You’re in bed with your audience.

I’m weaning myself from the Huffington Post.  You see Arianna made a mistake, she’s still living in the last century, she believes it’s about gatekeepers, about cash-outs, press reports in the mainstream media, when really it’s only about your relationship with your audience, which is hard to get and should never be jeopardized.

Arianna had me because she built a left wing antidote to the Drudge Report.  But then it became about links, which was okay, because I was supporting the cause, but when she made the sale to AOL the truth came out and I realized that the site was only about the links, that its success came from gaming the system with search engine optimization, she lost my trust.  And now that the HuffPo is owned by AOL they’ve integrated other AOL sites into the HuffPo.  This is like Death Cab For Cutie touring with Selena Gomez…huh?

And speaking of Death Cab, why exactly did they sign with Atlantic again?  Did they really need to? They got a check, but no Top Forty airplay.  They’re giving up so much to get so little.  It’s not like they’re Arcade Fire.

Here’s the dirty little secret.  I don’t love Arcade Fire’s music.  But I love the band.  Because of what they stand for.  Doing it their own way, not selling out to the suits.  Ian MacKaye was just a bit too early.  Now you can truly do it on your own and triumph.

In other words, do you want to be Jewel or Ani DiFranco?  Ani DiFranco can tour until she dies, her fans will bring her soup in the retirement home.  Jewel’s got no real fans.

But both of these acts broke in the last century, in the old era, what about now?

In a news cycle on steroids everybody gets five seconds, not fifteen minutes.  And then you’re forgotten, for months, if not forever.  How long does a movie play?  If you’re not constantly stunting, the mainstream doesn’t care.  But the mainstream doesn’t count, your audience does.

Before you sign anything, do anything, look at it through the eyes of your audience.  Is it going to bring your core closer to you or push it away?  And don’t think casual fans can replace your core.  Casual fans come and go.  The core is there forever, if you treat it right.

Amanda Hocking?  People love to champion the underdog.  Sell out to the man and they abandon you. You’re no longer theirs.  We can’t relate to the bozo in the head office.  He’s ripping us off, he’s all about the money, you made a deal with HIM?  You don’t need us anymore, we’re done.

1. Focus on the product, the art.  Every career needs an engine.  Which fans can point to and believe in. And that’s not "Friday", which is why Rebecca Black got noticed but she’s got no real fans and no real traction, she’s still waiting for her first hit.  "Friday" is a train-wreck, not a hit.

2. Gain fans.  You do this by allowing them to partake of your art for free.  And giving them tools to spread the word.  Know where to charge in the food chain. At first you pay your fans, then they pay you, it’s not the other way around anymore.

3. Continue to reward the core with product and access.  If you aren’t reachable by your fans, you’re too big in the head.

4. Don’t try to blow it up too soon!  If you’re not willing to wait, you’re not willing to have a career.

5. Leave money on the table.  If you can’t say no, you’re no different from a baby without impulse control. Ask whether it benefits your career, not your pocketbook.

6. Unless you play Top Forty music, forget about radio.  And if you ultimately decide to play on the terrestrial band, do it last.  After you’ve already established your core.  So your success is seen as icing on the cake by those who were there early, not as kindling for a career.

7. TV is overrated.  Only do it if you want the YouTube video.  You’ll sound bad, you’ll have no charisma, and you’d be stunned how few are watching.  It’s broadcasting in an era of narrowcasting.  It’s controlled by a man who just needs to air something, who doesn’t care about you.  And you look hungry for fame like the idiots on reality shows.  Anybody can be on TV, few can hold an audience captive live.  Focus on the latter.

8. Don’t sign with the major label.  Not only will your fans think you’re in it for the check, they’ll think your head is swelled and you believe you deserve more.  What’s wrong, their adulation is not enough?  Who is this phantom audience from which you must gain approval?  Don’t shoot for the stars, shoot for the street.

9. Don’t work with any artist without credibility.  Guesting on a  Britney or Katy Perry track will get you on "Entertainment Tonight", but your audience will laugh and abandon you.

10. Know that now, more than ever, rewards come to those who wait.  YouTube is filled with rockets into space that have fallen back to earth in locations we do not know and do not care about.  When few could play, in the MTV era, this instant stardom paid dividends.  Now, it doesn’t.

11. Have fun.  Ignore all of the foregoing if the ride itself is better than any reward, better than any fan adulation.  If you’re on TV to try and boost your career, you fail.  If you’ve been watching your favorite television host forever and you get a chance to go on and meet him, to interact with your hero?  Don’t say no.  Have the good experience, be willing to pay the price.  And little of the above applies to Top Forty acts.  If you make that kind of beat-infused music, sell out to the label, do all the TV shows, be grist for the mill, but keep your sense of humor.  That’s the narrow road John Mayer treads, very successfully, at least until the "Playboy" debacle.  In other words, there are no rules.  Just beliefs.  What do YOU want to do?  That’s not what your mom wants you to do, or the label or even your audience.  You’re the leader.  That’s why we hate it when you tie up with the man, the label, the TV show, the usual suspects, you’re sacrificing something, you’re no longer the leader!  They don’t want you to lead.  They need control of the game.  But that game is getting smaller and less powerful every day.  And the mainstream is more about image than music.  And if you like to practice and play and get high and use no tapes and feed off the audience, obey the rules above.

12. Take risks.  Success comes from lucky accidents.  Don’t be afraid to fail.  Only by putting yourself in new and uncomfortable positions can you grow.  Look at it this way, the labels want it the way it’s always been, they’re dying.  The techies want to jet you into the future, that’s why they’re winning.  Tech is all about the idea.  Your art is first and foremost about the idea.  Then comes execution.  But if your idea sucks, then execution doesn’t really matter.  In other words, if you want to achieve world domination via klezmer music, give up.  But could enough people be into your music to pay your bills? Start there.  Worry about world domination last.  This business has been topsy-turvy ever since MTV. Build towards success.  Don’t make a big splash and then descend into obscurity.