MIC: Music Industry Connected | Home of The Mountain

Welcome to MIC, home of The Mountain - a sanctuary of education for musicians aiming to create full-time commercial music careers independently, or by signing to a record label. We connect the pieces of the puzzle for you, that’s why we’re Music Industry Connected. No matter if you’re dreaming up, starting off, or in the middle of a music career, our mission is to take the edge off with our Mountain; it’s 6 years and counting of field research from musicians going through the same struggles you are, in real time.

The Mountain's research has one goal: to reveal the truths behind universal roadblocks and distractions, in order to empower musicians to understand the big picture of creating a music career and ultimately land their own definition of success.

Inspired by the question "Where do I even freaking begin?", we were founded in 2013 to begin our official research out in the independent music scene learning from fellow musicians, and going through the marathons ourselves. Our research experiments made it obvious to us that all musicians struggle and crave a structure that supports their dream, but also allows them to be their own completely unique artist. Simply reading books and articles of tips and tricks for how to create a music career created a scattered, desperate, American-overwork-ethic feeling in our souls - and this unity of shared frustration with other musicians inspired us to create The Mountain, our MBM: Music Business Model.
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Through its 6 Steps and hover-able visual, The Mountain will help you see the big picture in both the industry landscape and your strategy options - then it will teach you how to incorporate your career holistically into your life. You will then be able to go and seek out the "how-to" of each piece of your plan (how to plan a tour, record an album, do social media) because you understand where it falls in your big picture.

We're also the home of many music career mental training principles, like the First Circle Conundrum: we observed a trend across nearly every single musician we met and studied, and decided a name needed to be put to the face of this beast. The Conundrum heals the confusion of why the people already in your life don't (often) seem interested in your music. We dove into the consumer psychology behind it, and found that this trend is so common because anyone who's in your first circle (only one degree of separation away from you) has already labeled you in their mind, and they cannot relabel you in a way that could make them a true fan of your music. Understanding this natural law relieves the scars of discouragement leftover from all those social media posts and invitations to shows that were "ignored" by family and friends. Don't take it personally, it wasn't personal. The First Circle Conundrum's discovery motivates musicians through acceptance, so we can keep going and forge through that circle.
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The 1st Circle Conundrum, and many more mental training and psychological principles like push vs. pull marketing dynamics, listener behavior motivation, the nuances of mental training and self-motivation, and more are included in The Mountain, and available during our personalized Music Career Diagnostic consulting sessions. You can also join The MVMT and become a part of MIC, here.

Whether you want to stay independent or prep your materials to pitch and sign with a label that becomes your partner, The Mountain is for you. We want to be invited into your Music Worlds - so remember to come back at us and tell us how The Mountain helped you. We will be thrilled to hear your story, and become your fans, too.
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- 2019, MIC Founder/CEO Emily Plazek

Now begin your journey by reading the Introduction to the Mountain, then continuing onto the 6 Steps of the Mountain, all located here on our website. *COMING SPRING OF 2019*