Professional audio encompasses a wide range of jobs from engineering to research and development, audio technicians, mixers, and various positions at companies that provide services and equipment. These include things like management, public relations, marketing, and sales. All of these jobs require diverse skills and knowledge about the products and company.
SoundGirls.org recently talked with Daniella Peters, head of the sales department and part of the management team at Rat Sound in Camarillo, CA, who after more than 14 years with the company, considers the Rat team family.
Peters is no stranger to live events or the stage. Her mother was a performer, so she grew up around the theater. She also spent several years working for an international cosmetics company doing its live events, and found working in the concert industry a natural transition.
Like many in the music industry, Peters essentially created her job: “I was 23 and knew Jon Monson, Dave Rat and Karrie Keyes. I pitched Karrie at the time to come and work for them doing PR. Back then, Rat was a lot smaller and there wasn’t really a budget but I didn’t care, I just desperately wanted to work there. I would go to shows, takes photos of the crew and gear, and make sure each Rat tour was in the trades.
“After a year or so, Dave said ‘this is great, but really we need to get you bringing in money in order to keep you.’ So we sat down one day and thought about it. We knew how to send large rock tours out and rent out gear, but we didn’t have a storefront or a real web store. Dave suggested selling all of the gear Rat used; microphones, speakers and so forth. We could give unbiased advice on the best product for the job, and we had access to all these incredible lines that we used anyway.
“The plan was informal. We picked a product as a test, choosing the Audix OM7 vocal microphone. Both the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam were using it, so it was a mic we really could get behind. The goal was to sell five mics. It seemed huge: Did I cold call? Ebay? Pitch to the bands we were working with? We built a simple web page with a single OM7 and a PayPal button on it, and the sales department was born.”
Two years later Rat Sound hit a million dollars in product box sales.
Without a formal background in audio, Peters gained most of her knowledge by learning on the job. She volunteered at KROQ shows, stints at HHB and Rock FM, and worked on the Coachella main stage audio team for Rat. “I’ve learned by watching and listening,” she notes. “I got lucky because I had other sales and marketing skills, which benefited Rat at the time I was hired. Now I would say you need to have a strong interest and innate ability in audio to go far. It’s too competitive now otherwise.”
Successfully selling a product requires knowing the product, and a good amount of research can be involved. Peters gets to know the products offered by Rat Sound through attending trade shows like NAMM, LDI, and AES, which she attends regularly and feels are the most relevant and useful. She also attends manufacturer demos and learns from speaking with her customers, clients, and bands about what they like, which provides her with a feel for what’s hot in the market.
“Obviously the rental department has strong recommendations and opinions on new gear that comes out, and being a slightly larger company, manufacturers drop in pretty frequently to see us and keep us updated on what is new,” she adds.
