The Glossary: Oisín Meehan | Head Of Promotions

What is your role in music and what does your day to day look like?

I work predominantly in promotions. Essentially making sure the right DJs have music in advance of release and upon release ensuring it’s getting heard on the radio be that the BBC or underground networks such as NTS, Rinse, The Lot Radio etc… A pretty simplistic breakdown but I think it sums it up, ultimately we help records get delivered in the spaces they’re designed to be heard in. My day to day consists of a whole lot of emailing, organising and listening to radio shows to hear where our music is getting played and relaying the information to our clients. I also help run a couple of record labels and artist management, more so from a creative and strategic consultancy angle versus day to day. 

How did you get into your line of work?

I’ve always wanted to work in music and specifically underground dance music. I started out DJing and working in venues for much of my late teens and early 20s. I was lucky (stress the word lucky) enough to get a short term internship whilst I was living at home in Dublin that I could juggle with bar work without the pressures of renting. This gave me enough experience that when I moved to London that I was able to land an assistant role at a dance music PR firm. This isn’t the case for everyone and I think as an industry we’ve a responsibility to open up pathways for people from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to see a career in music as a viable and realistic professional direction. The homogeneity of the industry and creative industries in general is my biggest issue with the sector as a whole.   

What skills are important in your job?

I don’t know if you’d describe it as a skill but I feel for what I do musical knowledge and understanding of where our clients want their music positioned is critical. We work with a lot of artists and labels that don’t want their work just given to anyone. We act as an extension of them and are expected to service their music to the right people across pre-release club promotion & wider radio pitching. Within this there is a lot of organising, planning and scheduling, I live in my calendar.  It’s also very much a connections game,  granted everyone isn’t overly social or outgoing but I feel interpersonal skills are super helpful. These can manifest differently for different people but being able to communicate clearly in life in general is an essential skill. 

If someone is excited to do what you do, what advice would you give them?

I think listen to as much music in the space you want to operate in and try to understand how that music is being disseminated to people. Also speak to people in the space,  every business in the world is a relationships business, do your research and don’t be afraid to cold email/DM people or if you see people out and recognise them say hello. I’ve always found people rarely bite! 

What have you found surprising about your role?

I suppose something that has pleasantly surprised me is the amount of exciting artists that we’ve worked with since founding Hypha Creative three years ago. I rarely take stock or look back but the odd time I do have a flick through past campaigns, I’m really proud of the amount of projects that if I wasn't working on I’d be buying, playing and supporting anyway. It is great to have helped in some capacity on so much music I love in any case. 

What are your top 3 tips for someone who wants work in the music industry in general?

I suppose don’t go in under any illusions, particularly when starting out you’re likely going to be a cog in a wheel doing important, necessary work but it’s not glamorous. On this point, I think enthusiasm can go a long way, often tasks will be 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration but being diligent and getting things done with minimal fuss, as simple as it sounds, is a great start. Given it’s a nighttime, culture rich industry, go out and get involved in the scene you’re authentically passionate about, you never know when an opportunity will arise.

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