Artist Speak: Jeri Goldstein

"I’m surprised that so many artists have business plans. They may not be the traditional IBM business and marketing plan, but they work just as effectively. One of my clients, the goth band, Bella Morte, walked into a major bank with their purple hair, piercings, a Power Point presentation and a specific plan and walked out with a $70,000 loan. With that plan and the money, they were able to set forth an Action Plan that allowed them to buy back the rights of their work from the record company."

Jeri Goldstein is a former music agent and manager who is author of the award-winning self-published book How To Be Your Own Booking Agent (now in it’s 7^th printing). The book is used as a text book in music business courses at Universities across the US and in Canada and by musicians and performing artists world-wide. Jeri is also a performing arts consultant who offers strategies and techniques on booking tours, negotiation techniques, marketing, music business and performing arts career development. www.performingbiz.com.

Myth Six 1f: You will get "discovered."

Hidden in the old growth of judgments and expectations and fears, there is something you want to say with your art, something that burns inside you so passionately that you would have to do it or risk burning up in the atmosphere and crash. My guess is that this story has nothing to do with being discovered. My guess is that it has very little to do with being on Oprah. Yet, it has everything to do with finding that one illusive thing that people will connect with.

As Jeri Goldstein, artist consultant and author of the book “How to be Your Own Booking Agent,” confesses, “Artists need to understand that they have to create a demand for what they are offering and this can’t be created out of thin air.”

The demand that you create comes first. The so-called “discovery” comes next. What have you done today in terms of your art career to help you connect with others in the world? If you said nothing, you should know there are thousands of artists out there with less talent than you who did at least one thing today to bring them closer to their own success. If you’re waiting to be discovered, it may just be an excuse. You need to focus on what you want, move in the direction of your vision and be vigilant about your plan of action.  

Jeri Goldstein

Jeri Goldstein is a former music agent and manager who is author of the award-winning self-published book How To Be Your Own Booking Agent (now in it’s 7^th printing). The book is used as a text book in music business courses at Universities across the US and in Canada and by musicians and performing artists world-wide. Jeri is also a performing arts consultant who offers strategies and techniques on booking tours, negotiation techniques, marketing, music business and performing arts career development. www.performingbiz.com.