Business Side of Music

Whether you're just getting started in your career, or you're already down a path and don't know exactly what your next step is, then maybe it's time to read the book "The Blueprint: The Bible for Becoming a Successful Performing Artist in the Digital Age."

Author Frank Demilt joins us to share his vision and journey of writing this book, from his days at the Roy Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, to acquiring his first job opportunity at Soul Asylum Studios, to his current role of record producer and head of A&R at Water Music Publishing and the creative agency Sloppy Vinyl.

New Jersey native Frank Demilt learned early on that he wanted to be in the music industry in some capacity. He was always listening to music and making music whenever he could, but he never saw it as a viable career option for him.

"It was always a passion of mine; it was always something I loved to do. We only saw the big artists out there growing up, so I knew how hard it was to make it in music. It didn't help that I had crippling stage fright," said Demilt. "I did some research and found that there is some back end, behind the scenes stuff that can be done and kind of just started working through different friends and fell in love with recording and working with artists. When I found out I could go to school for it, I kind of went from there."

Demilt graduated from Ithaca College's Roy Park School of Communications as an audio engineer and quickly landed an internship in Atlanta, Georgia, at Soul Asylum Studios. Their client base included Justin Bieber, T.I., and Waka Flocka. After bouncing around between Atlanta and New Jersey and building up an impressive clientele as the head audio engineer in multiple studios, Demilt ultimately landed at Water Music Publishing. He serves as the head of A&R and Artist Development. Demilt also helped create Sloppy Vinyl, an artist development company and full-service entertainment company that is a sister company to Water Music Publishing.

"I enjoy working with artists hands-on in their development, not necessarily the recording element but helping them create the music and develop them into what they see themselves as," said Demilt. "That's really what I love to do now, is sit and listen to all the new music that comes out and find that next person and try to develop them and mold them into the best versions of themselves that they want to be."

At the beginning of 2020, Demilt and his team were trying to get some traction with Sloppy Vinyl. To help the artists, Demilt started writing some articles to give these artists some information to help guide them through the industry. 

However, when quarantine hit and artists were unable to go to the studio, Demilt decided to shift gears and turned the articles into a new book called "The Blueprint: The Bible For Becoming a Successful Performing Artist in the Digital Age. "

"Quarantine hit about a month after I finished these articles. We couldn't go to the studio and couldn't get in contact with the artists, so I decided to take all the articles I had and flesh it out into a book because knowing a lot of the artists are just sitting in their house trying to figure out what to do, especially the rising ones not knowing what to do now, I wanted to give them a headstart or a leg up or insight into the industry that once we come out of quarantine. They get back to work," said Demilt. "That way they have this blueprint or guide of okay, here's what I have to do and here's what to expect. So it was kind of just like a cumulation of what I was already doing but in a bigger way to help artists as we were all stuck in our houses and not doing anything."

"The Blueprint," according to Demilt, is an A-Z, front-to-back guide about how to navigate the music industry. For example, suppose you are just starting recording in your home or already have your foot in the door with a record label or studio. In that case, the book has information about navigating the industry properly.

"It's information for the beginner that has a dream of being an artist, and I'm going to tell you what recording equipment is, how to use it properly and what to buy if you want to start in your bedroom," said Demilt. "It talks about understanding the nuances of how a song should sound to distributing your music."

For those who are a little further in their careers, "The Blueprint" dives into contract language, legal information, what team members you will need in the studio with you, and how to keep your career going once you've made it.

"I go all the way to contractual language, and we know that not a whole lot of people understand the legal side. So having a basic knowledge of terms and clauses that can come at you and what to expect in contract talks," said Demilt. "We finish [the book] with, 'Okay, you've done all this stuff, you're signed, you're here, how do you sustain your career?' I will give you information on all of it. Anyone at any point in their career can benefit from reading this.

Demilt hopes that those who pick up "The Blueprint" can get a thorough understanding of how the music industry works, regardless of what stage of your career you are in.

"The music industry and entertainment industry as a whole is a monster in itself that if you are unprepared for can beat you down and swallow you up because there's so much that can come at you," said Demilt. "I want the readers, no matter what stage of your career you're at, to understand what is the next step, what to do next, and in those steps, understand information to look out for so you're not blindsided when stuff comes at you."

The Blueprint: The Bible For Becoming a Successful Performing Artist in the Digital Age" is available on Amazon.

The Business Side of Music ™

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Special Thanks to the creator and founder of the podcast, Tom Sabella, along with Traci Snow for producing and hosting over 100 episodes of the original "Business Side of Music" podcast and trusting us to carry on their legacy.

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