Win-Win Relationships: Dani Felt on How to Network in the Music Industry (Episode 119)

Make Music Your Business.

Dani Felt is a Philadelphia-born artist who now makes her music life in Nashville, with a dark pop sound and a debut pop single, "Queen." She also runs Music Industry Mastery, an agency and network that connects artists with the producers, marketers, designers and consultants they need. Her line for it: her superpower is connecting you to where you're meant to go and who you're meant to be.

In Episode 119 of The Career Musician, Nomad asks how she built both sides. If you are working on how to network in the music industry without being the artist shouting "hear my music," this one is for you.

One thing leads to another

Dani started performing for her parents at two, took voice lessons at ten, and at fourteen was at a music camp writing and recording songs in a studio. Later she auditioned for The Voice in New York. She did not make the show, but sitting in a room with hundreds of chairs full of singers was humbling. It also got her to New York: the friend who let her crash the night before became her roommate a week later.

Her advice if you are thinking about a TV audition: go for the experience, not the top ten. You might meet a co-writer, or get hired by someone who hears you. Nomad calls it the domino effect. Every milestone connects back to two or three things you did before it. Everything you do is an audition.

Get fired, then build your own thing

During a summer internship at a music PR company in London, Dani got fired. One thing she did wrong: she walked up to one of the company's clients at an event and handed over her own business card as an artist. The work was tedious, and as she tells it, she has ADHD and needed more explanation than she got.

Getting fired lit a fire. Back home she saw a friend's friend running a blog and decided to start her own interview series, so she would be the one in control. That blog came from a chain of small yeses. In London, her mom told her to look for volunteer opportunities to meet people. She ended up selling raffle tickets in a VIP tent at a big festival concert, and met the person who became her first blog partner. Nomad's version of that lesson: get up, dress up, show up.

Create win-win relationships

How did she land her first interviews? She searched Facebook for people who went to Berklee, messaged them, studied their websites and featured them. The blog turned her from one more artist asking for a listen into someone who could help. PR companies started inviting her to shows and events. The interviews later became a co-written book, then events and artist development.

"You want to create win-win opportunities... and benefit people, because then they're going to want to help you, versus you just being like, hey, listen to my music."

Dani Felt, 14:01

That is Work begets work, and it is the core of the Biz pillar: give before you ask.

Patience is a professional skill

Nomad shared a behind-the-scenes moment. He had to reschedule this interview months earlier because of work. Dani did not get upset or fire off angry messages. She said no problem, let me know. Nomad's team made sure she got back on the calendar, and here they are.

"Sometimes you have to be patient. Sometimes people are just busy. Sometimes life happens, and you can't take it personal."

Nomad, 24:51

Dani agreed that patience is hard, and called it one of the most powerful weapons you can have. That is Low maintenance / no drama. It is how people remember you when the next date opens up.

Let go of control and jealousy

Dani was candid about being a control freak, and about how common that is in music: feeling like "your" writers and producers should not work with anyone else. Her answer was to do the opposite. She threw a release party and brought her whole network together, and she sent a "Friend Friday" email that cross-promoted about 40 friends' music in one go.

She also reframed jealousy. If you feel jealous watching another artist, it usually means you want that thing. It is a map, not a reason to be angry. Nomad tied it to self-awareness, the skill he credits with keeping his own temper in check. In ETHOS terms, that is Objectivity. The tools that help Dani reset: tapping, a bath and a voice memo, and stepping away from Instagram when the likes start running her day.

The takeaway

Dani's last words: keep following your dreams, don't get in your own way, and take it one step at a time. Connect people. Be patient. Celebrate your peers. If you are building the business side of your music career, start with the free Get the Gig guide, and find Dani at danifeltmusic.com and danifelt.com.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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