Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Peter Hanna. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Peter, appreciate you joining us today. What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?

Before I dove head first into building my own company in the music industry, I was studying Computer Science at UCF (University of Central Florida) in Orlando. The important lesson I learned in college was that I could apply everything I’ve learned in my courses to my daily life, even when I didn’t think I could at first. I love to use all the high level math courses I had to complete as an example. Sure, I didn’t see “y=mx+b” or the “Pythagorean Theorem” everyday but math teaches you a lot of valuable life lessons. All the high level Calculus courses I took for my major shaped who I am today because they taught me how to Critically think, Problem solve, Interpret Data, and much more.

Calculus encourages critical thinking by requiring you to analyze problems, break them down into smaller parts, and use logical reasoning to find solutions. You’ll develop strong analytical skills as you learn to decompose complex problems into simpler components and analyze them using calculus techniques.

This has helped me EVERYDAY of my life, even when I graduated from UCF.

Peter, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Peter Hanna. I got into the music industry by just being an avid music fan attending local concerts and music festivals. I really fell in love with the music and the scene and decided that I wanted to keep it around me for the rest of my life. Once I decided to pursue this as a career, I went and tried multiple different roles in the industry to see where I fit best. I quickly realized I didn’t like boots on the ground festival operations. I knew I fit best behind the scenes doing more business oriented things. I picked Artist Management because I liked how easy the barrier of entry was for it.

So my job as an artist manager is a bit unorthodox because I touch every aspect of the artist’s career. Everything from the brand vision to getting my clients (artists) booked on live shows/festivals, to negotiating record label deals, to the not so glamorous stuff like booking travel arrangements, keeping up with excel documents of data etc.

My job as a talent buyer is as simple as, I look for talent that is either younger in their career and emerging or already established that would sell well in whatever size venue I’m booking. I handle all negotiations with booking agents/management teams, handle all legal contracting, make sure marketing is in order, and make sure the show goes according to planned. This all sounds simple but theres a lot more that goes into it. I have to understand what market I’m in, who my demographic is, what sells well in this market/demographic, and understand where artists are in their career.

I’m really proud of the artist development I get to be a part of in both jobs as a Manager and a Talent Buyer. In both positions, I get to really be a crucial part in developing artists careers.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Me and my team are constantly reassessing our positions and our visions in our careers periodically. In the music industry you can have a really great month and be on a role releasing music, playing festivals, etc. Then there are months where you feel like the world is ending.

The key here is to constantly reposition your focus constantly, if you don’t have a lot of shows this month then let’s focus on your branding/your images/your social media output. There is so much to be doing at all times that there’s no point in having a low morale because the next day you might get an offer in for a festival or get your song placed on a label, etc.

You just have to be positive and keep moving forward, one step at a time!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’ve been really into reading books lately, I just finished Ari Herstand’s third edition of “How To Make It In The New Music Business”. This book is a god send for anyone that is in the music industry. The book breaks down every aspect of the music business from royalties to sync placements to social media to crowdfunding to explaining the college markets, etc. Anything you need to know is in this book. It’s very easy to read and digest too with A LOT of updated real world examples.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ambushartists.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peter_hanna/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanna-peter/

Image Credits
@djmuldowney