We’re Selling Creativity
And that can’t be learned in school.
I want you to read this story by Michael Ellsberg from Sunday’s "New York Times":
it says what I already know, college is bullshit.
Oh, I learned a bit in college, but almost none of it was in the classroom. When I go to the east coast, where they care about such things, I can whip out the name of my alma mater, but Middlebury did its best to strip away my creativity, wanted me to be like them, part of the establishment, the great fabric of this country.
What a bunch of b.s.
In order to make it in music you’ve got to conjure up ideas out of thin air. Not only as an artist, but as a businessman too. You’ve got to throw out the baby with the bathwater and start over. That’s the story of all new musical movements, from jazz to the Beatles/British Invasion to hip-hop. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with stealing a bit from the past, but if you’re burdened by it, if you’re playing the game, we don’t care. We want something new, something different, something titillating, something exciting.
Once upon a time the music industry was a renegade business. With less money involved, it was more about the art. Now it’s about the money.
I don’t know why a youngster would want to work at a label. Where they tell you how to do it and micro-manage because there’s so much money involved. All of the winners in Ellsberg’s research talk about being comfortable with failure. Even though failure is rampant at record labels, everybody hates it, from the execs to the acts. Which is why they make you rewrite and cowrite and rerecord… By time they’re done, they’ve stripped away the essence, what made your material great to begin with.
As for the touring industry, it hasn’t been a hotbed of creativity since the heydays of Bill Graham and Frank Barsalona. The fan comes last. And the fan knows it. Except for in the burgeoning electronic/dance world where it’s about creating an event, where it’s all about the experience… Do you think Electric Daisy would continue to succeed if it was only the music, with overpriced, lousy food? No, if you don’t treat the fan right in the dance world, you’re toast. And isn’t it interesting that all the kingpins of dance/electronica are not the usual suspects. They don’t work for Live Nation or AEG.
So, first and foremost, question authority. Don’t do it a certain way because that’s the way it’s always been done, that’s the way everybody else does it. You’ll never get ahead being like everybody else.
And if you want to succeed in the new music world, don’t go to work for an established company, unless you’re using it as a platform, a place to gain experience and then go off on your own. If you’re planning on moving up the ladder, you’re a joke, because the ladder is calcified and is a highway to hell, and not like that great AC/DC song.
And speaking of AC/DC… They won’t put their music on iTunes. Because they’re stuck in the past. Could this have something to do with the failure of their second go-round in America to sell out? If you put the money first, you can almost never win.
Then again, to put their songs on iTunes would be a risk.
To put your music on Spotify is a risk.
It’s the great unknown.
If you’re not willing to take chances, you’ll never make it.
You need to be in the game. And now, more than ever, we’re not sure what the game is. There’s an old structure, but it’s working for almost no one, a handful of executives and a few acts. Do you really want to perpetuate that?
If you’re not an entrepreneur in music, you don’t count, I’m laughing.
Managers are inherently entrepreneurs. They take something and make it happen. That’s what you hire a manager for. If you’re starting out, don’t go to work for a firm, start your own, because if you can’t find your own talent, you’ll never win.
You can learn everything you need to know about the music business by surfing the Web, listening to the radio, watching a bit of TV and reading a few books. Immerse yourself in the culture. Absorb influences. They tried to codify the industry, streamline it and remove the risk. The result is the major labels are fading and we’ve yet to see the rolled up concert promotion company known as Live Nation turn consistently profitable. You want to follow these guys?
One hit can change the world. Not only for listeners, but those who make it and sell it. And with new media, you can break instantly. That’s the story of Rebecca Black’s "Friday", not how good it was, but that everybody knew about it with none of the traditional hype…hell, radio wouldn’t even play it!
You just can’t win if you play the game.
Destroy the game. Undermine it. That’s how punk wounded rock and hip-hop killed it. Everybody in rock became too complacent.
Everything’s up for grabs if you’d just stop listening to people tell you how to do it. Opportunity is huge. If you’re willing to listen to your heart, march to the beat of your own drummer.
