When Music Means Business
A Reality Check for Local Artists
Listen up, legends. I’m going to talk straight, because someone has to.
The Pushworth Group or any other Agency is not your fairy godmother, your mum, or your employer. We’re a consultancy, a business, with clients. Those clients? Mostly bars, pubs, clubs, hotels—the places you’re desperate to play.
We’re contracted by them to solve their problems. We design entertainment solutions that meet their brief, fit their budget, and unlock new revenue. Our role is to deliver them consistent, quality-controlled live music that actually makes them money.
We’ve invested a hell of a lot into building a system to do this well. It’s called MUSIC MEANS BUSINESS™. It’s an integrated booking, marketing, artist-management and compliance platform. It exists for one reason: to make sure every dollar our Hospitality clients spend on entertainment delivers return on investment.
We do not exist to give you a career.
Let me say that again, so it really sinks in:
We work for the Hospitality Client in this service. Not for you.
The Pitch is Yours to Make (and Yours to Back Up)
Now, we also work with another group: the top-tier touring, festival and feature artists. For them? Yes, we act as their agent. We partner with their managers, labels, publicists, and book shows, tours, festivals. We consult on brand strategy, audience development, touring schedules.
In that service, we work for the Artist.
But for Local Soundtracking gigs? For the bread-and-butter bar gigs you’re chasing? We’re working for the venues.
That means you pitch us, not the other way around. We assess your brand, your show, your assets, your metrics. We see if you even remotely match what the market needs.
Because you know what our client asks us?
“Why should I book them? I can get 20 other bands who look the same, play the same set, and cost the same.”
You want us to fight for you? Then give us the ammo.
Your offer, your branding, your showreel, your promo assets, your social engagement—it’s all on you. If you don’t have the goods? Don’t blame the market when it doesn’t buy what you’re selling.
Angry Messages on Facebook? That’s Your Brand Too
And let’s talk about those messages……..
Yes, I see them.
They usually roll in about three weeks after someone’s onboarded with us and realised—shock horror—that the gigs aren’t falling out of the sky.
That rage? That entitled “I deserve gigs because I exist” vibe?
It tells us everything we need to know about your brand.
It screams unprofessional. Entitled. Doesn’t get the market.
We don’t owe you gigs. Our clients don’t owe you gigs. The market doesn’t owe you a single thing.
Your business, your brand, is your responsibility.
You’re Not an Employee. You are a Business.
This is where so many of you fall over.
You think because there’s a booking system, you’re “hired.”
No. You’re a supplier.
Think about a tradie you hire to build your kitchen:
You give them the brief.
You agree the price.
You expect quality and delivery.
But they’re responsible for their tools, their tax, their super, their marketing.
You’re the same.
If you can’t deliver what the market wants, you don’t get booked.
If you want to get booked, you research the market. You adapt. You upgrade your show. You invest in your promo assets. You tighten your set list. You learn how to read a room. You build your online engagement.
Your unique brand isn’t defined by your opinion of yourself. It’s defined by what you can prove to the market.
Market Feedback Isn’t an Attack. It’s a Mirror.
If you’ve onboarded with us and you’re getting crickets? That’s not us ignoring you. That’s the market telling you:
“Not yet. Not at that price. Not for that audience. Not with that show.”
It’s feedback.
You can ignore it and send us angry emails. Or you can do the work.
We’re Still Here to Help—If You’re Willing to Learn
You want to understand the market? We literally give you the map.
Read this Stack —our free resource that breaks down exactly how the industry works. It literally shows you how to hack the musoverse. No fluff. No hype. Just the unvarnished truth.
Because if you’re serious about your music business? Then start treating it like a business.
Stop expecting Pushworth, or any agent, to “make you.”
We’re not here to save you.
We’re here to partner with professionals who know their offer, know their audience, and deliver the show.
The rest? That’s on you.
Final Word
Your music business will grow as far as you grow your business skills.
If you’re ready to do the work? Fantastic. We’ll meet you there.
If not? Don’t waste your time—or ours.
We’re not here to play dress-up.
We’re here to do business. So get cracking, you have invested so much already. Keep going. We are always looking for great acts to book.
Music Means Business™. It’s not just a tagline. It’s the truth.
Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2025
