Throughout this module, several areas of the music industries have been highlighted and analysed. The sheer variety within the music industry has meant that contemporary music industry professionals – particularly within the live music industry – have to ‘wear many hats’ (Brennan and Webster, 2011). Indeed, in a digital musical landscape within which creators can easily teach themselves to produce music from the comfort of their own homes (Lawson 2009), professionals need to teach themselves a wide-encompassing set of skills due to what some would argue is an increasingly incoherent production-distribution-consumption line simply to stay in work. This is why it is useful to perform regular skills audits. For the sake of clarity, I will be conducting a skills audit on myself with a specific job in mind (Hayton and Loveder, 1992) – the job in question is a Management Support Scheme opportunity for NVS Music Group (Outlook Festival, Dimensions Festival) from last year, specifically within the production, creative or PR departments.
Creative
- Creative Thinking: Whilst I do see myself as a creative person and thinker, the Enterprise module I sat during 1st term did illustrate that creativity can be encouraged and bred – there are several methods to train yourself into a more creative thought process, such as James Taylor’s ‘Five Stages’ method (2014).
- Creative Skills: In relation to my technical abilities with creative production (music, graphics, design), I feel my skills relatively weak. I believe that understanding all facets of how music is written and produced can make any music professional better at their job – this is displayed through a case study of backline on stages. Having a basic knowledge of this (through gigging in a band or otherwise) opens several more job opportunities (stage management, technician), and so is a facet of my skills I would like to improve.
Production
- Understanding: Whilst I have seen production offices and have a basic understanding of their responsibilities, I believe I need to develop this. I have begun this process through working on the organisation team of a music festival alongside my studies, but it is certainly an area I could have a better knowledge of.
PR
- Writing: Whilst I believe my writing ability to be one of my strongest skills, I feel I could still improve by widening the variety of styles I write in. Copyrighting, for example, is an area I have recently began to gain more experience in that I still see as improvable.
- Networking: Whilst not strictly involved in this job, the importance of professional networking and branding for career development is paramount now more than ever, and is something I want to improve on throughout my career.
Bibliography
- Brennan, M. and Webster, E. (2011) Why Concert Promoters Matter. Scottish Music Review. 2(1).
- Hayton, G. and Loveder, P. (1992). How to do a skills analysis and skills audit. 1st Adelaide: TAFE.
- Lawson, S. (2009). Independent Music Manifesto. [online] Stevelawson.net. Available at: http://www.stevelawson.net/2009/09/independent-music-manifesto/ [Accessed 8 March 2017].
- Taylor, J. (2014). The Five Stages of the Creative Process. [online] James Taylor. Available at: https://www.jamestaylor.me/creative-process-five-stages/ [Accessed 8 March 2017].
MED7020 Popular Music as Commerce 
Skills audits, as essential as they are daunting, play a constructive role in self-reflection. This short blog shows that without being too self-critical, which cannot be easy. It has an almost ‘DIY’ thinking to it in terms of ‘I can do this’ which in itself is encouraging to other bloggers in the same boat. It also gives an insight, though brief, of how to use the building blocks of a skills audit. As blogs go, concise and to the point.
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