Why You Should Be Visiting Cities Like LA, New York And Nashville Regularly

Published: Thu, 09/07/17

As I close in on a hundred episodes of my podcast, Music, Money And Life, I’m starting to take stock of some of the lessons I’ve learned about the music business along the way and many realities about the music business are becoming crystal clear.

Although my podcast has changed and evolved over the last few years, hopefully for the better, some of the themes have been very consistent.  For example, one topic I bring up with my guests often is the idea of networking in person VS. networking online.  The answer to this topic has been consistent throughout every interview I've done with a wide variety of guests and the conclusion is clear: in person networking is far superior than "networking" online.

We live in a day and age where a lot of us, myself included, spend a lot of time online.  The internet is an incredibly useful tool and it has no doubt changed my life since its inception, in mostly positive ways.  There’s no way I could do many of the things I do for a living without the internet.  I couldn’t connect with everyone reading this email and blog post for example. I couldn’t connect with several thousand people online via Youtube and social media.  I couldn’t have reached a point where my podcast has been downloaded over 50,000 times by people all over the world! 

The internet is a truly powerful and amazing tool.  Think about it.  50,000 downloads.  It’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things online. But imagine 50,000 people congregated together in one place.  We’re talking a stadium size building to accommodate that many people.  Now I’m sure a lot of people have downloaded more than one podcast, so let’s be super conservative and say that only two or three thousand people have downloaded it.  That’s still a huge crowd!  You would need a medium sized theater to accommodate that many people in person at one time.

The internet has changed my life without a doubt and I’m super grateful there are so many platforms that make reaching out and connecting with people dramatically easier than in the past.  However, one thing the internet is not, is a replacement for connecting with people in real life.  On my podcast, I’ve brought this topic up with several dozen guests over the last couple years.  The consensus is unanimous:  networking and meeting people in person is hands down, more effective at establishing a career in the music business than trying build a career online.

EVERYONE says more or less the same thing:  the internet is great and can be super helpful in connecting with people, but there is no replacement for real life, real world, in person interactions. 

The internet wasn’t designed to be a replacement for real life.  It’s a powerful tool that you can use to supplement and facilitate your in person efforts, but it will never replace it or supersede it.

Another question I’ve asked multiple guests is whether or not you need to live in a city like L.A. or New York to be successful in the music business. Again, the consensus is unanimous, you don’t need to live there, but you should, at the very least, be making regular visits to at least one of the major music cities (LA, New York, Nashville, Austin, etc).  The reason is simple, it’s where the majority of music industry executives work and live and meeting them in person is more effective than “meeting” them online.

I made my last visit to LA in 2015. I spent just ten days there and in that time I recorded five tracks, met with a major publisher who has since secured me about a dozen placements, met a vocalist that has sung on multiple tracks of mine that have been signed to multiple catalogs, started and shot video for a course about music production that was released last year, hosted a Meetup for How To License Your Music (.) com where I met several people I’m still in touch with, attended a music production seminar that my producer, Gary hosted, and had a great time getting to know my producer, Gary Gray, and his girlfriend Krissy better. 

I’m returning to LA in less than a week for a two week visit.  This time I have a much more active trip planned.  My producer Gary and I will co-hosting two weekend long retreats on the topic of music production and music licensing. I’ll be getting together in person with several people who have been previous guests on my podcast.  I’ll be recording new tracks in the studio with Gary who we’ll be pitching and shopping to our contacts and I’ll be hanging out with all the artists and musicians who have signed up for our retreats.

I’m super excited for the trip and my plan going forward is to make trips to LA at least once a year and likely more in 2018 and beyond. 

If you’d like to spend two full days, September 16 and 17th, with myself and my producer Gary Gray, learning all about music production techniques for licensing, as well as hearing from music supervisor Erin Dillion and pitching your tracks directly to her, be sure to register for The California Dreaming Retreat.   There are just a few seats left and the absolute last day to register is September 9th


I’m pumped to meet with all of you in person that have already signed up for the event and who plan to sign up in the next few days.  This retreat is about more than just learning techniques in the studio (and out) that will help you get more placements.  You’ll be learning a ton of useful information like that during the retreat.  But you’ll also be networking and connecting with people in real life, in person, in the mecca of the music business: California!  There's no replacement for that.

During the retreat you’ll meet like-minded musicians, supervisors, composers that are crushing it at licensing and you'll get to learn directly from myself and my partner in crime, Gary Gray for two full days.  This is going to be a truly special event and I can’t wait to see all of you who are attending our retreats in California. 

Until then….

Happy Songwriting!
Aaron Davison

PS - To anyone out there anywhere in the projected path of Hurricane Irma, stay safe and know my thoughts are with you.  I have several family members who live in Florida and my heart goes out to any and all of you affected by this storm.  Stay safe!