Posts Tagged ‘relationship building’
#3 Music Industry Secret to Success: Have Humility

I have developed a set of music industry “secrets.” These “secrets” are designed to develop positive behavior, so do not expect a ton of tactical talk. Strategy will be the ultimate takeaway. In each shared “secret,” we are going to give ideas that should help you make the right changes toward a substantial music career. Be sure you check out the previous “secrets” of “Be Yourself”, “Reach Out” and “Listen” before reading this.

If there is one thing that is more annoying than a spammer, then it has to be the person that cannot tell when they are spamming or at least have too much ego to admit it. You either know people like this or you are one of these people. Today, we are going to focus on the egotistical person and hope by giving (an) unknowing spammer(s) an existential update will put a stop to the offenses. Hubris is more difficult to circumvent, as it can have lasting negative effects, even after correction.

humanity. love. respect. photo by B.S. Wise

Photo by B.S. Wise

The world is a noisy place. Billboards, television commercials, Facebook, Twitter, blah blah blah… we are vying for each other’s attention at every turn. As an artist, you are well aware that you are one of many. Many have come before you and many will come after you, so you do what you can to try to stand out from the crowd. Some of us just add some shine to our exterior; others try to look different. At the end of the day though, it is the content you provide that will really draw interest.

The issue is, the wait for others to notice you can be excruciatingly long. Everything else comes at us so quickly, why can we not speed up our success process?

Well, if we knew that answer, this blog may not exist.

What we can do is help you cope and get yourself ready for the successful connections that you are bound to attract.

As we are focused on those seem a bit too into themselves for their own good, it makes sense to repeat some things and iterate this – the world does not owe you anything. Stop acting like you are entitled to our attention, money and/or adulation. You are one of far too many! Get real!

We want to share this idea with you, brought to us by Amber Naslund of Radian 6 and Brass Tank Thinking, GET USED TO BEING IGNORED. It should be expected that it may take time for you to “get noticed.” You should see paying dues as a way to bide your time to getting what you want. It should all be in the effort to being ready for your opportunity when it comes. Forcing the issue will usually get you the opposite reaction that you want.

It takes patience. It also takes a humble understanding of your small place in the world. If you ever plan to have sustainable success in any facet of your life, then the virtues of patience and humility need to be critical tenets of your character.

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Building a Music Economy at Allied Media Conference
Photo by csgholz

Photo by csgholz

On Sunday, June 20th, I was invited to participate in a session at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. The session was designed to be a catalyst agent to building a new music economy for artists in the city. Fronted by Ilana “Invincible” Weaver and Monica Blaire, the roundtable discussion focused on providing solutions to the problem ailing most music acts in the city of Detroit. As it becomes very apparent that artists tend to feel more loved away than at home, there was a feeling that more could be done to change the situation.

Although the scenario was brief, it was a powerful move in getting the future leaders of Detroit’s music business community together. [Other] Key persons in attendance were Vaughn Taylor of SplinkMe, Nina Morena and Jocelyne Ninneman of FusicologySicari Ware and Piper Carter of 5e Gallery and journalists Tamara Warren and Jonathan Cunningham. One of the biggest takeaways from the discussion was that all parties in attendance should look to pool resources to build a stronger unit for the community. Instead of continuing working in silos, we should band together and create a unified network that encourages quality over quantity and garners brand recognition.

I know I look forward to working closely with everyone that I connected with at the conference. Hopefully there will be reports of progress in the very close future. As an advocate of leading by example, I look to coordinate some collaborative projects intending to help the music community at-large in Detroit.

A big thank you goes out to Invincible for the invite to participate. Make a point to follow her on Twitter.

Quick question: when you think about the business of music, what is your vision of a thriving economy?

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If I Were Paxahau’s Chief Communications Officer (CCO)

The 2010 Movement festival has come and gone. For most of us, it was a whirlwind of a weekend. I am still recovering from the two days I went downtown to partake. There were highs (Martinez Brothers (thanks K!) and Kraak & Smaak) and there were lows (Hudson Mohawke’s no-show and not being able to see Plastikman). All in all, it was a solid job by the event production crew that is Paxahau. I tip my hat to them.

As some of you may have read my open letter to Paxahau, you may find the last sentence a bit interesting. Since posting the letter, I have had some compelling discussions and received a lot of constructive feedback from many in Detroit’s electronic community at home and abroad. It has always been my position that Paxahau is the preeminent leader in the community from whence they emerged. With that leadership, I feel they have a certain responsibility to its community. As an admitted outsider, it would seem that Paxahau has not been very active as community leaders, but after talking to some insiders, I am of the understanding that they do plenty. Problem is, it is not helping them if only a few people are aware of their positive work beyond the festival.

I have some ideas on how they can patch this hole. Imagine, if you will, as if I were responsible for handling Paxahau’s communication efforts. For the moment, consider me the Chief Communications Officer, CCO or Director of Communications at Paxahau. My initiatives as CCO are going to address the following issues:

  • Misinformed / misdirected troll fire
  • Lack of genuine local community support
  • An under-educated community on the Paxahau brand

By acknowledging these issues, as CCO, it is clear that we need to take control of the Paxahau brand message, as well as build up stronger organic word-of-mouth for future Paxahau events.

Before I lay out my tactics, check out this video:


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