Monday
Wednesday
View The Book Trailer
Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
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Friday
Labels Indies and DIY- Keepers of the Gate
Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
To View The Book Trailer Click Here
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!
I find myself having the same conversation over and over. Friends in and out of the music business are all asking the same questions. When it comes to the enormous glut of music, with all its variations and mutations and genres, how does any one artist rise through the noise? The field is vastly overcrowded and shows no signs that a slowdown of new music proliferation is imminent. A statistic I cited in my last article of 98,000 new albums in 2009 is a stunning and nearly unimaginable quantity, even in a land that loves music such as the U.S. Who are all those artists? How do you find the one album or single that you might love to hear but are unaware of, hidden among the masses? It is the proverbial conundrum of the “needle in a haystack.” It’s in there somewhere, but how will you ever get your hands on it? Fans can’t enjoy music they don’t know about.
There are at least two remedies for the “lost” music dilemma. One is more obvious and clearly understood to nearly everyone as “marketing.” Marketing a song, album or band is one way to expose a great piece of music or an artist to those who are eager to learn about something fresh. Marketing includes all of the concepts we have explored in previous articles such as, building fan bases, touring and advertising, social media and much more. Some of this can be done with little or no cost; and some at the price of a Ferrari. Publicists and marketing teams are expensive but do bring a level of ROI (return on investment), in most cases. Their job is to take an unknown, little known, or forgotten product or person and raise the profile enough to produce consumers. Through a series of ad campaigns that might include TV, radio, print media, internet and many other exposures, they work (for a limited time based on budget) on reaching a specified market with a specific message. The clever strategies they employ are probably the reason you are reading this on whatever brand of devise you purchased. The work of marketers and publicists has a nearly unscalable influence on what we actually think or want to buy. This can be done to some degree, by any DIY-er who has the will and stamina to commit to the goal at hand. It is tough but can be done.
The second remedy for locating “lost” music is much less manageable. It isn’t about ads or hits on an internet site. It has to do with what I will call “filters” and is completely outside of one person’s shear brute will power to succeed. “Filters” is the old method of culling bad music. It separated the wheat from the chaff and helped the most durable music get to the top of the heap. When you heard a hit on the radio, it was there because it had met with certain scrutiny of record execs who cleared the production for that song. It meant that an artist, producer, A&R guy, a team of songwriters, radio promoters, session players and several others had had a hand in making it a hit. They were responsible for giving that record the green light to get where it was. They were the filters who held back the music that was of lesser quality (based on their set of criteria) and allowed only the music they believed in to go forward. This was further supported by radio, record stores, and jukebox vendors. With all these entities focusing on “the single”, consumers ran by the millions to buy the hit record they had been dancing to and hearing on their car radios.
Now we see few if any filters to help us locate and fall in love with “the single.” We are left to our own devices in trying to uncover the great music of our time. The idea of DIY was that anyone and everyone who had some talent could make a record and so we all did. At last we had slipped the surly bonds of the “corporate system” that had held us all at bay. Little did we know that our newfound freedom to be creative would also produce the lowest record sales in the history of commercial recordings. But where a vacuum exists, something always rushes in to fill it. So what will our new filtering system be? Only time will tell.
©2010 WalkWayGroup
Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!
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MORE Labels, Indies, and DIY... and My New Book
Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!
I read a statistic this week from Digital Music News that really muddys the water. "... Nielsen Soundscan offered some sobering stats. A total of 98,000 albums were released in 2009, and just a handful crossed the million-mark. Perhaps more sobering, just 2.1 percent managed to cross the 5,000-mark, a group that made up 91 percent of total sales. Suddenly, fresh artists are staring at a near-zero chance of selling even modest amounts, part of a continued drizzle on DIY optimism." Believe it or not, there does seem to be some life remaining in the big labels. Many of the big radio/MTV acts are indeed signed to labels. One might argue that as long as there is an excessive volume of cash flow, artists will continue to be willing to sign deals with labels. The point is well taken. Some artists will go with a major label for the world-wide exposure it could bring. Since we aren’t privy to the deals they sign, we cannot speak to the issue of remuneration in exchange for whatever compromise they may (or may not) have made for a chance at the golden ring. However, the stories abound of contracts known as “360’s”, named for the encircling financial absconding that engulfs the artist to control every single item marketed with the brand of the artists from downloads to tees to dolls to tours. It basically means that virtually everything the touches the artist is owned by the label. The cross-collateralization (redirecting of funds away from the songwriter) of the publishing catalogs for songs written by the artist, as well as recoupment clauses, take an enormous bite out of the artist’s take home pay. This is one of the reasons we are hearing the loud outcry from artists (signed and unsigned) desperately trying to collect moneys from a variety of revenue sources. They simply need the cash. Who can blame anyone for wanting to get paid for the work they have done?
But that same argument goes for the hard-working labels as well. If they really get behind an artist, there could be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars spent on marketing, branding, recordings, duplication, tour support and publicity. The contracts they write are intended to support the bottom line and reward the stockholders (regulated by the Federal Gov.) without a creating Congressional investigation and showing up on C-SPAN. It is a sword that swings and cuts both ways. In my estimation, everyone who works should get paid for their labor. Labels and artists should reap the bounty as co-workers toward the same goal. The reality is that greed drives too many decisions and the smell of money has an intoxicating affect on those who get engulfed in its aroma cloud.
Conversely, there are artists who would give up everything of value and meaning to have the applause of the cheering, approving, world audience. They need to play. When these two extremes of label and artist meet up, it is more like a drug dealer supplying an addict than like a business arrangement. By now you know I am always about balance and moderation and it is no less true in the music business. The labels tend to be an over-the-top entity and the seeds of destruction are within. The more it functions like the old model, the more destructive it is to its own survival. These are of course, generalizations. There are labels with different and healthier business models that may take them through to continued viability, but not without some morphing.
As musicians take back ownership of the music they create the less they need the glut of the label and all its excesses. These players will seek out and find Indies who can and will step up in a partnership with the artist. Indies don’t generally offer 360 contracts but look more like 180 deals. 180’s allow for the artist to direct and control rights of the publishing, merch and certain marketing pieces in an amicable arrangement with the Indie label. Some Indie labels are offering ala cart deals that allow for picking and choosing the most needed areas of support. Some share the cost of the record production rather than shouldering the cost alone. This gives the artist much more power and shifts some of the successful marketing and sales back to the music maker himself. In some cases, you must come to the party with some financing in hand in order to take on your share of the expense as you partner with the Indie. This is a model that has existed in one form or another for many years. It has moved in and out of vogue and has had a bit of a bad reputation because some of the Indies (formerly called custom record labels) were little more than glorified record mills. They simply recruited anybody who had money to make a record, good or bad, and put a label on the record. But the more recent incarnation of the Indie is a much healthier iteration of the custom recording company. They generally offer some form of distribution (an ever evolving thing) to get the record in the marketplace. Theoretically, they can and will do all the things that one individual couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t do for his musical career. Besides distribution, they know who will help build a buzz through the right publicity and who’s who in the music business for the right kinds of connections. I alluded to this in the previous post but, what is all that worth to you? You are trading something whether it is points (percentages of sales) or something less monetary such as limiting your rights in some area. It is about trading and compromise. It is true; we can’t have it all. If 98,000 albums are released in 2010 as well, how will you climb to the surface for some airtime? If you are one of the fortunate 2.1%, you will only sell 5000 units. That isn't enough to buy the baby milk. You must decide what you need help with and find someone to partner in your musical venture, formally or informally. Find someone who has what it takes to help move your music out into the world where it can be appreciated. Strategize a plan as soon as you finish reading this and go make it happen! And even if you aren't a songwriter, you need to pick up a copy of my new book to give you insight into the world of music. Until next time... Go Get Creative!
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of Aaron Blanton's new EP. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer... REALLY!
©2010 WalkWay Group
Tuesday
Labels, Indies, and DIY... Plus My New Book!
Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!
A few weeks ago I met with several record label execs in separate meetings to discuss an artist I am working with. It was fascinating to listen to their stories of success and failure and the lessons they had learned from each. The proudest moments they had were those spent building a career from almost nothing into a prominent act that changed the course of their company and the artist. In fact, that is what everyone dreams of; going from the struggling artist to the world famous internationally known star.
The stories of “rags to riches” successes have gotten fewer and farther between. The fact is that regular labels are struggling to find a new gravity. The siphoning off of sales from on line download stores that don’t require hard copies is only the tip of the iceberg. Add to the mix pirated sales in countries like China and Spain, file sharing, desktop CD replication and even the reduction of plays as terrestrial radio share declines, and the problem of revenue loss is self evident. Where dollars were being realized from the sale of each CD now has become only pennies. The business model that has worked for a hundred years has been turned on its ear without apology. The reduction in profits has taken its toll on the cash flow of many major labels and some, like EMI have hit bottom. As a music attorney friend said, “the business has changed and it’s not coming back.”
The challenge for the “business as usual” crowd is how to keep the lights on. They are sandwiched between the “all music should be free” crowd and the “I demand to be paid for my work” consortium. While some may believe that making a profit is somehow evil, the fact is that without profit the next big music act may be a long time in coming. Profit is the single motivator to keep companies involved in development and without it, well, why bother. Altruism is a fabulous ideal but doesn’t pay the bills.
Something always rushes in to fill any vacuum and it is no less true for the music business. The indies have done a great job, in many cases, of being the support and extension of the artist. They are less duty-bound to long histories and big staff payrolls. This makes them more agile and able to turn instantaneously to meet market demands. However, they do have considerably less influence than their leviathan counterpart. But when it comes to the music business, this is the day of miniaturization where less is more and smaller is better. An indie label is a sort of miniature label that is independent of the usual well-heeled “big boys” industry expectations. Often they find new and innovative ways to get the music delivered to the fans with a minimum of cash flow and a maximum of effort. Sometimes it is entirely a grassroots achievement and they just help the grass grow. Indies, who were the “outsiders”, have moved up in prominence and prestige. And as long as they can remain the source for new and burgeoning artists to find help, they will continue to enjoy their own levels of success.
The irony of any small and agile label being successful is of course, the possibility of becoming so successful that the “small and agile” parts become large and lumbering. In which case, they would simply be a major label. Weird, huh? That is the two edged sword that follows them around threatening to dethrone them. There is always another small-label-startup trying to take their slot in the marketplace.
Sometimes, even an indie label can’t help you make a living in the music business. They either don’t have a slot for your music, or are simply maxed out on their resources. I believe that we should be as self directing as we can be and have advocated that musicians should take control of their own careers. If you think through what is going on in signing with any label, you will discover that you are hiring someone, sometimes for an outrageous fee, to do things you either can’t or won’t do; and sometimes for good reason. Each artist has his skill-set limitations but I think we could all do more for our own careers by focusing more on what matters to the success story.
If you have read anything I have written you will see a reoccurring theme here. I am always saying, “it is about making fans.” Whatever you are selling requires that someone somewhere wants what you are offering. In music, it is and ever shall be the need to create interest in your music and the peripheral merch. The fan is the quintessential factor that holds any career together. You are the best advocate for bringing people on-board with you. If you are unknown, it will be your invitation they will respond to. Giving them music they love and an experience they crave are the key factors in developing fan loyalty. And this is something you can do yourself; no label needed. As your fans grow in number, you will become of greater value to labels that are looking to expand their roster with artists in your genre. You will in fact, have done the hardest work of surviving and developing your sound pre-label. If you are going for a label deal, this will make the negotiations a little more tilted in your favor. Fans are valuable to the entire music food chain. Without them, there cannot be a success story to tell. So get out there and DIY.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of Aaron Blanton's new EP. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer... REALLY!
©2010 WalkWay Group
Thursday
Watch Where You're Going / Ten Things to Know for Discovery
It’s funny, the things you see by simple observation. Just peel back those eyelids and things just happen right in front of you. You may not fully comprehend it all when it is occurring since the eye simply sees what the light brings in. Eyes don’t do any translation; they simply take it in. It is in the brain that all those pixels get turned into meaning.
For example, while shopping in a shoe department, without notice, I saw a guy put on a brand new pair of his favorite shoes and just walk out without making the obligatory stop at the checkout. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I stood there in stunned silence. My brain took in the data and after a few seconds of processing, I shared the intel with the store clerk who promptly did nothing about it.
On another occasion I once saw an accident when a pickup truck, trying to avoid hitting a car, ran up on the sidewalk. The interesting thing was that the spare tire, which rides along under the bed of the truck, got caught on something and flew out into the air. It must have been compressed by the object and then all that energy got released into inertia allowing for a wingless-tire flight. The height of its air travel was inexplicable as it must have reached 30 ft before being reclaimed by gravity. It was an amazing sight for sure and all I did was simply see it.
There is plenty to learn by keeping one’s eyes open while moving through the time-line continuum we call life. Recently, I spent some time on the shores of South Carolina. Even in the winter, or maybe especially so, the sand and the beach extend the Siren’s call to come closer. I walked for miles nearly everyday I was there. It was relaxing and gave perspective to the rhythms of life as the waves met the sand in their tidal swings. One afternoon, I headed down to the ever-changing shoreline and followed the beach in my usual westward-windward route. The Carolina beach there has coarse, gray sand and thousands of seashells litter the water’s edge where the tide washes them in. Beach-combers and metal detectors rule the day. I always wonder what people think they will find up from the deep and beached. They are surely on a mission to find that which was lost and perhaps cash-in on the misfortune of others, mercenarily speaking. It is the one who has a sharp eye and can spot a tiny glimmer in a momentary glint of sunlight who is gratified for his efforts.
Mine was a less than mercenary walk; I was just clearing my head and getting some perspective on the New Year and life in general. It seems to give proportion to the little bothersome things that tend to grate on me. I really had no intentions of dragging my eyes along the sandy surface in some futile hope of finding anything at all. It was like looking at a seashell mosaic multiplied by millions. I was not a beach-comber and had no designs to become one.
It is so strange how things have a tendency to converge in the most unlikely of scenarios. The chances of such convergences are beyond comprehension and boggle the mind when they are considered. On a certain day I went down to the beach and the tide was at a certain point and the sand was just wet enough and the sun was just high enough and the walk was on just the right trajectory. And at just the right moment I looked down to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a small circular object on a nearly uninhabited beach. My brain went to work and sorted through all the memories of things I had ever seen that resembled the object. There among the strewn jetsam was a small treasure that appeared to be a semi-buried aluminum bottle cap. In those brief seconds of “thin slicing” the information carried by the eyes I reached out to scoop it from its shallow and watery grave. Retrieving it, I brushed away the residue of sand to reveal its identity. It was a man’s ring, silver and new, with creative images forged into its surface. It was crafted with comfort edges typical of the wide band that it was. And it was my size. Incredibly, it was salvaged from the certain ruin that awaited it as the moon made its rise and departure to reclaim the shore. How improbable that I should find this surprise amongst the flotsam refuse. Had I not come along in the providence of time, it would be sitting in the silt just off shore.
So, what are you looking for? How are your powers of observation invested to bring something unexpected and new to you? When you wake in the morning, take a look around you to see if anything in your life projects an unexpected glimmer. Find better ways to “thin slice” the data your brain is feeding you to help you discover enhanced opportunities to be good at what you love. It requires times of solitude and ponderance; times of keeping your eyes open and your brain engaged. You may feel as alone as a man walking on the winter beach. But it is in those moments, undistracted by the noise of the mundane that you are most capable of seeing the overlooked and hidden. When your career looks like a “seashell mosaic” indistinguishable from others, open your eyes to let in some light. You may be seconds away from stumbling over your own personal treasure and one simple blink away from finding it.
Ten Things to Know for Discovery
1. Learn to expect the unexpected
2. Follow the disciplines of solitude and the contemplative life
3. Dare to reach into the mud to grasp something shiny
4. Develop new instincts for knowing and discovering
5. Learn to trust your instincts and act on them
6. Realize that there is a rhythm to discovery
7. Walking a familiar path brings its own rewards
8. Some discoveries allow only one chance
9. Time and life have converged for this very moment
10. Not everything that glitters is gold
©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton
For example, while shopping in a shoe department, without notice, I saw a guy put on a brand new pair of his favorite shoes and just walk out without making the obligatory stop at the checkout. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I stood there in stunned silence. My brain took in the data and after a few seconds of processing, I shared the intel with the store clerk who promptly did nothing about it.
On another occasion I once saw an accident when a pickup truck, trying to avoid hitting a car, ran up on the sidewalk. The interesting thing was that the spare tire, which rides along under the bed of the truck, got caught on something and flew out into the air. It must have been compressed by the object and then all that energy got released into inertia allowing for a wingless-tire flight. The height of its air travel was inexplicable as it must have reached 30 ft before being reclaimed by gravity. It was an amazing sight for sure and all I did was simply see it.
There is plenty to learn by keeping one’s eyes open while moving through the time-line continuum we call life. Recently, I spent some time on the shores of South Carolina. Even in the winter, or maybe especially so, the sand and the beach extend the Siren’s call to come closer. I walked for miles nearly everyday I was there. It was relaxing and gave perspective to the rhythms of life as the waves met the sand in their tidal swings. One afternoon, I headed down to the ever-changing shoreline and followed the beach in my usual westward-windward route. The Carolina beach there has coarse, gray sand and thousands of seashells litter the water’s edge where the tide washes them in. Beach-combers and metal detectors rule the day. I always wonder what people think they will find up from the deep and beached. They are surely on a mission to find that which was lost and perhaps cash-in on the misfortune of others, mercenarily speaking. It is the one who has a sharp eye and can spot a tiny glimmer in a momentary glint of sunlight who is gratified for his efforts.
Mine was a less than mercenary walk; I was just clearing my head and getting some perspective on the New Year and life in general. It seems to give proportion to the little bothersome things that tend to grate on me. I really had no intentions of dragging my eyes along the sandy surface in some futile hope of finding anything at all. It was like looking at a seashell mosaic multiplied by millions. I was not a beach-comber and had no designs to become one.
It is so strange how things have a tendency to converge in the most unlikely of scenarios. The chances of such convergences are beyond comprehension and boggle the mind when they are considered. On a certain day I went down to the beach and the tide was at a certain point and the sand was just wet enough and the sun was just high enough and the walk was on just the right trajectory. And at just the right moment I looked down to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a small circular object on a nearly uninhabited beach. My brain went to work and sorted through all the memories of things I had ever seen that resembled the object. There among the strewn jetsam was a small treasure that appeared to be a semi-buried aluminum bottle cap. In those brief seconds of “thin slicing” the information carried by the eyes I reached out to scoop it from its shallow and watery grave. Retrieving it, I brushed away the residue of sand to reveal its identity. It was a man’s ring, silver and new, with creative images forged into its surface. It was crafted with comfort edges typical of the wide band that it was. And it was my size. Incredibly, it was salvaged from the certain ruin that awaited it as the moon made its rise and departure to reclaim the shore. How improbable that I should find this surprise amongst the flotsam refuse. Had I not come along in the providence of time, it would be sitting in the silt just off shore.
So, what are you looking for? How are your powers of observation invested to bring something unexpected and new to you? When you wake in the morning, take a look around you to see if anything in your life projects an unexpected glimmer. Find better ways to “thin slice” the data your brain is feeding you to help you discover enhanced opportunities to be good at what you love. It requires times of solitude and ponderance; times of keeping your eyes open and your brain engaged. You may feel as alone as a man walking on the winter beach. But it is in those moments, undistracted by the noise of the mundane that you are most capable of seeing the overlooked and hidden. When your career looks like a “seashell mosaic” indistinguishable from others, open your eyes to let in some light. You may be seconds away from stumbling over your own personal treasure and one simple blink away from finding it.
Ten Things to Know for Discovery
1. Learn to expect the unexpected
2. Follow the disciplines of solitude and the contemplative life
3. Dare to reach into the mud to grasp something shiny
4. Develop new instincts for knowing and discovering
5. Learn to trust your instincts and act on them
6. Realize that there is a rhythm to discovery
7. Walking a familiar path brings its own rewards
8. Some discoveries allow only one chance
9. Time and life have converged for this very moment
10. Not everything that glitters is gold
©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton
Friday
Begin with a Backup/Ten Ways to Backup Your Life
On the last day of the year, that’d be New Years Eve, I experienced what some might call a “catastrophic failure” of a main hard drive. The description of catastrophic is such a mild term in light of the fact that my life flashed before my eyes. My unbridled shriek of pure terror still resonates around my sonically treated listening room. This wasn’t just any hard drive crash. It was the main hard drive of my studio computer which was residence to 320 Gigs of all manner of creative data. It included multi-track music, images, Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS4 edits, video and the adjacent edits, and every program that supported all of those with their various updates and freebies. Time is still giving up its secrets of what else I lost in those impinging moments. And this came just hours before I would have packed this computer to travel on an extended writing and editing trip.
It wasn’t the fault of the hard drive. It is or was a great hard drive. Fast and efficient, the HD did what it always did every time I called on it to deliver. But the unforeseen happened and I had not made any provision for the potential of such a ruinous occurrence. I had simply gone along as though there was no chance of failure. Fearing nothing, I had not backed up the data for months. Of course, after the fact I am very sensitive to the need to backup and backup often. It was reckless of me not to have done so all along.
That got me thinking about the creative world most of us live in. We love what we are gifted to do. We want it to be everything we are about. We cannot see ourselves doing anything else but be creative. This is a noble and honorable thing. We should do all we can to lean into our gifting and rise to its call. I have been writing about that idea for months. But it is often our view that any training or job we engage in must be either a stepping stone for our hope of being full time or it is simply a hindrance to it. In effect, we are saying that jobs and even college don’t really play any part in our quest to do what we see ourselves creatively doing. There is plenty of truth in that statement. But it isn’t the whole truth.
When I meet with musicians, especially young, enthusiastic and capable musicians, I often see the potential for a blind-sided catastrophe. I have borrowed the phrase, “unbridled exuberance” to describe their head-long plunge into an all-or-nothing partnership with music. It is a precarious position to be in when it comes to deciding how committed you must be to be successful in any creative field. Lacking the fortitude to survive is certain death for anyone trying to break in. But there must be balance to every choice we make. Lack of vision for the potential hazards can be crippling while living in a “do or die trying” mode. As Creatives, we simply want to be about our creativity. It is the view from the helicopter that gives perspective to the surrounding landscape. Sometimes we are just too close to the situation to perspective-take.
Whenever I am confronted by the eager “I’m going full-time in the music business” exchange of ideas, I immediately try to build a case for the what-if scenario. In an effort to protect against catastrophic failure, I point out the need to “backup” your life with some options. These are some of the questions I ask, "What happens if style changes and you are put out like yesterday’s news. What if you are unable to perform your music for whatever reasons? What is the plan in the event that you have overestimated your marketability and there is not enough demand for your music? What will you do to pay bills and live a rewarding life? How will you reconstruct the data of your skill set when you were bred to do just one thing?" Every creative person needs someone to ask such things and that someone should expect cogent answers.
Having coached musicians through full-on career changes, the challenge of being ill-prepared for another life is formidable. This is further compounded by time and age. As you move into marriage and household responsibilities the opportunities for changes greatly diminishes and choices are narrowed. Being less agile, you begin to react to circumstances rather than being able to plan your future. The college degree you abandoned for the dream of being a full-time musician is much more difficult to afford and make time for. The job you could have had has long been occupied by someone who trained for it. You are forced into menial jobs as you near the brink of catastrophic failure. Having few options is very painful for a brilliant and creative mind. It is tantamount to having a lobotomy forced upon you while you are still awake and then living with its unpleasant results.
The very successful career is rare and few survive more than a few years. Fame is fleeting and many lose the limelight and move into obscurity with little to show for their hard work. The answer to backing up your life is found in your ability to surround yourself with quality advisors who will say the tough things no one else will. Failure to “backup” will bring what it always brings; fear, frustration, and heartbreak. When it comes to hard drives, it isn’t a matter of if failure will come but when. A plan to deal with it is sweet compared to the option of being surprised by the hopeless bewilderment of “now what?”
Ten Things I Can Do to Backup My Life
1. Finish high school and college no matter what
2. Work some jobs that aren’t creative for the experience of it
3. Check yourself for areas of vulnerability in your field
4. Expand your friendships beyond your circle of Creatives
5. Become familiar with stories of failures as well as successes
6. Look for people who were in the biz and find out where they are now
7. Lean on people who know the ropes and have seen the cycles of the business
8. Become an expert in something everyone needs
9. Imagine yourself doing something else in life that still brings you meaning
10. Realize that being obstinate isn’t the same thing as being persistent
©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton
It wasn’t the fault of the hard drive. It is or was a great hard drive. Fast and efficient, the HD did what it always did every time I called on it to deliver. But the unforeseen happened and I had not made any provision for the potential of such a ruinous occurrence. I had simply gone along as though there was no chance of failure. Fearing nothing, I had not backed up the data for months. Of course, after the fact I am very sensitive to the need to backup and backup often. It was reckless of me not to have done so all along.
That got me thinking about the creative world most of us live in. We love what we are gifted to do. We want it to be everything we are about. We cannot see ourselves doing anything else but be creative. This is a noble and honorable thing. We should do all we can to lean into our gifting and rise to its call. I have been writing about that idea for months. But it is often our view that any training or job we engage in must be either a stepping stone for our hope of being full time or it is simply a hindrance to it. In effect, we are saying that jobs and even college don’t really play any part in our quest to do what we see ourselves creatively doing. There is plenty of truth in that statement. But it isn’t the whole truth.
When I meet with musicians, especially young, enthusiastic and capable musicians, I often see the potential for a blind-sided catastrophe. I have borrowed the phrase, “unbridled exuberance” to describe their head-long plunge into an all-or-nothing partnership with music. It is a precarious position to be in when it comes to deciding how committed you must be to be successful in any creative field. Lacking the fortitude to survive is certain death for anyone trying to break in. But there must be balance to every choice we make. Lack of vision for the potential hazards can be crippling while living in a “do or die trying” mode. As Creatives, we simply want to be about our creativity. It is the view from the helicopter that gives perspective to the surrounding landscape. Sometimes we are just too close to the situation to perspective-take.
Whenever I am confronted by the eager “I’m going full-time in the music business” exchange of ideas, I immediately try to build a case for the what-if scenario. In an effort to protect against catastrophic failure, I point out the need to “backup” your life with some options. These are some of the questions I ask, "What happens if style changes and you are put out like yesterday’s news. What if you are unable to perform your music for whatever reasons? What is the plan in the event that you have overestimated your marketability and there is not enough demand for your music? What will you do to pay bills and live a rewarding life? How will you reconstruct the data of your skill set when you were bred to do just one thing?" Every creative person needs someone to ask such things and that someone should expect cogent answers.
Having coached musicians through full-on career changes, the challenge of being ill-prepared for another life is formidable. This is further compounded by time and age. As you move into marriage and household responsibilities the opportunities for changes greatly diminishes and choices are narrowed. Being less agile, you begin to react to circumstances rather than being able to plan your future. The college degree you abandoned for the dream of being a full-time musician is much more difficult to afford and make time for. The job you could have had has long been occupied by someone who trained for it. You are forced into menial jobs as you near the brink of catastrophic failure. Having few options is very painful for a brilliant and creative mind. It is tantamount to having a lobotomy forced upon you while you are still awake and then living with its unpleasant results.
The very successful career is rare and few survive more than a few years. Fame is fleeting and many lose the limelight and move into obscurity with little to show for their hard work. The answer to backing up your life is found in your ability to surround yourself with quality advisors who will say the tough things no one else will. Failure to “backup” will bring what it always brings; fear, frustration, and heartbreak. When it comes to hard drives, it isn’t a matter of if failure will come but when. A plan to deal with it is sweet compared to the option of being surprised by the hopeless bewilderment of “now what?”
Ten Things I Can Do to Backup My Life
1. Finish high school and college no matter what
2. Work some jobs that aren’t creative for the experience of it
3. Check yourself for areas of vulnerability in your field
4. Expand your friendships beyond your circle of Creatives
5. Become familiar with stories of failures as well as successes
6. Look for people who were in the biz and find out where they are now
7. Lean on people who know the ropes and have seen the cycles of the business
8. Become an expert in something everyone needs
9. Imagine yourself doing something else in life that still brings you meaning
10. Realize that being obstinate isn’t the same thing as being persistent
©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton
Tuesday
You Don't Know You Don't Know; Respect the Gray
There was a commercial for a cable company that used a young couple with a baby to say, “You know when people tell you that having a baby will change your life and you say, ‘I know’? You don’t know.” And, being a father, I can attest to that for sure. There are hundreds of assumptions, misunderstandings, beliefs and preferences that are shattered when you actually have the baby. It really doesn’t matter what set of skills you bring to the game, you still need some help and advice.
It has been my experience that I am completely unaware of the things I don’t know. I think that is a reasonable assumption. How can one know something before it is known? The Beatles had it right conversely speaking in All You Need is Love, “There's nothing you can know that isn't known.” So, what do we do about our oblivion? How does one gain knowledge about things of which he has no understanding? This may be an over simplification but it can’t be stated any more clearly; just ask. That is the short answer.
For most of us in the music and creative community being a self starter is something for which we may be proud. But there is also honor in seeking out someone who has walked a mile in our shoes before they were “our shoes.” It seems a redundant waste of time to reinvent the wheel when all we need do is simply inquire of the wheel maker. There is an incredible advantage to learning something in a conversation with someone more experienced and wise. This could save us a couple of year’s worth of head-banging during the learning process.
It is my humble philosophical opinion that I may grow and be a stronger, better human being because of the experiences of others. Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” We are in good company when we inquire about styles, gear, methods, history and a thousand other important topics. I say “respect the gray” and befriend someone who is years ahead of you in your career. There may be a gold nugget in the conversation you are about to have over a cup of coffee. The way I see it is that everyone has the potential to teach me something new and fresh. This is true in spite of the fact that I am creative, a musician, a self-starter, and strong headed.
I discovered maybe a little late but not too late, that I don’t know what I don’t know. I didn’t know that early on but I know now. So I make it a point to get exposure as often as possible, to those who have the wisdom and experience that I may not. They inspire me and prove that what I aspire to accomplish can be and indeed, has been done in some measure before. Their knowledge spares me the time-consuming encumbrance of mindlessly plowing a field that someone else has already plowed, to use an agrarian metaphor.
While we all want to take responsibility for the successes we build in our creative careers we must still do obeisance to those who have gone before. They have made what we are doing much easier. They may have learned how to do something before there was someone to ask but we now have them to ask. Thank God for a little wisdom in our lives.
There are a few very simple steps to knowing something you don’t know.
1. Realize that there is a wealth of knowledge in other people
2. Don’t make presumptions about people based on age or other imposed limiters. Some of the greatest lessons are learned from an eight year old and an eighty year old
3. Listen to what may seem to be “unrelated” stories for new insight
4. Open up your friendships to people outside of your area of expertise for a healthy cross-pollination of information
5. Be deliberate and purposeful in your quest to learn from others
6. Find innovative ways to inculcate your creative craft with the new wisdom you have acquired
7. Don’t forget about reading… all leaders are readers. Some of the most brilliant and wise have already left the earth
8. Find a mentor
9. Check back with your dad or a mentor at least once a quarter
10. Ask and keep on asking
©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton
It has been my experience that I am completely unaware of the things I don’t know. I think that is a reasonable assumption. How can one know something before it is known? The Beatles had it right conversely speaking in All You Need is Love, “There's nothing you can know that isn't known.” So, what do we do about our oblivion? How does one gain knowledge about things of which he has no understanding? This may be an over simplification but it can’t be stated any more clearly; just ask. That is the short answer.
For most of us in the music and creative community being a self starter is something for which we may be proud. But there is also honor in seeking out someone who has walked a mile in our shoes before they were “our shoes.” It seems a redundant waste of time to reinvent the wheel when all we need do is simply inquire of the wheel maker. There is an incredible advantage to learning something in a conversation with someone more experienced and wise. This could save us a couple of year’s worth of head-banging during the learning process.
It is my humble philosophical opinion that I may grow and be a stronger, better human being because of the experiences of others. Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” We are in good company when we inquire about styles, gear, methods, history and a thousand other important topics. I say “respect the gray” and befriend someone who is years ahead of you in your career. There may be a gold nugget in the conversation you are about to have over a cup of coffee. The way I see it is that everyone has the potential to teach me something new and fresh. This is true in spite of the fact that I am creative, a musician, a self-starter, and strong headed.
I discovered maybe a little late but not too late, that I don’t know what I don’t know. I didn’t know that early on but I know now. So I make it a point to get exposure as often as possible, to those who have the wisdom and experience that I may not. They inspire me and prove that what I aspire to accomplish can be and indeed, has been done in some measure before. Their knowledge spares me the time-consuming encumbrance of mindlessly plowing a field that someone else has already plowed, to use an agrarian metaphor.
While we all want to take responsibility for the successes we build in our creative careers we must still do obeisance to those who have gone before. They have made what we are doing much easier. They may have learned how to do something before there was someone to ask but we now have them to ask. Thank God for a little wisdom in our lives.
There are a few very simple steps to knowing something you don’t know.
1. Realize that there is a wealth of knowledge in other people
2. Don’t make presumptions about people based on age or other imposed limiters. Some of the greatest lessons are learned from an eight year old and an eighty year old
3. Listen to what may seem to be “unrelated” stories for new insight
4. Open up your friendships to people outside of your area of expertise for a healthy cross-pollination of information
5. Be deliberate and purposeful in your quest to learn from others
6. Find innovative ways to inculcate your creative craft with the new wisdom you have acquired
7. Don’t forget about reading… all leaders are readers. Some of the most brilliant and wise have already left the earth
8. Find a mentor
9. Check back with your dad or a mentor at least once a quarter
10. Ask and keep on asking
©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton
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