They have photos and videos and websites and can make a more complete presentation. Now with the internet, artists have new ways to make money and new ways to present themselves to the industry in a much more complete way. They were face to face connections, eyeball to eyeball. Or artists would go to lawyers or managers and try to get insider status. The only way for business types to plug into that scene was to go to clubs. Bands started playing the Troubadour or the Whiskey and little scenes developed. It’s hard to believe things could be crazier.ĭo you think it’s harder or easier for artists to get noticed these days?īefore the internet, artists had to find a way to get the attention of the label guys. It was always there, but has been heightened by the internet. And that’s what contributed to the general anxiety of the music business. How you make the songs, distribute, promote, listen, buy, experience has changed dramatically and in that change you see all the worst instincts of the music business- fear, insecurity, politics…all of that playing. Without that, there is no music business. It’s about great songs and great performances. It’s actually much simpler than people want to make it.

It didn’t change the core of what the music business is. That changed so many things about the way we do business. What do you think has been the biggest pivotal moment in the industry just since you got started 36 years ago?ĭefinitely, without question, the advent of the internet. We caught up with Steve Rennie to find out what a good education really is when it comes to the music business and what people really need to know to make it. Through his web series, Renman Live, and his coursework at Renman U, Steve Rennie is preaching the truth of the music business and trying to share all he has learned with the next generation of managers and industry professionals. Today he is inviting the entirety of the music industry into his office for some lively, and often deep, conversation. He was an aspiring golf pro turned law student who went on to manage one of the most successful names in modern rock.

Steve Rennie, Founder, Renman Music & Business

Incubus band anxiety