Roo Pigott brings entrepreneurial expertise to LIPA

Published: Mar 21, 2011

Music producer, musician and studio engineer: these are just three of the multitude of jobs held by serial music entrepreneur Roo Pigott, co-founder of MusiCode and Founding Director of Roo Pigott Publishing who came to speak to our students on 25th February.

Roo, who has been in bands since he was a teenager, started his career supporting Pulp on tour when he was just 14. Over the course of his twenty years in the industry, he has run various venues across Sheffield, produced numerous punk and world music artists in his own studio, managed numerous bands, started his own music publishing company and is currently working on a project which allows music content owners to connect with potential customers via their mobile phones. He was also recently chosen as one of the UK’s top 42 entrepreneurs under 42 by Insider Media.

Roo spent nearly an hour and a half talking about the various trials and tribulations he has faced during his time working in the music industry, as well as providing our students with some invaluable pieces of advice on how to forge their own successful careers.

‘A really important thing to understand if you’re a songwriter or a musician is the value of music publishing deals,’ he said. ‘These are where the cash is. They’re essentially a musician’s pension.’

Roo talked extensively to our students about how to cope with the highs and lows of the music industry, and also divulged some top tips on how to connect with the most important people involved in a musician’s career, the fans.

‘The key thing that people need to remember in the music industry is that the fans are everything,’ he told our students. ‘Find out who your fans are. Build networks via word of mouth and social media and talk to them. Capture their details and connect with them. Once you’ve developed your fanbase, you can do practically anything.’

Return to listings