Season 5 - Episode 10: Eric Knight & Ritch Esra of MUBUTV - Learning Who Your Audience Is, Finding Where They Are And Going After Them

This week we are wrapping up season 5 with two amazing guests! I’m talking with Eric Knight & Ritch Esra of MUBUTV (Music Business Television) in Los Angeles, CA. These guys have a combined goldmine of knowledge and advice that covers the whole gambit of the music industry. Ritch worked at two record labels; A&M in radio promotion and Arista in A&R where he had the privilege of working with the legendary Clive Davis who has signed some of the biggest artists in the world including Whitney Houston and Kelly Clarkson. Eric has opened for such acts as KISS, Dave Matthews Band, Aerosmith and Kid Rock. He started his own artist management company Persistent Management™ not only for his own career as an artist but also to create a vehicle for other artists to achieve their artistic vision and integrity. Their MUBUTV Insider Series and Insider podcast is similar to my YOU CAN Make A Living In The Music Industry podcast as they have guests from all over the industry sharing knowledge that will help you make a living in music no matter what area you are pursuing. We are a companion series to each other and I can’t recommend them enough to check out (after you listen to this episode of course!) We are discussing the importance of being educated about your chosen career path. Why you no longer need a record deal to be successful. Why you have to be a jack of all trades AND a master of all. Plus, learning who your audience is, finding where they are, then going after them. And we discuss how MUBUTV’s goal is to educate, empower and engage your music career.

Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions - We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com. 

In this episode we discuss:
*The importance of internships.
*The Music Business Registry.
*Become educated about your chosen career path.
*MUBUTV (Music Business Television) is a companion type podcast to YOU CAN Make A Living In The Music Industry.
*How to listen to songs for A&R.
*The criteria of the kind of artists today has changed because of a copy model (CDs, tapes, etc.) to an access model (streaming for free).
*Artists signings today are not just about who is successful or about their music. Today its about who they are, where are they from, what do they represent? What are their values? 
*You no longer need a record deal to be successful.
*The real challenge today is the ability to get someone’s attention.
*You must find an audience for your music before A&R or labels will put time, energy and effort   into you.
*We are no longer just artists. We are business leaders.
*A&R was a faith based business. That model changed with technology.
*Today technology allows us to ask if there is a market for my music without A&R.
*Who is my audience?
*If you don’t know who your audience is at the beginning of your career, start making a serious commitment to learning who they are.
*Being an artist who has been signed to a label and also an indie.
*Find where your niche is, that narrow world where you can build your career.
*Major labels are amplifiers to a career.
*Adapting is the key.
*A booking agent won’t sign you as an indie unless you can sell at least 300-500 seats on your own.
*You have to be a jack of all trades and a master of all.
*Learning who your audience is, finding where they are and going after them.
*The more you know, the more valuable you become to companies.
*MUBUTV’s goal is to educate, empower and engage your music career.
*Study the lives of other successful people in the industry.
*www.mubutv.com
*www.youtube.com/mubutv

 

BIO:

Ritch Esra | Co-Founder

I started my career in 1978 at Record World, a leading trade magazine and have spent my entire career in this industry.  From 1980 - 1987 I worked at two record labels; A&M in radio promotion and Arista in A&R where I had the privilege of working with the legendary Clive Davis.
In 1986, I began teaching several music business courses at various schools including Trebas Institute of Recording Arts, UCLA Extension, SAE (School for Audio Engineering) and Musicians Institute where I continue to teach today.
In 1992 I formed the Music Business Registry with my business partner Stephen Trumbull. For the last twenty years, we have published the music industries leading contact directories for personnel in A&R, Music Publishing, Film/Television Music, Music Law and Artist Management.
MUBUTV™is a blend of my passion for music as well as educating artists and others who have a strong curiosity about music, technology and the new emerging models within the business.

Eric Knight | Co-Founder

As an independent recording artist, I have taken the contemporarily appropriate “do-it-yourself” attitude to a whole new level; Having opened for such acts as KISS, Dave Matthews Band, Aerosmith and Kid Rock, I have worked tirelessly to introduce my original music to the masses.
Throughout my career, I have worked on both the performing and business sides of the music industry. Besides being an accomplished musician with a strong D.I.Y. work ethic, I started my own artist management company Persistent Management™ not only for my own career as an artist but also to create a vehicle for other artists to achieve their artistic vision and integrity.
My band Rock act Disciples of Babylon has put everything I've learned throughout my career to the test in order to build a self sustaining career that is totally autonomous and completely independent.  
My current and most ambitious project, Symbiotic Nation™ is a new entertainment company startup with a mission to reinvent the entertainment industry completely. “Think Google of the new entertainment industry.”
I am a voting member to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Science [NARAS] and The Latin Recording Academy [LARAS] Grammy Awards.
I’ve always had a strong passion for teaching and sharing my experience with other aspiring artists, musicians and industry professionals. As a result, I have lectured and conducted several workshops over the years with students at the Berklee School of Music in Boston as well as my alma mater Musicians Institute [MI] in Los Angeles.
MUBUTV™ is the ultimate vehicle where I feel there is a genuine opportunity for artists and musicians like myself to empower themselves in order to survive as well as thrive in this new era.