Rhian Jones - Sound Advice: The Ultimate Guide to a Healthy and Successful Career in Music

Praise for Sound Advice

Guidance around health and wellbeing can often be overwhelming but Sound Advice does an excellent job of cutting through the noise on this vitally important subject as well as demystifying the fundamentals of our industry. Simply put, this is a must-read for anyone starting out in music today.

David Joseph, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK

Sound Advice is a very accessible, comprehensive book which brings together key messages about how to sustain a healthy and successful career in music, illustrated by stories from musicians who have experienced and worked through some of the challenges. Delighted to see these important health messages embedded in a guide to success. This is essential reading for anyone developing a career in music.

Claire Cordeaux, BAPAM Director

Sound Advice is a great resource for artists, songwriters, producers and musicians. The pressure of creativity and success in music is a heavy burden and can be overwhelming.

Nile Rodgers, Grammy Award-winning musician and producer

I wish Id had this book when I was just starting out as an artist and songwriter. The music industry is complicated and no one teaches you how to navigate through all of the different parts of it. Sound Advice really covers everything in a way thats digestible and accessible, and even after being in this industry for 10 years, I still learned new things!

Lauren Aquilina, singer and songwriter

This book is informative, accessible, and, at times, highly entertaining. We have a responsibility to create a healthy and sustainable working environment - music is no different to any other business. Sound Advice will be a valuable asset to all those artists and executives alike, trying to navigate a safe, successful and sustainable way through our world. Highly recommended!

John Reid, President of Live Nation Europe

Sound Advice combines up to date, practical career information with straight-talking discussion about many unwelcome companions to a career in music the mental and emotional pitfalls, how to avoid them, or how to get help if you do fall in to the pit. Read this book - it might save your life one day.

Matt Thomas, co-founder of Music Support

The whole industry needs a book like Sound Advice. From the artists at the very beginning to the artists whove been in the game for the longest time. This industry chops and changes but Sound Advice outlines the fundamentals that will never change.

Lucy Spraggan, singer and songwriter

An important and sobering look behind the curtain of the archaic, mythical rock and roll lifestyle and the effect it has on the mind, body and soul.

Jonathan Higgs, Everything Everything

In this book, Lucy Heyman and Rhian Jones depict through the first-hand insight from artists as well as their own knowledge and experience, a highly realistic picture of stresses, strains and rewards of being a professional musician. Its an indispensable read for anyone embarking on a career in music.

Sarah Osborn, Incorporated Society of Musicians

This book manages to combine academic and scientific insight with specific self-help techniques all within the context of the lived experience of many of the contributors. I will be sure to recommend it to all of the artists and acts I come across in my work within the music industry and my private practice.

Adam Ficek, psychotherapist, musician and Babyshambles member

Sound Advice is a hugely needed resource for helping to deal with the incredible pressure to do great work and succeed in our business.

Merck Mercuriadis, founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Songs

This book would not have been made possible without the generous support of Live Nation, Universal Music UK, Sony Music UK, Warner Music UK, IFPI, Spotify, Hipgnosis Songs, Vevo, PRS for Music, Polydor Records, and PPL.

SOUND ADVICE

The ultimate guide to a healthy and successful career in music

Rhian Jones and Lucy Heyman

Shoreditch Press

Unit 22511

PO Box 6945

London

W1A 6US

First published in Great Britain 2021

Copyright Rhian Jones and Lucy Heyman, 2021

Rhian Jones and Lucy Heyman have asserted their right to be identified as authors of this work under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-8381949-0-1

Hardback ISBN 978-1-8381949-1-8

eBook ISBN 978-1-8381949-2-5

Edited by Peter Robinson and Gareth Dylan Smith

Interior design by Steve Russell aka-designaholic.com

Illustrations by rhileedesign.com

Front cover by music.agency

soundadvicebook.com

CONTENTS

START HERE

OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, the mental health and wellbeing of musicians have been the subjects of much discussion. Research commissioned by the charity Help Musicians has said the UK music industry is experiencing a mental health crisis, Theres also been an endless number of articles, documentaries, and panel discussions focusing on the problems and suggesting various solutions.

This book intends to help move the conversation into preventative action by empowering those who work in the music industry with some tools and information that will help them manage and prioritise their own health, as well as the health of those around them. It has been created with unprecedented music industry support youll find the names of those who helped to fund us on the previous page which makes it the only industry-backed resource of its kind.

It may not be the kind of book youll read cover to cover and weve written it in such a way that you dont need to so feel free to dip in and out of sections or chapters. There will be future editions, and for that reason, we warmly welcome all feedback on this first version. Also, while there is lots of globally relevant information, this particular edition is UK-focused. We plan to produce an international version in future.

We were editing and writing during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which will no doubt have a considerable impact on the music industry for years to come. In the world of music, some artists responded by putting projects back, while others brought releases forward and even conceived brand new projects. Rather than waiting for an unknown date in the future when life returns to normality, we decided to bite the bullet and take the Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift route by getting the book out there while people might have a bit of time on their hands to reflect and think about their health and career. In times of crisis, fostering good health is more important than ever. We remain hopeful that the touring chapter, in particular, will still be helpful both now from a planning perspective and in future when venues and festivals are operating again under normal conditions.