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Street Rules in the Office- The Beginners Guide to Focus in the Music Biz
Those of us who are passionate in the music industry go head
on, full force into the bulls-eye and don’t look back until we ei-
ther hit a wall or catch that break. We are all aiming at the big-
ger picture no matter what road we choose. More often than
not, we’re not sure about how we’re going to get there, and
worse, once we manage to get there we don’t know how to
maintain it. How do you learn from what you haven’t experi-
enced yet? Let’s face it; many of us have limited knowledge and
understanding…until now.
With a resume that boasts work relationships with Interscope Records, G Unit Rec-
ords, Whooooshouse Worldwide, over 10 years under his belt as a Music Industry
Executive, over 100 million spins detected and RIAA awards, it’s easy to see how writ-
ing a book about the music industry came easy for multi-faceted music mogul Dave
House. Having access to behind the scenes detailed information regarding budgets, rec-
ord deals and promotions at Interscope became the college experience for Dave, and
continuously seeing artists go from nothing to stardom became his graduate school.
Feeling compelled to share his unique story and seeing firsthand the struggle and mis-
takes of the newbies led to frustration which led to the birth of an idea.
In his new book, Street Rules in the Office- The Beginners Guide to Focus in the Music Biz,
Dave House cleverly parallels growing up in the rough streets of New Jersey to being
an employee in the music industry, putting the ins and outs of survival in laymen’s
terms while guiding you through what you will undoubtedly encounter as a music in-
dustry professional who’s now setting foot in the music business; giving you the psy-
chology of the business with the street smarts necessary for survival.
Dave’s advice for the independent artists who are dying to get signed by a label? DO
YOUR HOMEWORK! “Indie artists are impatient. Be more careful and think things
through. Don’t take advantage of the convenience of the music industry. Study the rec-
ord deals carefully and build relationships.” Don’t fret, indies, because you can do it
yourself, though it may be difficult. Dave compares a record deal to a loan, though, as
he emphasizes, the record label has a finely tuned and powerful machine behind it with
the money to afford mistakes here and there. But things are very different than they
were back then, according to Dave. The internet has shaken loose the grip the record
labels used to have on fast turnaround, distribution and word of mouth promotions.
Learn it all before you approach that label or get that loan to do it yourself, there’s
plenty to know before you choose the road.
And so we thank you, Dave House, for walking the road and shining the light on the
cement that lies below so the rest of us can see the cracks that lie underneath and step
a little wider.