i got only a year left of highschool n i have to start thinking of what i wanna get into for college...
so ive been thinking id like to get into music business but i need help seeing what the actual name is for a career that i can help and negotiate w/ foreign bands to perform in the U.S.
is there even such a job? >.<? n what do i have to study in college to do this? do these people get paid well?
sorry for all the questions :(

Basically it sounds like you want you want to manage foreign bands abroad? Your best bet is is getting an apprenticeship or going to collage and learning about the industry etc. I think that would be the best start to getting into the music industry, but keep in mind the music industry is very competitive there are a lot of people who want that exact same job.

oohh I'm doing something similar (kinda)!!
I can tell you a little bit about it because I've worked with bringing some jrock bands to the US and I have a lot of friends who work with the Japanese bands that come over here (Versailles, Rentrer en Soi, BLOOD, and several others).

If you're looking to start a business out of this, it really is a good idea to get your degree in music management (yes it is a degree! :D). I'm currently looking into working in the music industry as well. While I'm flexible with working various positions I could possibly get offered in the music industry, a particular interest of mine is actually to be living in Japan and help manage bands to get from Japan to America for concerts and tours. I think communication seems to be a huge issue between US management and Japanese bands when trying to come over. On top of that, theres a huge lack of understanding particular conditions, so thats why I'm interested in that kind of position, especially in Japan. I'm currently trying to get into a University in Tokyo that offers Business Management with a particular focus on business in Japan. However, I think business management in general would get you far if you want to work on getting foreign bands to the US.

While the best thing you can possibly do for yourself is to get your degree in working with this, I will be honest in saying that it CAN be done without a degree. I don't advise you to do that, but I know a lot of people, including myself who have gone through it without any form of college experience. Without the proper education for it, its really a lot to think about and to really get a grasp on the business aspect (which it requires A LOT) I would definitely suggest you take Business Management as a major if you can't find a university that offers Music Management (its a difficult major to find). The best thing you can do for yourself right now is talk to people and get connections. I find the easiest way of doing this is just to go out there yourself and start talking to bands. Myspace is extremely helpful, and if you can, try to find your way into social networking websites that specialize in a language and culture of the types of bands you're trying to get over. Since my interest is in Jrock, I'm constantly using mixi to communicate with a lot of people and I'm now getting into Ameba.jp.

As for working with bands, basically in the first place it depends on the kind of band you want to bring over. What countries are you looking at specifically and are you looking for popular bands or indies?

My only experience is with jrock bands so I'm just going to use them as my example. I can also say that at the moment its EXTREMELY competitive. However, I find it easier to negotiate with a smaller less known bands and to get them to play at a convention rather than larger bands with high expectations and want a full blown tour across America. If you can get them to play at a convention, usually the con will pay for all expenses for the band, but you need to explain clearly to the band that America is different from Europe or Japan. Also, starting out small and working your way up is a great way to do things. If you start out with several smaller bands, word will eventually begin to spread. The more well known you get, the better your chances are of finding others who may have connections to larger bands and can help you out with working on a major scale.

Also, there may be particular aspects they're used to in their own country that we don't have over here -- for example, I was the US manager for a particular band about a year and a half ago. I was extremely close to getting them to play a couple concerts in the US completely paid for but they refused the entire deal because they couldn't fly business flight. As ridiculous as this sounds, some performers are really just this demanding and you need to explain how things work in America when it comes to the location of the venue and what their sponsors are willing to provide for them.

Another thing you need to think of is the money involved. If you have a band that doesn't want to work with a convention and would rather go on tour, you need to figure out how you will get the money to do this. There are several ways about doing this: First of all, you could see if the band is willing to pay for their own expenses. Surprisingly, there are some that want have concerts abroad so badly that they are willing to pay for themselves with certain conditions (such as a promised number of attendees). Another way to do this is to talk to others who are also in the same general organization as you. While you need to be careful with who you work with (EXTREMELY careful. People are out to take you for advantage left and right), find an organization, or a group of people who are experienced in this and see if they will help you out. This is also another great way of establishing connections and getting your name out there more.


The whole money issue is why I definitely say you need to look into business classes in college. While the ideas I suggested above are great and all, you need to figure out where YOU make money in all of this. Conventions will pay for everything because in return they make money off of the number of attendees by charging an entrance fee. Established companies who do this kind of work usually make money through the contracting part. The band and company must come to an agreement of who gets paid for what. Does the company get paid through attendee admittance and selling band merchandise or do they take a percentage of everything the band makes? The company must come to an agreement with the band (and even the venue) of who gets how much payment and while it might not be a lot to begin with, after a while it should end up paying for itself.

Honestly, I don't think there are really any set wages for things like this if you're going at it without employment to a major record label (such as Sony). Its not a high paying job until much later on if you can make sales off of popular bands. Personally, I think its really a fun job and if you're passionate about it, its worth going into. Just don't expect to make a lot of money off of it right away or to really gain an instant success. Its A LOT of negotiation work and a lot to do with who you know.

I hope that helps a little. Sorry my response was so long!! XD

Thank you both so much! that gave me a clearer view of it. =3
u guys r soo much help! i luv u!!

n dont worry about it being long Sarah, you gave me alot of info i needed!

nao im gonna start looking to colleges n learning Japanese (cuz my initial plan was to work w/ Jrock indies bands only)

thanx again! :D

Is there such a job? I have never heard about it (i know i am a bad bussinessman). I think it would be worth for me to study it too, because i am sooo interested in music creating/producing and i dont know anything about music bussiness part. I think i will study concerts management (i dont know how it is called in english) when i finish university.

So, you both want to work with japanese bands, right? You are happy you have a time to learn japanese and such while i learn by myself various musical instruments specific...

Oh yes, there is definitely such a job! XD I know tons of people in the industry. As for college, like I mentioned before, there is a music business management major. Its still a growing major so not a whole lot of college and universities offer it, so my suggestion is to just go with business management if you can't find a place that offers Music Management. While Music Management is great for those specifically going into the music industry, business management will still do just about the exact same thing for you and on top of that its going to open the door to a whole lot more business opportunities in various other fields.

Just for reference, I couldn't really tell any of you colleges across the US or even outside of America that offer Music Business Management, but I did find a website that gives you a little bit of an idea about it (in the US) and even gives you a large variety of colleges that offer this major:

http://www.uscollegesearch.org/music-busin...e-colleges.html

I think its worth looking into if anyone wants to go specifically into music business.

In the end, whether you're going into the music business or not, I find it a good idea to think about what kind of job you want in the future and what you're flexible to. With that in mind, there are still many majors out there that are compatible with what you're looking for and while the first option might not always work out, think about alternatives that will still benefit your occupation choice in the future. Since my goal is to work for music companies in Japan, I'm focusing on a major in Japanese business management and minoring in Japanese. Sure my major doesn't contain the word "music" in it, but it is still compatible with what I want to do.(^^)v

why aren't there more jobs like this.... Enjoyable..

that must be a great job!!! i wish i could get a job like that, i love foreing bands (not only japanese) and id love to manage to bring such bands to here!!!

anyway im not good with business, and im really bad in public relations (?) cause im really shy... anyway im actually wanting to make into the creative side as astral, im looking for people with the same musical and creative tastes and interests to make a visual kei band now that i have finished university and im about to finish my social service, and so im actually playing guitar and im learning by heart MALICE MIZER songs, i actually can play Au Revoir Mana and Kozi part and Beast of Blood, im learning Brise... but thats another thing...

the life had bring to me a few oportunities to change my way into what i really ever wanted to do and i will take them, even if it has nothing to do with my actual profesion.

i hope you can get your own way to make it into the music business or anything you want to do!! :P