Meet Breanna Ludwick of Big Dreams Management
I’ve known I wanted to work in music for a very long time – music has been the only consistent thing in my life. Just before my senior year in high school, I moved to Los Angeles. I moved for a lot of reasons, but pursuing my career in the music business happened to be one of them.
Over the summer, I took a music business class online. I had an excellent professor. I applied to just about every internship I could possibly find. 5 a day for five months. I was thirsty for experience. Five months – that’s how long it took me to get one interview. Coming from a smaller town, I was quickly made aware that LA is a whole different ball game.
That interview turned into nothing but opportunity for me. I became an intern at a marketing company specializing in rap and hip hop music. I got to attend The Revolt Summit – an amazing music conference put on by Sean Combs. I am still reaping the benefits of that conference today.
I met a couple there – I won’t say their names because they’re not a couple anymore, but they completely changed the way I saw myself in the music industry world. They helped me to realize my worth and taught me so much when it came to business and managing a business. Through them, I reconnected with an artist I had known from back home. One thing led to another, and I started managing him.
I completely fell in love with management, and decided that it was better to have a company to back me than to be an independent manager. I also saw a lot of flaws in the industry, a lot of people getting fucked over. They would drop thousands on a music video that didn’t look the way they wanted it to, or they would record with an engineer and never get their music back. Big Dreams Management is the solution to those problems. It’s a one-stop shop where independent artists can get everything they need – from music promotion to photo shoots to a place to record. We’ll never screw you over and I hand pick everyone we work with – only the best.
Labels won’t touch you if you don’t already have a big following. We’re here to help you gain that following, help you figure out who you are and where you belong in this industry.
The road has definitely not been smooth at all whatsoever. I’ve done practically everything myself. I juggle this business, but I also have bills to pay and I’m a senior in high school. Sometimes it’s difficult. Everyone’s expecting something from you, but at the end of the day this is my passion.
I also think anyone in working in music will find that there’s a lot of snakes in the grass. There’s a lot of people who will come along just for the clout. Luckily, my intuition is very strong when it comes to seeing people’s true intentions. I think the biggest lesson I have learned along the way is that I have to take the ego out of everything I’m doing. What other people say or think about me has nothing to do with my ability to do my job. It can get confusing at times, because this is a 24/7 gig, but you have to separate it from your personal life. Nothing is personal in music.
Like I said before, Big Dreams Management is a one-stop shop where artists can get everything they need, from music promotion, to photo shoots, to a place to record. I primarily manage and run music campaigns and I also write songs. I’ve been writing songs since I could speak. Managing is something I’m in love with and I take a very unique angle to management. I am constantly looking for ways to get music out there that’s never been done before, I’m not so interested in blueprints. Marketing is also one of our strengths. On a $10 campaign, we got an artist from 10 monthly listeners to over 2,000 monthly listeners. The proof is in the pudding.
As a company, I’m mostly proud of the integrity that’s in everything we do. We have an amazing videographer. He brings a whole team along on shoots and he can do anything. I’m talking amazing graphics, building sets. As a manager, I think I had a unique eye when it came to creating my business because I always have the artists in mind. The artists always come first.
I think that what sets us apart is that our look and our aesthetic is very girly. I’m very aware that this can turn some people off. Just because we have a girly aesthetic does not mean that we can’t make a killer music video with fire and car crashes and rain. We can still do anything you want. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted pinks and clouds for my business logo. When you’re chasing a career in music, everyone will tell you to keep your head out of the clouds. Well, we’re here to say keep your head in the clouds. Anything is possible if you work. We’re dreamers. People tell me all the time, oh that aesthetic is unprofessional. Well, somewhere along the line we got confused and started thinking that girly meant unprofessional. Well, I’m super girly and I’m one of the most professional people I know. Seriously. I make a contract for everything. It scares people sometimes.
I say this all the time – you can either be society’s version of successful, or you can be happy. I actually did a senior project on this hustle culture that we live in – the 24/7 grind, the idea that you cannot simply like your career – you have to love it. You have to live, breathe and die for it. I don’t think that’s true for everyone. If you are happy working at a coffee shop, then you’re successful to me.
Working in music and with artists, every artist has a completely different idea of what success looks like to them. That’s actually one of the first questions I ask an artist in a consultation, because it helps me to see what their goals are, and that’s how I know what direction to move. Working with Big Dreams Management is a completely personalized experience.
