Networking, NAMM and our podcast tour
After attending NAMM and hosting podcast events on tour, I’ve seen firsthand how music networking is about making genuine connections that can lead to real opportunities. Face-to-face meetings still matter in building trust and expanding your professional circle.
By Andrew Southworth
Hey friends!
I just got back from my travels around the NAMM show and the My Point 4 Cents podcast tour, so today we’re going to talk about the value of networking and networking events through the lens of my trip!
NAMM Show
At NAMM me and the podcast guys (Matt Bacon, Dustin Boyer, Jesse Cannon and myself) were all in the same place at the same time for the first time. If you aren’t familiar with NAMM, it’s a big music conference that happens in Anaheim CA every year.
Left to right: Dustin Boyer, Jesse Cannon, Matt Bacon and Andrew Southworth
We’ve been filming our podcast every week together for over 6 months but I had only met Jesse in person once before, and never had met Dustin and Matt in person.
At NAMM we hosted a live Q&A in the lobby area. Thanks a TON to those of you that came and asked questions, we had a blast. For those that missed it, we recorded most of it here:
NAMM itself was great as usual. Aside from hanging out with the podcast crew, I spent most of my time meeting up with friends / colleagues I usually only see online and meeting new people. And of course, playing as many guitars and synths and pedals as I could in between (finally got to play an Abasi Concepts guitar, woo!).
Check this video of us roasting each other a bit lol.
I was interviewed for a podcast that i’ll share when it goes live, and I also got some extra content chatting with several music industry people that i’ll be launching as a video some time this month.
I’m always recommending people go to NAMM. Aside from the fact that it’s awesome to be around so much music, gear and musicians for the event, it’s an amazing networking opportunity. Many people don’t understand what I mean when I say ‘networking opportunity’. I really just mean, ‘chance to make friends in music’.
People that go to events like this willingly want to meet people. Just by hanging out with a few friends I already knew, I got introduced to over a dozen awesome people who are professional musicians in some capacity. We got to hang out and chat about music - it’s a good time. Aside from the fun factor, relationships like this can turn into opportunity’s because people tend to hire or work with people they already know or trust more than people they don’t know or don’t trust.
Nashville
If you were following along with the podcast tour, you may remember we were supposed to go to Nashville and do an event at OurVinyl.
Well, Nashville got hit with the worst snow storm they’ve gotten in years. And what I learned about Nashville is that they don’t handle snow very well. So unfortunately we had to cancel this date entirely. The storm also caused several people from the podcast to have to fly home early.
We are planning on finding a new date to throw an event in Nashville, likely still at OurVinyl because they’re awesome, so keep an eye out for announcements about that!
Brooklyn
We did end up having our podcast event in Brooklyn at Here BK (big shoutout to them for hosting), and it was an amazing time! However due to the storm Dustin was trapped in Nashville, and Jesse got super sick so it was just Matt and I.
Despite there being like 18 inches of snow on the ground and it being 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, we had a solid 90 minutes of Q&A and another hour or so of hanging out.
Video coming soon!
Thanks SO much to everyone that came out, we had a blast.
It was awesome to see not just people chatting with us, but people chatting with each other. Almost everyone there lived within 30 minutes of the bar, and they’re all musicians, music artists, producers etc. Again I think of networking as just ‘making friends’ but as you might imagine it can be pretty useful knowing a bunch of fellow musicians and artists in your area.
Your network can help you find great studios, find session musicians, get gigs, find collaborators, get in contact with labels and so much more. Having face time with someone instantly puts you above most people they’ve only met online. Technology has come a long way but nothing beats a hand shake and getting a drink or meal with someone.
Conclusion
I think a lot of artists would benefit from getting out more and either going to events like this, or just hanging out at local venues. The internet is a beautiful thing but as I said above, nothing replaces meeting people in person.
We’re planning a few more podcast meetups this year that i’ll keep secret for now, but your hint is that they’ll coincide with other music industry events. In the future we’ll probably be avoiding snowy places in winter months as well.
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