There’s No Whining in Music

A friend of mine just Facebooked, “Thinking there has to be some way to unite indies rockers.” To which I replied, “If the ants ever get together, the grasshoppers are in trouble!”

There’s a dirty 4-letter word that every musician must heave to succeed: work. And the work needs to be done, as my friend Tom Jackson says, by “majoring in the  majors, not majoring in the minors.”

Right now I’m working with an artist, Steve Bell, who has an amazing fan base. He’s toured consistently for the last twenty years, and recently began working in a new area, launching symphony tours and performing sell out concerts. He’s never been signed to a record label.

It takes focus and determination. No one will do it for you. In my experience, those who might get that “lottery ticket” opportunity are ill-prepared for it when it comes along. Numerous times I would see bands get the chance to perform for a potential shot at success, and their sets, show, and songs weren’t ready. Guitar players’ pickups would feedback through the PA – even their gear wasn’t ready!

It takes hard work; but at the end of the day, every overnight success is a story capped with 12 years or more in the making. Those who work on things that matter can have a successful career. For them, there is no downturn in the music industry.

So stop whining, and start working! Here’s a great article to help you out: The Top 5 Reasons You Will Fail in Music – read more…

It is about the audience

The music business is an interesting animal.   I have worked in some facet of the entertainment world since the beginning of my career.   The first major event I ever did featured Christopher Cross.  While running our independent record label, I felt I was in the Groundhog Day movie watching the same car wreck over and over, only to wake up and do it again no matter how loud I screamed, waved my hands or made suggestions.

The record business was a “push” business and I had spent my entire career re-engineering businesses into “pull” models to grow audience and serve customers.  As the Indie music scene continues to emerge, Rome burns on.  But some are starting to realize that maybe it really is about the audience after all.  If the ants ever figure it out, the grasshoppers are in big trouble.  Check out this article in USAToday – Music and Fans…

Comments on the article are interesting as well, like this one:

eldude1277 wrote: 13m ago “Shocking concept. Music is about the fans? Really? Anyone who isnt filling stadiums and is playing locally or mini tours can tell you that. Live music is the only real way to make any money. Why pay for what you can get free? Maybe if the value is on the live music it’ll force REAL musicians to do what they do live and not dress up in the studio. You gotta go there to come back.”