Module 7
"How to Collaborate with Others"
"How to Collaborate with Others"
Aim
The purpose of this module is to recognise the varies networks and agencies that are available to performing artists and understand the importance of collaborating with others to grow in their career.
By the end of this module, you should be able to...
Knowledge
- list agencies and groups that performing artists can collaborate with.
- describe the role that agencies and networks play in helping a performing artist to collaborate with others.
Skills
- present the most important agencies, networks and collaborations that are available on a local and national level.
- discuss the personal and professional benefits that can be felt by a performing artist through teaming up with others.
Attitudes
- be willing to self-examine own networks to understand the benefits that accrue to them.
Key-concepts
Inspiration
Collaborating with other artists can inspire you to approach your craft differently. When creating alone, you may be stuck to your own methods and never try or attempt to vary your process. Collaboration can expose you to a whole other world of creation and inspiration.
Connections
It is important to identify artists that you could see yourself collaborating with and to build your network of connections. Make contact with artists that share the same bill as you, artists you discover on social media or through agencies. Make yourself and your music known to these artists as it could lead to successful collaborations in the future.
Motivation
Working with other artists can motivate you to focus on the completion of projects quicker than what you could have achieved when working alone. This type of motivation can be a very positive form of creative pressure where each collaborator is pushing and supporting the other in order to achieve the desired outcome.
Exposure
The more collaborations you are involved in the greater the chances of you being exposed to audiences that you probably never could have reached when working independently. Potential collaborators have most likely built up their fanbase so why not make yourself known to their audience through a collaboration.
Agencies to help performing artists
Germany
- German Actors Agency represent german actors, native speakers and international talent who work in theatre, film and digital movies and television programmes, commercials, industrial, internet and all new media formats.
- Shotz is a Berlin based casting agency who find actors, models, extras, influencers etc. for commercials, feature films and social media content. They have an extensive client base that also includes production companies, advertising agencies and directors.
- Guerilla Music Promotion is a Berlin based global-facing music promotions agency, sharing the best of new music via radio and online media since 1999.
Agencies' Role
Negotiate
They work on behalf of their clients to promote and represent their interests, and will typically handle the majority of all interactions between their client(you) and the employer. The job duties of a talent agent involve a fair amount of communication and negotiation with prospective employers. Advances in information technology have allowed talent agents to perform much of their job duties online, but at the end of the day, person-to-person contract negotiations determine the final outcome.
Contacts
A talent agency or management company establishes relationships and has contacts with talent seekers—advertising agencies, producers, production companies, casting directors, etc.—and establishes a roster of professional talent to present to them.
Importance of collaborating with others
Artist collaboration is one of the biggest creative forces driving the industry today. If you’re an independent artist looking to project your talents onto a wider audience, it’s probably one of the best success strategies out there.
Collaborations are providing breakthrough opportunities for new acts and reinvigorating the careers of more established ones.
The main driver for this is the rise in online streaming, which now accounts for around 50% of all music consumption in the UK and US markets. With social media playing such an important role in promoting artists’ work, producers and musicians are taking advantage of the obvious benefits that ‘piggy-backing’ on each-others fan bases can bring.
At this stage in your career, it goes without saying that the biggest challenge you face is being seen and heard by a wide enough audience.
The beauty of collaborations is that you can work with other artists, allowing you to pool fan bases and promote each other to your fans, whilst inspiring each other with your creativity and ideas!
Collaborating with other musicians
https://spinnup.com/blog/collaborating-with-other-musicians/
Collaborations in your industry
Can you think of collaborations in your industry that have happened on a global scale? Like Coldplay collaborating with Beyonce at the Superbowl!
Have you ever experienced collaborating with someone? What has stopped you if you haven’t?
Could you think of how an actor, dancer and musician could all collaborate on one project ?
Share your ideas with your colleagues.
Benefits of collaboration
Share fan base
Share fan base
You get feedback from other people who may not have heard of you before.
If you find the right partner, it can open-up a whole new world of sounds, styles and opportunities. You’ll certainly learn more and grow faster than you ever could sitting alone in your bedroom.
Get more creative
You may see things from a different perspective. Stepping out of your comfort zone and working with artists from different sides of the artistic coin gives you the best chance of building that creative friction.
Finding the right agency that suits you
Finance
Some agencies may require a monthly fee or a percentage of what you earn because of the opportunities they present to you.
It’s important you reach out to other people in your industry to get their input and make sure that the rate is feasible for you to still earn a living.
Research
Nowadays many artists just include themselves into ever opportunity that comes along.
Its important to be patient and decide when is the right time for you – you may have too little experience in your field and suddenly two years pass and you’ve got nothing to show for it.
Further Reading
Networking
Guide to collaborating with others
Action Plan
Contact
Reach out to your network, agency or management and share the idea that you would like to collaborate.
The most important thing you can do to collaborate is to get people to work with you on the same goals.
As a member of the team, or the team leader, you need to sit everyone down and discuss your short and long-term goals and how you’re going to hit them.
Set Goals
Everyone on the team needs to know what they have to do and when they have to do it. They should know how much work is expected of them and the amount of hours they should put into it.
If something isn’t going right or you aren’t getting along with a team member, you need to be upfront with it. The more you hold back the more it will impede collaboration between the team
Use suitable tools available
Social media is as good as free advertising – make sure your followers know their followers – know and get the release spiraling.
Inform local radios, theatres, clubs and authorities to promote your art.
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