You will have rough months in this business. You will have days where you really question why you are sticking this out. If you truly put in work, you may even go a full year of feeling like you have no clue why you remain in the race. People will even encourage you to bow out. But if you remain in this for the right reasons, you will reap the benefits. These perks might not be a million dollar check, private jets, or sold out arenas with your artist, band, or DJ. But it will feel right and you will know it. With that said, don’t get involved in this to simply “get on” or be famous. We are often blinded by the glitz and glamour of an industry that is always demanding of your time and mental sanity. You have to always give this your all. Even when times are down, you must stick with your team and lift each other up.

I won’t lie. I often doubt myself and where I am heading. I sometimes lose focus of what my goals really were when I stepped into the business years ago. The music industry can be very deceiving whether you are an outside eye or in the race. Yes, I am wired differently than a lot of you. I have not always made the right choices. I have an intense nature that does not allow me to enjoy much success or achievement. If I do it is very short lived. Is that a bad thing? No. Since I never feel accomplished, I never stop.

Although I am cognizant of my faults, it is difficult to change. Don’t be like me in this aspect. Every step you take in this industry is a big one. Use each positive step in the right direction as a stepping stone and learning experience. Do not try to jump from A to Z. If people are noticing your movement, chances are it will continue to grow if you work hard. There is no half stepping this business! It is true that people cut corners and taste success, but it is almost always temporary. I truly believe that I get a lot of respect from my peers because I avoided the easy way in. I make sure to always show appreciation to whoever covers an artist I represent or reaches out to me for advice. We are all in need of mentors. Including myself.

This is not an overnight business and as I said before, if you have attainted overnight success you most likely will fall. An important colleague and mentor of mine recently made a great point. In mentioning that I was becoming discouraged by the lack of progress on a project we have been working on for years, he mentioned the word “Groundswell.” It was an accurate depiction of who this artist is and what we all have created as a team. This specific project is a grassroots grind that is slowly making its way across the world. It’s the right model for longevity! Think groundswell.

Look, this shit can be very frustrating. For whenever you think you are breaking an artist a bit you fall. Whenever you think you have fallen on your worst day you persevere and mold into something better. In the upcoming years, I’m going to do my best to go with gut instinct. I often think I know more than I do and the truth is, I don’t even know what exact curve this business is heading down. All I can say is that I am one hundred percent confident that if the music sounds right and the people are responding it’s a positive sign. I will never forget the first time I heard every artist I love. Don’t ever forget the second you heard your favorite artist or the artist you believe you will break one day. Believe.

From Drop Box

The entertainment business is ego driven. When I entered it, I was wide eyed in terms of what to expect. I hadn’t been burned or disappointed, so for the most part my expectations weren’t ego driven. I always had an ego though. It’s par for the course in this business. But when does too much ego begin to affect your world and those involved in it?

Let’s start with false titles. As soon as you enter the game, you immediately meet hundreds of “CEO’s,” “A&R’s,” “Presidents,” “Producers,” “Directors,” and all types of people with false vanity labels they bestow upon themselves. The key is to navigate around these folks. If someone considers themself a boss, but you sense they don’t have much to offer, steer clear of them. This is not even from a financial point of view. Support, guidance, and learning from someone can triumph over a check any day. People are manipulative and cruel in this business. You can become a puppet quickly. Most importantly, false titles yield false egos. With false egos comes a losing team.

Have I ever given myself a false title for my work? No. If anything, some people don’t even know exactly what I do. In a business where the model is changing daily, how can anyone have a proper lane or title? My advice to you is to accumulate as much information and knowledge as you can in the music industry. Do everything and do not limit yourself. I created my lane pretty much on my own. I continue to do so daily. You should be creating your own brand too. If you work for a big corporation this is a different. If that’s you, you’ve most likely signed contracts disallowing this. However, if you’re molding your own career, sans corporate gig, be a sponge for information and have an open mind to learn from anything and anyone.

In my first column, I wrote, “I do not concern myself with Diddy or Jay Z’s latest signings.” I represent several artists who are arguably better than what those executives represent. I reiterate, if you are a newcomer it is discouraging to compare yourself to executives with multi-million dollar budgets. But what do you do when these older artists won’t step down from the mic? Or better yet, start to promote their own artists with their name attached to it.

It’s difficult enough to break a new artist. Now imagine you are going up against these established executives plus their new “cosign.” It quadruples the degree of difficulty for your quest.

Everybody wants the crown. It’s understandable; this is show business. But there’s a time when the older artists and executives need to pass the torch to a newer generation. If they don’t, what do you do to take control of your own destiny?

It’s a tough call. But don’t be afraid to carve your own path. If you are a young entrepreneur, be a pioneer for what you believe in no matter what. Do not allow the masses to create your vision. Do not allow anyone to give you a title or stop you from evolving. Navigate through this business with no fear or regrets. Explore uncharted waters. Shake things up. Say what you feel and seize the opportunity no matter what type of platform you have. The more you stay quiet in this game, the less people will you hear you. The less people hear you, the less you will eat.

We are in an age where music is given away before it is even attempted to be sold. If you truly want to succeed in this industry, be prepared to not only drop solid music consistently year after year, but to give it away for free. And that’s just a small piece of the equation! You will be lucky if people even want to listen to your free music in this oversaturated, cheapened market.

A lot of people ask me “How do I get my music out there?” I’m not even sure what that means, but here are a few simple suggestions. By writing “Nahright” or the “XXLstaff” on Twitter, “My mixtape is the shit. I’m next up,” you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. By sending the staff members of AllHipHop or HipHopDx your zshare link to your self proclaimed regional smash you will most likely never be heard. These industry professionals deal with incoming mail, meetings, proposals, and phone calls all day and night. They literally get thousands of messages and MP3’s to sift through per week. Be patient!

Do you need someone like me to get your music out there? Yes, most likely. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles. I have been patient in building myself a great database of industry contacts who for the most part respect me and what I pitch. Do I always win? Hell no. In response, sure it means a lot to have a reputable name backing your product. But don’t just rely on that plan. Study blueprints. Check your surroundings. Do you even have a buzz within your own network? This meaning your music gets love on your Myspace, Imeem, Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter pages. Does your product have a demand outside of your friends and hometown? Do people come to your shows? Can you sell a few hundred physical copies of your tape?

People from my hometown of Pittsburgh often send me these types of messages.

“Peep this. I’m next up. 412 stand up.”

“Ain’t nobody fuckin with these tracks. I’m the real deal in Pittsburgh.”

“I’m the hottest in the streets right now. Peep the music.”

“This is the new Pittsburgh anthem. Let’s get it! We got em goin crazy!”

While I admire all of your persistence, any half decent executive who cares about the direction of their brand will know if an artist has a buzz. Especially in their own backyard! I never take a day off of trying to hear about a new producer or artist from the Pittsburgh region. When I come home I try to spend as much time in the communities with my peers as possible. Since I am based in NYC, it is difficult to stay up on the exact pulse of the city. Want my attention and everyone else’s? Do it on your own with a team.

If you believe in your product, you shouldn’t even be concerned with who is covering your music. Rock as many local shows as possible, network with other artists and producers, give away music, and become internet savvy. If the music is good, it will stick. If it does not, perhaps you should be looking elsewhere for income and stability.

Take your time with this business. While it does indeed move at light speed, your music and movement should be timeless. Clichés aside, success does not happen overnight. Don’t come into this with the sole intentions of “gettin on” or “blowin up.” If you think that way, it will most likely never happen. If it does, you will be done soon. If it does not, enjoy your steady climb to the top or rise to the middle. Not everyone is going to be a superstar.

I have been involved in this business for four plus years. I have built solid relationships all around the country. I have had great success with developing artists on the strength of an Internet buzz. At the same time, I still have days where I get little to no response from top tier bloggers or sites for what I pitch. Don’t take it personally. And if you do, please use it as motivation to do better. Negativity will get you nowhere. If you believe in your abilities and do it the right way, it will work itself out one way or another.

Follow me at http://twitter.com/ArthurPitt

My name is Arthur Pitt.

I entered the music business just when it was making its curve towards the digital world. Perfect timing. This is not to say anything was easy. Over the years, I spent countless hours on Myspace learning the best ways to add “friends” manually. As exciting and fast as the digital world might seem to the outside eye, building your database and contacts is quite the contrary. It is a hustle of its own. It takes a relentless push forward and great product to spin. But it is the future. Luckily I had both to start.

A lot of the early marketing development of the first artist I worked with, Wiz Khalifa, was done on Myspace. We didn’t have a huge budget to get Wiz on the radio right away or a hot 16 from Jay Z. We were simply a grassroots teams with major label dreams.

I soon came to find out there was more than Myspace. Youtube was an effective tool for an artist. The Youtube hits and street videos we shot for Wiz soon led to him being featured on some of the top hip hop sites in the country. Before I knew it, I was servicing Wiz’s records to AllHipHop and XXLmag.com without a major label deal. My hustle was relentless and people were taking notice of our team. My guerilla style marketing tactics turned some off, but there was always someone standing beside a person who thought I was too much that would cosign for me. I was breaking into the business fast.

Sometime around 2007, the major labels started to notice us. We had been to places where no one from my hometown of Pittsburgh had been. With that said, a lot of these unchartered territories were places like Allhiphop, Nahright, and XXLmag.com. MTV, BET, and major radio airplay were in the works for Wiz. However, by utilizing the digital world first, we were doing things the right way. By June 2007, we had signed with Warner Bros. Records. Wiz was only 19. I had only been in the business for two years.

So what am I getting at? Can you have a meteoric rise with the right grind and product in this game? You bet. Can you quickly fall if you don’t respect the future and study what’s around the corner? You bet. Can you set yourself up for failure if you compare yourself to everything going around you? You bet.

Don’t waste your time trying to be the next Diddy or Jay Z. There will never be two like them. Do I study their words and how they achieved success? Of course. Do I compare my artists with who they have signed with their multi-million dollar budgets and contacts? Yes and no. I do it because I have to understand what type of music I am competing against. But it stops there. My sense of urgency kicks in. I know that it is pointless to compare myself or my artists/clients to an Irv Gotti’s or Jay Z’s latest signee. I have to focus on using what resources I have. I have to try to outwork them, put out better music, and utilize what I know better than them.

When my good friend Paul and I discussed me writing a column for this site, I wanted to share some of my early experiences with readers and my fellow music industry colleagues.

This past month has really been an amazing time for me. Wiz Khalifa’s latest mixtape Flight School has been downloaded over 90,000 times for free. Besides all the touring and promotion he does, Wiz has grasped the importance of the net. Just last week, he started to broadcast himself via his Twitter account. Before we knew it, he was a “Trending Topic” next to the Swine Flu and Grey’s Anatomy. Wiz understands the curve.

Another artist of mine, Boaz, a 22 year old MC from Pittsburgh was featured on the front page of Myspace Music and iTunes Music within a week. The staff at Apple loved his album so much they made him the “Featured Artist of the Week.” Boaz is a street savvy kid from the hood in Pittsburgh with a relentless grind to match mine. He can now fully grasp the importance of the net. I am proud to say that I have been a major part in showing him the future of the business. Boaz knows that while the majors can be a great avenue, it’s not the only way to make money in music.

Whether you know my name now or whom I represent you will soon. I am a huge part of the future of this business. No matter what, I will continue to go hard and put my artists up against companies with staffs and departments. I will compete against people who have longer money than we might have. I will always do my best to win. I am the future of this shit. Be inspired. Be focused. Believe. From Larimer to iTunes. What up Boaz!!

Arthur Pitt can be reached at artie@rostrumrecords.com or artie.pitt@gmail.com