You’re in bed with your audience.<\/p>\n
I’m weaning myself from the Huffington Post.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Arianna had me because she built a left wing antidote to the Drudge Report.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 And now that the HuffPo is owned by AOL they’ve integrated other AOL sites into the HuffPo.\u00c2\u00a0 This is like Death Cab For Cutie touring with Selena Gomez…huh?<\/p>\n
And speaking of Death Cab, why exactly did they sign with Atlantic again?\u00c2\u00a0 Did they really need to? They got a check, but no Top Forty airplay.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re giving up so much to get so little.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not like they’re Arcade Fire.<\/p>\n
Here’s the dirty little secret.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t love Arcade Fire’s music.\u00c2\u00a0 But I love the band.\u00c2\u00a0 Because of what they stand for.\u00c2\u00a0 Doing it their own way, not selling out to the suits.\u00c2\u00a0 Ian MacKaye was just a bit too early.\u00c2\u00a0 Now you can truly do it on your own and triumph.<\/p>\n
In other words, do you want to be Jewel or Ani DiFranco?\u00c2\u00a0 Ani DiFranco can tour until she dies, her fans will bring her soup in the retirement home.\u00c2\u00a0 Jewel’s got no real fans.<\/p>\n
But both of these acts broke in the last century, in the old era, what about now?<\/p>\n
In a news cycle on steroids everybody gets five seconds, not fifteen minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 And then you’re forgotten, for months, if not forever.\u00c2\u00a0 How long does a movie play?\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re not constantly stunting, the mainstream doesn’t care.\u00c2\u00a0 But the mainstream doesn’t count, your audience does.<\/p>\n
Before you sign anything, do anything, look at it through the eyes of your audience.\u00c2\u00a0 Is it going to bring your core closer to you or push it away?\u00c2\u00a0 And don’t think casual fans can replace your core.\u00c2\u00a0 Casual fans come and go.\u00c2\u00a0 The core is there forever, if you treat it right.<\/p>\n
Amanda Hocking?\u00c2\u00a0 People love to champion the underdog.\u00c2\u00a0 Sell out to the man and they abandon you. You’re no longer theirs.\u00c2\u00a0 We can’t relate to the bozo in the head office.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s ripping us off, he’s all about the money, you made a deal with HIM?\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t need us anymore, we’re done.<\/p>\n
1. Focus on the product, the art.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 Every career needs an engine.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 "Friday" is a train-wreck, not a hit.<\/p>\n 2. Gain fans.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 You do this by allowing them to partake of your art for free.\u00c2\u00a0 And giving them tools to spread the word.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 3. Continue to reward the core with product and access.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 If you aren’t reachable by your fans, you’re too big in the head.<\/p>\n 4. Don’t try to blow it up too soon!<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re not willing to wait, you’re not willing to have a career.<\/p>\n 5. Leave money on the table.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 6. Unless you play Top Forty music, forget about radio.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 And if you ultimately decide to play on the terrestrial band, do it last.\u00c2\u00a0 After you’ve already established your core.\u00c2\u00a0 So your success is seen as icing on the cake by those who were there early, not as kindling for a career.<\/p>\n 7. TV is overrated.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 Only do it if you want the YouTube video.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll sound bad, you’ll have no charisma, and you’d be stunned how few are watching.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s broadcasting in an era of narrowcasting.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s controlled by a man who just needs to air something, who doesn’t care about you.\u00c2\u00a0 And you look hungry for fame like the idiots on reality shows.\u00c2\u00a0 Anybody can be on TV, few can hold an audience captive live.\u00c2\u00a0 Focus on the latter.<\/p>\n 8. Don’t sign with the major label.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 What’s wrong, their adulation is not enough?\u00c2\u00a0 Who is this phantom audience from which you must gain approval?\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t shoot for the stars, shoot for the street.<\/p>\n 9. Don’t work with any artist without credibility.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 Guesting on a\u00c2\u00a0 Britney or Katy Perry track will get you on "Entertainment Tonight", but your audience will laugh and abandon you.<\/p>\n 10. Know that now, more than ever, rewards come to those who wait.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 YouTube is filled with rockets into space that have fallen back to earth in locations we do not know and do not care about.\u00c2\u00a0 When few could play, in the MTV era, this instant stardom paid dividends.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, it doesn’t.<\/p>\n 11. Have fun.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 Ignore all of the foregoing if the ride itself is better than any reward, better than any fan adulation.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re on TV to try and boost your career, you fail.\u00c2\u00a0 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?\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t say no.\u00c2\u00a0 Have the good experience, be willing to pay the price.\u00c2\u00a0 And little of the above applies to Top Forty acts.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the narrow road John Mayer treads, very successfully, at least until the "Playboy" debacle.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, there are no rules.\u00c2\u00a0 Just beliefs.\u00c2\u00a0 What do YOU want to do?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s not what your mom wants you to do, or the label or even your audience.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re the leader.\u00c2\u00a0 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!\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t want you to lead.\u00c2\u00a0 They need control of the game.\u00c2\u00a0 But that game is getting smaller and less powerful every day.\u00c2\u00a0 And the mainstream is more about image than music.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you like to practice and play and get high and use no tapes and feed off the audience, obey the rules above.<\/p>\n 12. Take risks.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0 Success comes from lucky accidents.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t be afraid to fail.\u00c2\u00a0 Only by putting yourself in new and uncomfortable positions can you grow.\u00c2\u00a0 Look at it this way, the labels want it the way it’s always been, they’re dying.\u00c2\u00a0 The techies want to jet you into the future, that’s why they’re winning.\u00c2\u00a0 Tech is all about the idea.\u00c2\u00a0 Your art is first and foremost about the idea.\u00c2\u00a0 Then comes execution.\u00c2\u00a0 But if your idea sucks, then execution doesn’t really matter.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, if you want to achieve world domination via klezmer music, give up.\u00c2\u00a0 But could enough people be into your music to pay your bills? Start there.\u00c2\u00a0 Worry about world domination last.\u00c2\u00a0 This business has been topsy-turvy ever since MTV. Build towards success.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t make a big splash and then descend into obscurity.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You’re in bed with your audience. 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