JAY BURGIN | INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
- Jan 28
- 6 min read
Behind every successful tour is a team of people that help shape the vision, strategy and connection between artist and audience. Jay Burgin, founder of Elicit Music and management assistant for While She Sleeps, has taken on many different roles behind-the-scenes, from crewing and setting up stages at festivals to marketing and developing tour campaigns.
We had the pleasure of chatting with Jay, who shares some of his favourite moments of his career, digital marketing advice for bands, and how he deals with imposter syndrome and burnout.
To start off, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your experience in the music industry?
I’m Jay, I started an artist development agency in 2017 called Elicit Music. I work with underground artists on development, digital marketing, and consultancy, manage artists like Resolve and INDEATH through Management Agency Common Outcast and I’m the Management Assistant for While She Sleeps.
I started my journey in the music industry in 2014 studying Live Events Production at Backstage Academy; now called Academy of Live Technology. It gave me insight into event management, planning, logistics, and all things stage and technical. In my final year of university I started working with small underground bands with the aim to one day be a tour manager. Instead, I started booking shows, and that turned into working much closer with underground bands to develop them into nationally recognised artists - that’s when I set up Elicit Music. Since then, my work with underground artists expanded into day-to-day management, management assistant, digital marketing and brand development.
You’ve been part of the While She Sleeps family for over a year now as management assistant. What have been some of the biggest highlights over the past year within this role?
Just getting the job in the first place is a pretty significant highlight to me! I often battled with imposter syndrome, always questioning if I deserved to be doing what I was doing despite having peers who supported and cheered me on, so getting this job really helped with my self-confidence.
Another huge highlight for me is something very recent. I started my journey in the industry crewing at arenas and festivals around the UK, setting up stages, lighting and sound for the likes of Muse, Justin Bieber, Mumford and Sons, Def Leppard and many more, but ended up behind a desk for the most part. But Sleeps asked me to head out on the road with them to be their Set Carp (Staging) for the last 2 festivals of the summer, Reload Festival (Germany) and Rock The Lakes (Switzerland) which felt like a full circle moment!
While She Sleeps have always put a lot of effort into their merchandise and have been successful in using merch as a tool to build the band’s “brand,” so to speak. What do you think sets While She Sleeps’ merch strategy apart from other bands, and how intentional is the role of merch in shaping their overall fan experience?
Sleeps take immense pride in the quality of the things they do, and so it’s important that they only release quality merchandise. While they will still produce the classic band t-shirts, they also provide more premium quality and unique options too. The strategy as a whole isn’t just as simple as: design, print, release. They sample the garments, they get tests of embroidery done, and they make sure what they are selling is top-quality with no errors at all.
Then when it comes to release, we spend weeks planning photoshoots, video shoots, roll out timelines, mailout and digital marketing campaigns, creating the ecommerce images, carousel/story graphics, and budgeting the whole lot. If there’s anything Sleeps do well, it’s attention to detail, which shows in their merchandise and is the reason fans return to buy more from them. It shows a sense of care for the fans, forever building the relationship between band and fan which is a key ethos of While She Sleeps.
In 2017, you founded a company called Elicit Music, which started as a small booking agency but has since evolved into Music Marketing & Development Agency. Can you talk a little bit about the company’s journey and how it has evolved since its inception? How do you hope to see it grow over the next few years?
Elicit Music was created through my love for underground music and I always wanted to maintain an artist-first approach. Overtime we worked with many artists and always stepped them up to the next level or stepped up the level of those we chose to start working with. As my work at Common Outcast on the management teams for Resolve and previously Mimi Barks and Kid Bookie started to unravel, I actually couldn’t put as much time into Elicit Music as I wanted to.
Nowadays, I’m heavily focused on the marketing side of promoting underground artists, and in turn, helping them develop their online image and presence. I’m not too sure what the future holds for Elicit Music in the near future, but I have been working on something new behind the scenes throughout the vast amount of 2025 that I hope will take its place - a new brand, new structure, new offerings, a way to continue helping the underground bands but in an even friendly artist-first way.
Navigating the world of social media and its ever-evolving algorithms can be intimidating and frustrating for a lot of bands. When it comes to digital marketing and promoting your music, what’s your biggest piece of advice to bands?
Understand what music fans want to see from artists on social media. Create content that engages them, and don’t post just for the sake of it. Focus on creating relationships with the people you capture and find ways to give them something in return. And don’t forget to invest in your promotion! You’ve spent a few hundred to potentially a few grand getting a single, EP or album mixed and mastered, and let’s not forget the music videos. So, why would you not advertise properly? Double down on your investment and get the most out of it.
What have been some of the most successful campaigns you’ve worked on, and what were the key factors involved in getting results?
It probably goes without saying, While She Sleeps “Self Hell” album campaigns. Key factors in getting results from marketing is having a budget. Don’t splash some cash if you don’t have a good budget to work with. We sold out of most variants on their online store and the marketing campaigns really helped with that.
Second to that, I ran the marketing for Resolve’s Spring headliner in 2024, which really helped bring awareness to the tour and brought the ticket sales in, becoming one of the best selling tours the band had done at the time, and resulted in them being offered an opening slot on While She Sleeps’ EU/UK headline tour in November/December 2024 too - and I know what people will think, but no, it wasn’t because of my work with Sleeps that got Resolve the tour, the whole team were pitching the band to the right people, and it’s because Resolve had the music, the polished live show and the ticket data that made them a strong contender for consideration!
From artist & merch management to digital marketing and consulting services, you’ve worn many hats within the industry. What have been the most challenging aspects of working in the music scene, and what lessons have you learned by overcoming them?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced quite regularly is burnout. I often drive myself into a wall by doing too much, and that comes from having a lot of know-how across so many parts of the music industry. I’ve always managed to push through in some way, things perking me up or getting those little wins, but I often never truly feel “healed” from it.
Something I do tend to tell myself is that work will always be there waiting, so go on that holiday, or take that day off, or prioritise one focused task at a time instead of juggling 20 things at once and hitting breaking point.
Are there any specific personality traits you find important for a person to have to be successful in this industry, particularly managing bands?
You have to be confident, friendly and able to manage things MOSTLY stress-free. Be good at communication and organisation - it can get very messy very quickly if not!
It’s okay to be harsh and to put your foot down or make a snap executive decision, but always in the name of benefiting the band you are working with. And lastly, even if you are blunt, just don’t be dickhead or people will talk and resent working with you. Playing politics and strategy is key.
Rapid-fire round - finish the sentence:
a) My favourite part about working in the music industry is… The fast paced, ever changing day-to-day happenings and getting those wins, big or small.
b) My current playlist includes… Don Broco, INDEATH, Bilmuri, Spiritbox, Periphery, Hard Life, Limp Bizkit, Glasshaven
c) When I’m not working, you can find me… Spending time with my family, and when the little one’s in bed, either rotting on my phone or gaming with some of the lads. My social life isn’t quite what it once was...
d) If I could watch any band/artist live, it would be… Ozzy in his prime! That’s something we should all wish to have seen.
Work with Jay / Elicit Music:
