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We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed and award-winning singer/songwriter, thirty-year music industry alum and freshly-minted author Tara Shannon; greetings and salutations, Tara! Before we dive into the Q&A mosh-pit, how is 2024 treating you and yours?
Thank you so much! So far so good in 2024…busy with projects and I moved for the first time in over 20 years. That was fun. I am happily settled into my new home and loving it.
Major congratulations on the recent release of your freshman book YOU and the Music Business – A Self-Care Guide to Finding Balance and Joy in Today’s Music Industry! Starting at the tip-top, can you talk about the series of events which inspired you to write this book?
For sure…I had been joking with my staff about writing a book because through my coaching, I was seeing repetitive patterns with what artists were struggling with so the idea for the book came as an extension of my coaching to give access to some of my approach. My hope was that the book could provide some clarity and comfort to those music creators who could not access a form of coaching.
How much did you draw upon your own highly respected three decades in the music industry to inform the contents of YOU and the Music Business? Is a lot of what you write about in the book from your own hard-earned life lessons?
I draw a lot from my own lived experience as an artist as well as a coach. I wanted to share my experience, my own heartaches along the way, my successes and the lessons I learned trying to figure out the music industry. And also touch on why the music business feels so elusive to some. Hard earned lessons for sure but also wanted to help demystify it and try to address the hurt so many artists seem to carry with them regarding the business of music or interactions and experiences they’ve had with industry.
How has the music industry shifted and altered during your own tenure in that ever-fickle world? And how has it remained consistent and reliable – or not – in certain regards?
Omigosh so many shifts and so, so quickly. When I started there was no internet, no social media. Which is a huge shift. Also the entire economic structure of the record industry shifted from all physical to the introduction of digital. How we consume music has completely changed as well. The sheer quantity of music available to us is quite overwhelming…we rely on algorithms to feed us the discovery of new music. The landscape is ever changing and technology moves so much faster than law, so fair compensation to creators is still lagging behind. Recording technology has become so affordable that anyone can make a great sounding record on a laptop. Digital distribution is now available to everyone so there is an overwhelming amount of tracks being introduced into the ecosystem daily. I don’t believe our current system is sustainable. Financial and functionally. I think we will see another reset in the next 5 – 10 years. I’m not sure what that will look like but it’ll be connected to the Web 3 model and blockchain technology.
What hasn’t changed is that great music that connects with the listener and evokes an emotional reaction lasts. Music that moves us…makes us want to dance, makes us want to sing along or breaks our hearts…music is the thing that connects all humans. That is timeless.
Is YOU and the Music Business – A Self-Care Guide to Finding Balance and Joy in Today’s Music Industry a book designed for the newcomers to the music world, or are there lessons to be learned for all the various and sundry tiers in the music industry no matter how long they’ve been in the proverbial creative fight?
That’s a great question…I wasn’t sure at first but with the feedback I’ve been getting it’s for music creators across the board. And actually, I’ve had industry execs reach out to say how helpful it is for them in better understanding the artists they work with. And an even bigger surprise was the feedback from those who read it, and they are not in the music business at all but they are creatives…painters, authors, etc…and they found a lot of the information and guidance transferable to their medium.
Were there any surprises you made personally while writing the book? Were there any late-in-the-day epiphanies which made their way into the new book?
YES! What I loved about the process was how much room I had to write my ideas and lean into my thoughts more…stretch them out. As a songwriter, that form of writing is redactive…we are always trying to tell the best story with a lot less real estate to work with so every lyric chosen has to be doing a job to serve the hook. There’s not a lot of room for meandering. But in this form of writing, I had so much room! So in the process of expanding a thought, I would often see more facets of it and could see more truths around the edges of what I was saying. It was a process of discovering what lived underneath my beliefs and my process.
One late in the day epiphany would be adding the emotional guidance system at the back of the book. It’s a short version of how I would walk a client through the landscape of what they were feeling and where it came from. We are each the authority of our own lives but sometimes it’s helpful to have a process to follow to help reveal our own truths back to us. I added that exercise in the final reviewing process. I hope readers find it helpful.
When you first jumped into the music industry in the 1990’s, was there anything at all equivalent to YOU and the Music Business either in literature or perhaps through a mentor you may have had?
Not that I found. And how I wish there had been! I can’t unequivocally say there wasn’t but nothing came across my path. This book has one foot in music business and one foot in self help. It kind of lives in both places which is a new concept I think. For this industry. Because we are so unique. Talent industries (sports, entertainment) sell a product. That product is a human being. And it’s challenging to navigate commercial space when you, the human, are the product. It’s important to have processes to help maintain emotional and mental well being in that space. But I think the conversation around that is fairly new. The one book I did find later in my journey was The Artist’s Way – which saved me. What a gem. Written in the 70’s, it’s still a staple in so many creative homes. It provided guidance on maintaining our well being but not so much on understanding ourselves within the context of the commercial industry.
Are there any music artists who you hold up as an example on how to successfully navigate a career while maintaining a healthy personal life?
It would have to be someone I work with I think because you need personal and direct knowledge of someone to speak to that…otherwise I’d be basing it on Instagram posts which we all know are made to show the best of us in the best light most of the time, lol!
I would say the artists on my label, Willow Sound Records, are each an example of being real and managing their careers from a holistic perspective. Jessica Pearson, Sam Stone, Mikayla Menzies and Rosewood Ave. And probably because they have me as label/management harping on them all the time lol.
But we all hold each other up and help each other through the tough stuff. I have a truly unique situation with the talent I work with….we really do feel like family. Chosen family.
Is it too early to ask you if you’re already plotting a follow-up book to YOU and the Music Business?
Not too early at all! Yes, I have. I always saw this book as the first of a three book “YOU” series. I have some outlines going at the moment. “YOU and Social Media” would be the next one…taking the now available research on the effects of social media on mental and emotional health and helping music creators find better balance while trying to use these tools available to us for audience building.
At the end of the day, what do you hope readers walk away with after reading your new book YOU and the Music Business – A Self-Care Guide to Finding Balance and Joy in Today’s Music Industry?
One of my artists said it best I think… After being one of the first to read it, she said the book made her feel peaceful and powerful at the same time. That is my hope for readers. That they are able to take a deep breath and say “I’m ok, everything is ok.” I hope it helps them to shift from chasing something to looking inward and then revealing who they are to the world. Standing in their truth. Standing in their joy.
For more info and to buy a copy of Tara’s book, visit booktara.co.
Tara Shannon is an award-winning artist and songwriter with over 30 years of experience in music and a successful entrepreneur with decades experience running multi-million dollar companies. She is the founder of Willow Sound Records and The (Gro)ve, personalized artist development to help better understand yourself as a music creator through life coaching, workshops, retreats and music business education. Tara has been a guest speaker at notable events such as the G20 Summit and won awards such as the BMO Award for Women: Community and Charitable Giving. As a mother of seven adult children, Tara splits her time between her hometown of Ottawa, Canada and Nashville, TN and lives in the village of Chelsea, QC, Canada.
