Is there a dress code in the music industry? Yes, of course, in all social gatherings, there is a dress code. In the music industry, it might not be spoken out but it’s there. Also, a reason why certain people never survive in the music industry, they just don’t understand the code.

First, a suit is always wrong, if you have a tie to it is as bad as going into a stock market in a velour overall with a funny hat. In finance the suite is correct, here is just wrong. If a person has a suit and tie, they don’t belong to the industry, are fraud, or both. If they have a bowtie, it could be a joke. Like the label manager who always dressed in a pink costume, but that was obvious.

There are people with suits, but they usually work in bigger record labels, and they don’t understand the music they are just there because it is a high corporate job. It doesn’t matter what they do, selling cars or selling music. In fact, they are just losers that have gotten in there and usually don’t stay that long, you will often find them later on a boring job in an insurance company. The same for women, if they are dressed to their teeth, they are not serious. We had one of those in the industry in Sweden, let’s say she is no longer there and was never accepted and just handled Eurovision stuff and that is not the music industry at all. That is degenerated stuff for losers who don’t have a real career.

I have a funny story about this. Many years ago, twenty to be exact an American was hired to get a digital distribution into the Swedish market. Back then digital distribution was kind of new so they just took a guy that had worked in sales before. One day his boss called me and was complaining that he didn’t know how to find the right labels to approach. Back then I was on the board for the independent labels so I said that I could get him into one of the meetings of all the Swedish labels and he could present the distribution there. Said and done our big meeting was held and over 30 of the biggest indie labels had a meeting in Stockholm. Sure, the sales guy showed up, of course in a suit and tie, he looked like he was selling insurance. I let him go around and mingle with the labels. After the meeting, we traveled back together. He was a bit disappointed that many didn’t really want to speak to him and very few gave up their phone numbers and emails. I gently explained that he was not dressed correctly. In the music industry, he looked like a fraud and no one would trust a guy in a suit and tie. I told him to look at what the people had on them. Either they had casual things but in most cases a t-shirt with some artist on or a company name on. This is the dress code. From the look on your clothes, you can see what part of the industry you come from, what kind of music you deal with, and what you like. In reality, you can from that start the right conversation with them and gain their trust.

The sales guy started to realize how everything was going on. He asked me where he could get some clothes that would be better for him to wear. I sent him down to a t-shirt store, the rock stores that you have in all big cities that hold almost any t-shirt with any bigger artist. Not the most unique but ok.

A couple of months later it was another meeting among the labels and the sales guy called me and checked if I was going, and I invited him. He told me that he would fix his outfit this time. The meeting had already started when I arrived, and I couldn’t see the sales guy when I got in. But straight after me, he appeared in his new bough t-shirt with Backstreet Boys in total pink. Let’s say like this, the selling didn’t work this time either.

So to be dressed right you also have to have a knowledge about what you are wearing. The brand or the artist must have some credibility. And you need to know what you are wearing. I just had snotty kids walking around with a Misfits t-shirt and have never listened to the music, just think it’s a cool shirt with a skull. Then it goes like when Slayer had their kill the Kardashian t-shirts in the photo above. Kardashians is not credible in that league.

I guess the rules in the music industry are not that forgiving and should be a topic of any music industry education.

By Peter Åstedt