How do you get into the music industry?

Still, you made the difficult and well-considered decision to work in this industry. Whether you’re 18 or 40, educated or self-taught—it doesn’t matter. When I moved to Kyiv back in 2012, I didn’t know the inside workings, and that made my path somewhat harder. There were a lot of false expectations and idealizations, which reality painfully smashed. And so—how do you actually get on this train?)

1. An obvious fact — move to Kyiv.

A slightly odd piece of advice in the 5th year of the war, but still. When I lived in BC, my friends and I believed that some magical audition would get us jobs in show business. We didn’t even know what the job was or how it worked, but we really wanted it) In short, that’s very unlikely. First, no one knows you, second — no one will risk working with someone from another city without a reputation. You’ll constantly have to think about getting you there and back, you’re less mobile, etc.

2. If your age and circumstances allow it, get an education.

It’s not even about the quality of it (although I’ll definitely write about that experience), but about the community. When I came to Kyiv in 2012, I had a guitar in a forever case from Acropolis, a Nike bag with my mom’s cutlets, and a desire to play guitar) I didn’t know a single person. By 2016, when I graduated, I knew and shook hands with almost every musician connected to this field. That’s the biggest plus of education, not the knowledge you may or may not actually get.

3. Media presence.

We live in the era of social media and technology. Promote yourself however you can. Film videos of yourself playing, post them, comment. It’s not even about being a blogger, but about being visible. If your videos/audio are good enough, sooner or later something will break through from somewhere. Not necessarily the first time. You’ll connect in the comments somewhere, someone will write to you and offer a feat or any kind of collaboration.

The bassist of The Hardkiss just shot a really cool cover of their track. They saw it and appreciated it. He has worked there for more than 10 years. It’s also important that, in case of any emergency, you can send 2–3 videos to a person right then and there. And that they’re of decent quality. Basically, I can do this—and it sounds like this. In the era of iPhones and cheap audio interfaces, making good content is not a problem. As long as you have the desire.

4. Go to jams and concerts.

Meet people. Be more cheerful and kinder) At jams, communication between musicians happens. You meet, exchange contacts, and then, maybe, something will come of it. Don’t be afraid to take unpaid or very low-paid jobs at first. It’s experience, it’s connections, it’s skill. For a person who has just arrived and doesn’t know anyone, it’s a good opportunity.

One acquaintance of mine with zero portfolio threw a fit to the heavens because he was asked to appear in a music video with an artist he had worked with. Not only did he refuse, he spent about 10 minutes saying that "it costs $100 an hour, no less" and so on. It’s not hard to guess how his musical fate turned out.

5. Connections. Too bad not a sister)

Quite often you can get in through connections via some influential acquaintance. The question is where to get one) That’s all very well, but if you yourself are slacking, they’ll quickly kick you out. So connections are connections, but you need to prove yourself. Otherwise, that’s the end of it.

6. Auditions.

More than half of my spots I won in fair competition at auditions. The secret is simple — the Bila Tserkva kind of responsibility:

Arrive half an hour early

dress well, record, learn all the songs.

be better prepared than everyone else

choose the sounds, etc.

In short, P — preparation. As my first artist used to say: "Why not take you? Unclear)".

Auditions are public, there are many of them. Follow them, go, try — and it will work out.

In conclusion — try all the options, and it will work out.

Not right away, not the way you want, and not when you want. But you need to believe and do everything for it. As one movie character said: "It’s impossible to make the woman of your dreams fall in love with you, but you can significantly increase your chances".