Increasingly over the years, it has become difficult to define the complexity of a musicians work, as it seems an umbrella term, of a protean profession where roles are always changing. There are no defined working hours or place of work. They need to acquire a range of skills or reinventing oneself and building sustainable practices taking advantage of the various resources and social media platforms.
Hence musicians need to be creative entrepreneurs, periodically self-reflecting on their competencies undertaking personal skills audit by being honest and acknowledging gaps and weaknesses. These can be a hindrance. To understand and encapsulate where you are and where you would like to be with regards to your career/profession and progression, it is in order to carry out a SWOT analysis. Horn (2009) states that one needs the capacity and willingness to acquire and productively apply new knowledge. One has to be disciplined, focused, self-driven and motivated enough, finding means, techniques, and opportunities in a process of personal development to learn new things and improve and build on strengths.
‘If you fail to plan you plan to fail,’ therefore I have been able to actively use the Gantt chart an effective tool for ordering my to-do lists and project management. Production lab requires that I have various skillsets including research. I have taken it upon myself to attend the weekly Wednesday research seminars, which informs different areas and techniques by academics.
According to De Bono, (1933) lateral thinking enables cutting across patterns and suspending judgment (cited in Winstanley, 2005, p.68). Hence through actively practicing mind-mapping and bouncing off new ideas, exchanging talents or collaborating on projects with colleagues aids seeing things from different perspectives. It keeps in check my interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, which requires flexibility and adaptability. This is useful as my work involves working with the wider community, which involves pedagogy of both practical and theoretical teaching approaches.
Networking for self-promotion. This an area I have struggled with and of late have attended events such as the Music Managers Forum and been more active on social media creating interest, awareness, building a community trust, time and engagement with a wider audience. Being able to tap into the various aspects of social media platforms used correctly as content hubs for reviews and what could be done better.
Attending video and still camera workshops with SISO and asking a colleague to teach me how to use iMovie. As an ongoing exercise, a skills audit is essential in keeping abreast of things, business wise and otherwise.
References
Anderton, C., Dubber, A. and James, M. (2013). Understanding the music industries. 1st ed. London: Calif. [u.a.].
Henry, C. (2007). Entrepreneurship in the creative industries. 1st ed. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Horn, R. (2009) The business skills handbook. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Winstanley, D. (2005) Personal effectiveness: A guide to action. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
MED7020 Popular Music as Commerce 
I really liked your point about how difficult it is to define the complexity of a musician’s work. I think in today’s music industry it is perhaps more important now than ever that a musician isn’t ‘just a musician’. Artists and bands are businesses, and the performers (or management) involved need to possess a wide array of skills to be successful – oversaturation, technological advancement and consumer activity (music for free, expectations of artists etc.) have all contributed to a renewed need for bands and artists to have skills such as social media knowledge, digital marketing, physical marketing, data analysis – in addition to keeping the creative side fresh and contemporary.
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