
- Know who you are.
Or
2. Get introduced to you by someone else.
They’re usually turned off and won’t respond to any of your messages.
To avoid this issue, you’ll want to ease into the relationship with this person. That means adding them, if you can.
(if you send them a friend request and they don’t accept, just follow them for the time being).
Be sure to set their posts to always show up first, that way you consistently see them in their feed.
Now you’ll want to start liking their stuff, sharing things, commenting and starting conversations in their thread. This will help them get used to you and your name popping up every now and then.
Obviously you don’t want to do this with every single post, otherwise it might seem a bit creepy. For now, just engage with the posts that you can actually relate to and find interest in.
You’ll want to keep this going for at least 3 – 4 weeks. Once you find something that you can really relate to and actually start a personal conversation, then you want to shoot them a message.
When you’re there, keep the conversation going on a topic you both really enjoy. If you can actually start a conversation, then you’re golden. This means that if you find an update on this topic, or something new, you can immediately message them and say, “Did you check this out!? This is crazy!”
You now share something personal and intriguing, this is how you build a strong bond/relationship.
Next thing you know, they’ll start tagging you in these sorts of posts; hook, line, and sinker.
Now comes the support. If they throw shows, share their posts and tag friends, get conversations going in your threads about their stuff. Keep showing your support and work on building the relationship for 1-2 months.
At this point, it’s best to try and meet in person, if at all possible, so you can get physically introduced. Invite them out to a casual lunch or dinner so you can work on the relationship offline.
Once you see an opportunity for them to help you out, then now will probably be the time to reach out. From here on out, you’ve probably established a pretty good friendship with this person and they’ll more than likely be willing to help you out.
Congratulations, you’ve just added another strong link to the web of your network, all while from the comfort of your own home! Networking as EDM producers is a slow process. Take your time and work on building strong relationships.