From Doctor to Music Agent

Jeanine Renne MD is confident. She is confident that she was a good doctor when she was a neurologist. She is confident that she did a good job at preventing nuisance medical malpractice lawsuits when she worked as a medical legal adviser. And she is confident enough to manage all of the ins and outs of the European band tours that she manages when she brings bands on tour to the US.
Her career journey was not what she had expected. When she asked if she could extend her neurology residency by cutting back on her work hours so that she could spend time with her son who was born during her second year of training, her program director refused. So she made the decision to stay home with the baby and took some locums work for a while.

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Then, when she and her family moved for her husband’s tenure position as a Chemistry professor, her father-in-law, an Oncologist, suggested that she try medical-legal work. She decided to give it a shot and found a great job as a medical legal adviser for plaintiff attorneys. She said that most of her work consisted of advising the attorneys against lengthy court battles over bad outcomes that were not caused by anyone doing anything wrong. But, she says, there were also cases in which poor continuity of care resulted in avoidable bad outcomes. Dr. Renne enjoyed her work and only stopped because the lawyer she was working for, whom she describes as a very reputable attorney, was retiring.
Before she had the time to look for another job, she happened to be on Facebook when she looked up the profile of friend she had made during her college year abroad. A violinist in training as a teen, he was an extremely talented, professional musician who was not particularly money wise, and who was actually homeless. Dr. Renne went back to her neurology ‘problem solving’ mindset and learned how to book a musical band on a United States tour- from scratch.

This started a new journey for Jeanine Renne. She learned how to be a music manager by reading articles online. She found other niche European bands and brought them on tour to the US- managing everything from licensing to booking tours to contract negotiations to US work permit and visa applications. She says that she even works with emerging artists and musicians who play medieval music and she locates the right audience for different musical styles.
She has now incorporated her own business as a booking agent. But what she really provides is a practical partnership for the musical artists that she represents. She says they are more devoted to working on developing their art than with the business aspects, as exemplified by the homeless professional violinist. She builds her clients’ businesses through her own understanding of the music industry and through networking with promoters and club owners.
Dr. Renne describes her journey into music management as indirect, but she has no regrets about her medical career. She says that it set the stage for studying to solve problems, for learning how to apply and translate knowledge into a real life context and for the practical skill of getting things done. As a physician she learned resource management and time management skills that she still uses now.
Jeanine was happy to share a clip of one of the artists who she represents here.