The Reality of Your Music Industry Dream Job

Concert Promoter

Who: Alex Damashek
Company: Move Forward Music (Founder/Executive Director)

What is often misconstrued about the job?

There’s very little room for error. There are few positions in any field—but I would say definitely in the music industry—where you’re as likely to take a loss on a regular basis in the normal course of business. Concert promoters lose money all the time. I’ve been doing it for a while so I’ve sort of figured out the formulas and some of the tricks to the game so I luckily don’t take that many losses anymore.

But anybody who’s been promoting events for a long time has lost their share at one point or another. I don’t think people realize that it’s a game of bets and wins and losses. There are times when you win big. There are times when it might be a great show and people are patting you on the back but you’re the only one that knows the P&L side and your looking at the settlement sheet like, “Ohhh man, this a horrible night.” 

What’s misconstrued is that people think that the promoter is the one that’s getting over on everybody or sort of doing back room shady deals. A lot of times it’s the promoter that’s putting themselves on the line, putting their own money up to make the shows happen and sometimes taking a loss.

What do you wish more people knew about the job?

I wish that people had a sense of how much goes into a concert from all sides, not just from the promoter side. From my side, as a promoter, your talking about renting the venue, paying the artist, and making sure all the equipment is there. And making sure there’s adequate security in place, so everyone is safe. There are a lot of moving parts and different expenses that go into it.

Then from the artist side, mobilizing a whole team to go on the road, securing equipment and bringing your back line. There’s a lot that goes into the production of one show. A lot of expenses. A lot of energy and work. If people had any idea how many different moving pieces and players and different parts went into creating the artist being in the venue at that time to perform that show, I think that they would be willing to pay a lot more then they are currently.

The most challenging thing about the job?

The hardest part for me, especially because I work specifically identifying emerging artists and always trying to catch artists for their first New York show, is keeping track of all the music and putting all the pieces together from the outset. 

When we’re making the offer and trying to gauge what an artist is going to sell, there are so many different variables that go into it. It goes without saying how fast music is moving these days. Just keeping up with all the trends and really staying close to everything and being knowledgeable to make the right bets on the right artist.

The best thing about the job?

That’s an easy one—that’s been the same since day one. The best thing about the job is doing all those things I talked about. Starting from finding the artist, making the bet, putting in the offer and getting the confirm. Mobilizing everything. Doing all that and then the end product is being in a sold out room. Watching fans lose their mind when an artist hits the stage or performs a certain song or hits a note. Being able to suck up that emotional energy in the room and watching fans reactions. Watching different people from different walks of life react to the same song at the same time is always a great feeling to me.

How to get the job?

First things first you gotta show up, start going to shows. I think that’s important. Really understanding what the experience is like from a fan perspective. I would imagine a lot of people who want to be in the live events business have already gone to a bunch of shows, but there are a lot of different opportunities, because like I said there are so many different parts to what goes into creating a show.

I’d say find the venues that are doing shows that you connect with and reach out and see what kind of help they need. Going to venues is always a great start, that’s where I started. My first job out of college was at SOB’s. I walked in and put my resume in. From there, once you can get an internship or start working at a venue, so many different parts of the music industry come through those walls. You can make tons of connections and network. You get a lot of opportunities to help different people, from tour managers to booking agents and so on and so forth. So you gotta start there.

The name of the game for me has always been to do good work for a lot of people and eventually it comes around. It’s always hard to get that first foot in the door but I think you have to just make yourself available. Not to oversimplify it, but I think that’s where it starts. Putting yourself in the position where you can meet somebody who’s going to introduce you to the next person. It’s never one big break, it’s one step at a time.

What song or album best describes your journey in the music industry?

“We Gonna Make It” by Jadakiss and Styles P.