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I don’t want to overstate the obvious, but I bet there’s a lot of you right now who are dying to get out of your town and travel a bit. Lucky for you, I have some pretty great news: traveling can be one of the best ways to boost your music career.
Whether you’re a musician, manager, promoter, label owner, you name it, the way to help propel your career isn’t just by sitting behind your desk or practicing in your room all day. It can actually be extremely beneficial to get out of your chair, outside your city, and explore the world around you.
1. Meet people outside of your city
The number-one argument for traveling outside your city is to gain access to the people you need to meet who don’t live there. One of the most unexpected surprises I had when I made my first big move from Boston to San Francisco was the dramatic way in which meeting people there changed my life.
I was introduced to a fantastic group of musicians and industry professionals that held weekly meetings (called Balanced Breakfast), and the connections that I made there almost two years ago still benefit me today and have helped me launch and grow my business, help other musicians who might be traveling through that area, and gave me the start I needed to get to where I am today. Not to mention I made some truly wonderful friends along the way.
With so much of what we do based online, it’s easier than ever to operate without leaving the house. But it is important to leave the house and make those crucial connections. This past summer I went on a lengthy road trip across North America, and during those four months, I had the opportunity to meet people I’d been talking to or working with for years but never met, along with even more people that they were able to introduce me to.
Those in-person, face-to-face interactions are so important to making a lasting impression and creating bonds. Even just venturing a few towns or states over can make a huge difference.
2. Experience each city's strengths and weaknesses
Growing up in the Northeast, I took a few things to be normal parts of everyday life: hurling sarcasm as a form of endearment, and the fact that growing up, Boston was a metal scene. Today the scene has changed, and while it still has its fair share of metal acts, there’s also a lot of indie rock, folk, EDM, and most other genres you can think of.
But like it or not, some cities don’t cater to every genre, and if yours happens to fall under the umbrella of genres not in abundance, it might be time to consider a career move. One of Muddy Paw’s artists, Bryan Howell, recently outlined the jump he made from New York to Nashville to further his career, and he isn’t alone. Droves of artists make the move to their own personal meccas each year, be it Austin, NYC, or the ever-popular Los Angeles, which draws in flocks of artists each year hoping to make it big.
[5 Crucial Factors You Have to Consider Before Moving to NY or LA for Your Music Career]
However, it isn’t just the myth of a city that makes it the perfect fit for you; it’s the city itself. Before I took that road trip around North America, I was certain Nashville was going to be the place for me. After spending a month there I realized that wasn’t the case, but imagine if I’d simply moved there with nothing but a dream and an ideal vision without ever checking it out for myself.
Dream big and don’t let state lines stop you from chasing your destiny, but remember to be smart in your planning. Do your research, visit the city a few times, and understand its strengths and weaknesses. Maybe it has a killer folk scene and you’re a folk artist, and that seems like the perfect fit. But what about the rest of the culture? What about the price and size of apartments? The weather? (For instance, the South can be brutally hot, while the Northwest tends to get rain most of the year.) How is their public transportation system? Is that important to you? What’s the payment procedure there? Pay to play? Guarantees?
All of these are things you’ll want to find out, and decide how important each is to you. Be honest with yourself. There's nothing worse than trying to fool yourself into thinking a move is a good idea, only to get there and realize you may not have thought it all through.
3. Fuel creativity with adventures
Sometimes I can get so stuck in the day-to-day grind that I can feel my creativity slipping away. Scratch that – running away, because it’s completely stifled by the routine and bored out of its mind with being ignored. But when you take the time to go somewhere new, whether it’s the next city over or another country, your creativity tends to reach its all-time peak. This is usually because you’re totally uninhibited and not thinking about work like it’s some kind of time bomb that needs tending to 24/7.
You’re engaging all of your senses, including your childlike sense of wonder – a trait that is so important to our personal and professional growth, yet is regularly stifled. Taking the time to explore the world around you and step away from whatever has been fueling your stress will allow you the creative freedom to begin making art again in whatever way makes the most sense to you.
Angela Mastrogiacomo is the owner of Muddy Paw Public Relations and Infectious Magazine. She has also founded several chapters of the free weekly music industry meetup Balanced Breakfast. Muddy Paw specializes in working with up-and-coming artists on personalized campaigns designed to bring their careers to the next level. To date, they've secured placements on sites such as Noisey, AbsolutePunk, Substream, Property Of Zack, PureVolume, Anti-Music, and many more.
