The music industry offers many career opportunities that go far beyond performing on stage: Careers spanning from songwriters and composers, production and sound engineering, music distribution and promotion, business and management, music publishing, music journalism, marketing and social media, to touring and beyond. These industry professionals are the backbone of the music world, ensuring the music we love thrives through their contributions to its creation, production and distribution.
Being a creative strategist and social media manager go hand in hand in the music industry. A creative strategist is responsible for conceptualizing album and tour campaigns — creating strategies around releases, music videos, merchandise and brand partnerships. A social media manager helps to manage an artist’s online identity and build a loyal fanbase. They post content on social media platforms, respond to fans, manage DMs and monitor major trends. Each job requires analyzing engagement data to see what works and what doesn’t.
April Bredael is a New York City-based social media manager and creative strategist who has spent the last five years building her career in the music industry. Hailing from a small town where sports were the main topic of conversation, Bredael found a community through music and fandom. “When challenges arose, live music was one of the only things that made me feel truly alive,” Bredael says. After her first year of college, Bredael transferred to the University of Wisconsin–Madison where she discovered a deep interest for the intersection of strategic communication and psychology within the entertainment space.
Bredael has a proven track record for combining creative vision with data driven strategies to shape compelling online narratives and campaigns for artists, noting Tash Blake in particular. The up-and-coming dance-pop artist was the first to allow her to fully dive into every aspect of the creative process. Working with Blake has allowed Bredael to grow as an industry professional and gain valuable experience working with a team who respects her contributions in the creative space.
“I’ve learned so many new things since joining the team and I feel very lucky to be on a team that values me and my experience in the social media marketing space,” Bredael says.
The 24-year-old has experienced many firsts working in the music industry including embarking on her very first European adventure on tour. “I’ve never been to Europe before and to experience the joy of music in so many different environments, cultures and spaces was such a special introduction,” Bredael states.
Bredael discovered Gondola a few years back, a social media metric tracking platform that has helped get her to where she is in her career today. “I started using it as essentially a living resume for my stats and analytics,” she explains. Every day in her job varies depending on what she’s working on, but most of Bredael’s time is spent on her phone or laptop working to execute marketing strategies.
“My favorite days are when I’m onsite executing the plans I’ve spent so much time tweaking and perfecting,” she explains. “I frequently tour with artists, and creating content and executing creative visions on the road is so much fun.”
While every day can look a little different in the industry, Bredael expresses how important it is to “live as the person you want to become.” If you work hard and stay true to yourself, there is no reason why you can’t be successful in the industry.
“Picture who you want to be and what you want your life to look like. And everyday, take actionable steps to become that version of yourself,” she says.
