Meg White - Booking Agent at ICM Partners: Success by the Power of Kindness, Hustle, Patience, and Building Meaningful Relationships

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The foundation of the music business, and really for life, is developing strong and meaningful relationships. To kindness into those relationship, and always focusing on what can you do for them, versus what can they do for you. This starts with your first introduction, continues at your internship, to a potential job, and well beyond all of those. Meg White is a Booking Agent at ICM Partners, who has always focused on the strengths of her relationships, and at the end of the day just being a really good person. It’s this, combined with hard work, being patient, and never giving up that’s gotten her to where she is today. And even though she’s completely humble, she has been a rising star of the Music Industry, and continues to reach  to be the best version of herself that she can be. She does not let that get to her head, stays grounded, and is always focused on putting people first.

Meg White is a Booking Agent at ICM Partners. Her journey at ICM began after an internship at Roadrunner Records, working with and cold calling College Radio Stations. At ICM she has worked as an assistant under three very different personalities, from which she has learned many amazing lessons. She has worked as an assistant first for Scott Morris, to Marsha Vlasic, and finally to Mark Siegel, before becoming an agent herself. She’s a rising star in the music industry, and is becoming more and more of an influential agent in the business. In this conversation, she shares some of her stories of her journey, advice for artists on creating their tour strategy, best practices of reaching out to promoters to book your own shows, and how to develop a relationship with booking agents. She’s known as the “Red Headed Assassin,” and she kills with kindness.   

Highlights from this Episode
(3:56) Calls or emails?
(4:45) New Orleans and its hidden culinary gems
(6:33) The Red Headed Assassin
(7:58) What Meg looks for in an artist
(9:05) Networking out of the big cities
(10:08) How often do you go to shows?
(11:15) Tangible tools for artist exposure
(13:26) Touring strategy
(16:13) Different strategies in Hip Hop
(17:15) Email structure for promoters
(19:11) 8 sentence emails
(19:47) Submitting to an agent
(21:15) An agent being the first one on board
(21:50) Meg’s roster
(22:47) Starting and learning at ICM
(28:02) “Meg’s courses” for the music industry
(31:42) Touring experience
(35:03) Interring at ICM
(38:10) BTS questions
(38:30) First concert and first album
(39:22) Must-have routines
(39:53) Favorite book and documentary
(40:57) Meg’s Hollywood Vampires
(41:25) Fill-in-the-blanks

Quotes from Meg White
“Artists should be willing to network…this business is all about relationships”
“Just because your social numbers are high it doesn’t mean you’re gonna sell tickets”
“Unless you’re teaming up with an artist that sales tickets I wouldn’t go to bar that no one goes to”
“Regarding emails, keep them short and sweet”
“Stats look good to everybody”
“A sense of urgency is something that it’s not leaner, you just have to have it”
“[as an agent] there artist always comes first”
“College can never prepare you for the real life”
“You have to show that you care about people”
“Being able to handle even the smallest of issues…that’s how you build trust”
“Being an intern is beneficial especially if you follow up”
“There are more good people out there than bad ones”

Links to people, places, and things mentioned
Death From Above 1979
Brooklyn Steel
Moonchild
Lalah Hathaway
Salt’n’Peppa
ICM
Sevendust
Mariah Carey
Count of Monte Cristo
Love Lucy
Hollywood Vampires
Frank Sinatra
Elvis Presley
Paul McCartney
Sting

Meg’s definition of making it
There’s no end of making it, I’m learning something new everyday

Get in touch with Meg White
Instagram 
http://www.icmtalent.com/

Keep in touch:
chris.goyzueta@gmail.com
www.makingitwithchrisg.com
https://www.instagram.com/chrisgoyzueta/
https://www.facebook.com/makingitwithchrisg

Credits:
Host: Chris Goyzueta (Chris G.)
Producer: Jason Trosclair
Executive Producer: ONElive Creative Agency  
Music: Emily Kopp
Show Notes: Manuel Pachamoro