One might think musician and entrepreneur Tara Shannon would be totally comfortable authoring a book, given her background in writing songs and performing her material on the big stage.
Yet, she found herself feeling surprisingly anxious when she was preparing to release You and the Music Business: A Self-Care Guide to Finding Balance and Joy in Today’s Music Industry, by Lucky Book Publishing. She wasn’t used to sharing her thoughts and opinions in such an indelible way.
“I put music out all the time, I play in front of lots of people, but this was different,” she said in an interview to discuss her book. “People may like your music or they may not, but a book is like your mind.”
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Shannon is feeling much less anxious these days; all the feedback she’s been getting from her peers in the industry has been “wonderful”.
“It was scary to push myself into a place that was uncomfortable and new, but I have just been received with so much love and support and encouragement, and it means so much,” she told dozens of friends and family who came out to celebrate You and the Music Business during a launch party held last night at Somewhere Dine Bar on Murray Street in the ByWard Market.
The room also heard from her publisher, Samantha Moonsammy, Ottawa Music Industry Coalition board president Susan Odle, and Canadian Live Music Association president and CEO Erin Benjamin.
Shannon, who’s worked in Nashville, as well as Ottawa, said she wrote You and the Music Business with the goal of helping to empower other artists. She’s an expert in the area through Syndicut Music, her music coaching business and membership community for independent music creators looking for guidance and support. Shannon and her business partners also run their own record label, Willow Sound Records.
“Really, the book is just an extension of the coaching I do every day,” said Shannon, who lives just outside of Ottawa in the small town of Russell. “I wanted people who don’t have access to a coach or a manager to have something in their back pocket, to feel less alone, because navigating this path can be challenging.”
The book has “one foot in self-help and one foot in the music business,” she explained. “It’s not like, ‘This is how you make it in the music business’ because I don’t subscribe to any of that. To be successful in the business of music, you first need to be successful in the business of you.”
Music technology and social media have made it easier for artists to produce, sell and promote their work and, ultimately, connect with their fans and a global audience. “You don’t need to slug it out until someone with power discovers you, determines you more special than everybody else, plucks you from the masses and elevates you to stardom,” said Shannon. “That’s really disempowering. These days, you don’t need that.
“You need to build your own business. My book is very much about showing artists how they can take their power back and not let somebody else define how they can live the life they want for themselves.”
Shannon’s motivation for writing the book is connected to her turning 50 this year. In honour of her birthday milestone, she created a list of 50 things she wanted to accomplish — and getting a book published was one of them. It wasn’t out of the blue; she’d been encouraged over the years by followers of her established blog. “A lot of people would say, ‘You should write a book, you should write a book’.”
It was a case of happenstance and good karma that led to Shannon’s book deal. She was in her office one morning, thinking about her book-in-progress. In what could be described as motivational self-talk, she began vocalizing how she was ready for the next step. “I was, like, ‘Universe: I’m just letting you know I need a publisher, I need a partner,” she said in her one-way conversation. “So, whenever you’re ready.”
That same day, she performed with fellow artists Jessica Pearson and Sam Stone at an International Women’s Day event organized to help vulnerable women, including those living in emergency shelters and transitional and supportive housing. Moonsammy was so impressed with and in awe of Shannon that she later approached the singer. She introduced herself. Shannon laughed out loud when she found out that Moonsammy was a publisher — the very person she needed to meet. Shannon replied: “Of course you are”.
The two women got to talking. “(Tara) goes on to tell me that she’s been working on a book and she’s so close to being finished, and that she’s looking for a publisher to help bring it to life,” Moonsammy told the room. “That was March 8th, and today we’re here to toast this book.”
Attendees also included Colin Mills, program coordinator and professor in the Music Industry Arts Diploma Program at Algonquin College; entertainment lawyer Byron Pascoe, a partner at Edwards Creative Law; Audio Valley Recording Studio producer and sound engineer Steve Foley; and representatives from some of the non-profit organizations that Shannon supports, including David Gourlay, CEO of the Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation, and Susan Ingram, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Ottawa. New to the BBBS of Ottawa board is Carrie Irvine, who recently launched her own eponymous marketing and communications company, and is doing the PR for Shannon’s new book.
Among the many guests Shannon gave special shout-outs to for their support were Alan and Georgia Morissette. They’re parents of seven-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and Ottawa native Alanis Morissette.
The music scene in Ottawa is “amazing”, Shannon told the room. “We need to celebrate it more.”
Shannon also acknowledged during her remarks that, as an artist, she was “a little late to the party”. Despite starting in the industry at age 18, she took a break to raise her seven children. They now range in age from almost 17 years old to 30. “But, when I came back to who I am and what I’m about in my industry, you just welcomed me with open arms like no time had passed, so thank you for that,” said Shannon, her voice breaking with emotion.
You and the Music Business can be ordered through Amazon and Shannon’s website, jointara.com
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