The TV dividend

Sorry I have been too caught up to post for a couple of days but in my sted please enjoy the wisdom of Set Godin, on line marketing genius.... back on Monday!

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/07/the-tv-dividend.html

Where did Wikipedia come from?

All those hours, all that work. Where did the time and effort come from?

Clay Shirky points out that it comes from the TV we're not watching.

Take a look at Netroidcomics, courtesy of Bert. Sure, some of these folks were at work, goofing off, but the real influx of time and energy we're seeing online comes from TV. Three, four or even six hours a day not spent doing virtually nothing. Multiply it by 800 million people online and suddenly, there's a huge influx of hours just waiting to be put to good use.

I don't watch TV and I don't go to meetings. You'd be amazed at the difference it makes.

While the last few years have been devoted to mostly trivial pursuits, I would imagine we're going to see a rapid acceleration in the quality and meaning of things we manage to create with our new-found time. At least I hope so.

Seth Godin.

Are you only as good as your last gig?

In the eyes of your audience, yes you are only as good as your last gig. However viewing yourself from this standpoint is a very dangerous thing.

So you f***ed up, the session didn’t go as planned, the drummer passed out half way through the second song. At the time these may seem like disasters but like all things, with time they fade. In the face of any adversity the main thing is to hold true to your vision. You may have to work a little harder to convince your audience you’ve got your game back, but as long as you never lose faith in yourself, it will all work out.

As Wayne Dyer says “The wake cannot drive the boat.” What he means by this is that your past (the wake) cannot impact your present moment (the boat). The only way your past can have any bearing on your present is if you allow your mind to make decisions based on old events. Every moment is a re-birth, when you know better you do better.

Level Playing Fields

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. – Gandalf the Grey

It does not matter who you are, Bono or the busker on the subway there is something I guarantee we all have in common; 24hours per day, that’s it, not a nanosecond more. How is it then that the Bono’s of the world tour the globe, make amazing records while ending poverty and the buskers… well, busk!

What do you choose to do with your time? Exactly how much you get laid out end to end is unknown yet we carry on assuming we will see another sunrise. The key difference for the Bono’s is that they have figured out their priorities, how to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to action. This is not to say that they make work more important than play or family, a conscious super star knows the equal importance of all dimensions of a life. They understand that scheduling exclusive time out of their allotted 24hours to undertake a particular task is vital to success. Make time for your family and friends, make time for your work and make time for your dreams. Plan it in advance and plan it consciously. Then pursue your happiness with commitment and consistency. If everything is left until the last minute then one minute is all you have.

For a great insight to time management check out First Things First by A. Roger Merrill & Rebecca A. Merrill

Want better answers? Ask better questions.

For the benefit of those who are not fortunate enough to be married to a brilliant success coach, I am going to share with you a gem of a riff I’ve cribbed from my missus that is so universally applicable, it drops into that sacred category of require reading.

Ok, you’re a struggling muso, producer, engineer, or songwriter, whatever. You need some direction and some constructive answers as to where to go next. What questions are you asking yourself? Are they why, what, how or who questions?

Why is my career going nowhere? Why can’t I land a deal? Why are there no studio clients? All why question beget because answers and all that follows a because answer is a string of adjectives painting a picture of your situation. You are drowning and describing the water! Reframe those questions to what, how or who questions.

What do I need to do to get my career on track? How do I land a deal? Who are my clients and where do I find them? All of these questions fire verbs back at you, doing words. They ultimately promote action and if you take consistent action things will move for you. Remember over a long enough timeline a course correction of one degree will radically change your destination. As Einstein said “…nothing happens until something moves.” So ask the questions that promote motion.

Amp up your bullshit detector

Personally I can smell bullshit like a shark smells blood in the water, so can my wife and she’s even sharper than I am at spotting fakery. If you want to make truly great music or anything for that matter, raise your game and only give your best.

I was recently handed a CD by a young guy trying to launch a small hip/hop label, he asked me what I thought of his material. The act was a fella by the name of Jay C… mmm what’s that I smell? Come on, you might as well launch an up and coming guitarist by the name of Cedric Clapton! While the backing tracks had been reasonably well put together, the vocals where awful. Now I’m not judging the rap and rhyme but the recording quality was dire. More crap, this time the lie was in the presentation. Do you love your art, are you doing anything less than what you are called to do. If you answer no to any of these question, you are more than likely doing it for fame or money. Stop now, you are poisoning the water hole and adding to the sea of pap that has become the popular music scene. Clearly this guy’s motives where questionable. He was either very naïve or … I don’t know what. What I do know is he will never achieve any success unless he starts loving his work.

Do you love your work? Have you considered what that means? Have you spent years, months, weeks, days, hours or minutes honing your craft? Back in the day we called this paying your dues, a concept that seems hard to grasp for Generation X Box. There is no substitute for time put in, either as a writer, a player, a singer, rapper or technician. This is the crucible in which great metal is formed. If you survive the process you will learn patience and wisdom, taste and restraint. You will also develop a keen sense of bullshit.

My advice to any aspiring artist is this.

1) Listen to as much music as possible; you’d be amazed how much goes in by osmosis.

2) Don’t just listen to the music you know you like, start to appreciate other genres.

3) Explore the history of the music you love and follow the historic breadcrumbs. Seeking your influences, influences can spark fresh thinking.

4) Don’t try to copy the styles of others. Find your own voice by creative cooking (e.g. a little of this… a little of that…)

5) Put as much time into you instrument as you can, only those that make it a priority will succeed.

6) Get knocked down 5 times get up 6. Never give up, never surrender.

7) Always, I mean always be truthful to your craft.

Attention Music Lovers!

The Music Business is changing; there is no longer a Mainstream in terms of what is hip? And what is out? Thanks to the web and broadband access the playing field has been levelled, it is no longer a question of resources but more a question of creativity and raw talent. So why is the web not brimming with amazing music?

The playing field has changed but folks are still trying to play by the old rules. The original rules were those of Supply & Demand. Demand was set by the Audience and supply was met by the Providers. Due to the narrow channel of the Mainstream the potential Audience would fall into one of three camps 1) Satisfied 2) Dissatisfied 3) Go along to get along. The latter being what I call Sheep, those that like something because it is popular or dislike something because it is unpopular. Q. What’s the first rule of cabaret? A. Give them what they want! By these rules all the power resides with the Audience. The Providers danced to the tune called.

The second evolution of the rules is that of Dictate & Supply. As more and more choice of music started to emerge the potential Audience fractured into many separate camps threatening the Mainstream. Fortunately for the Providers the Sheep where still strong with the force and as long as they could snare the cultural leaders the Sheep would follow. This has lead to the current rule set that places the power with the Providers. Through media, advertising and so called popular culture we have been told what it cool, hip and in, we are fed it 24/7 through billboards, TV, radio and now the Web. The cultural cost has been high; quality acts that needs to be nurtured, yet have longevity are canned in favour of disposable pulp culture that is cheap to deliver, makes a fast return and fades quickly. Now the question is are we in the Music Business or the Business of Music? It is time to make a choice and decide why you got into this industry in the first place. This is not an either or choice, both of these scenarios can co-exist. The reason I ask is that for the first time in history we have a chance to do things differently. The web has changed the landscape of commerce irrevocably; it has reduced the Mainstream to a trickle creating a new opportunity in The Long Tail.

In just the same way the Amazon revolutionised the sale of books there is now an opening for the same to be done with the music industry. We have entered the age of Demand & Supply which means that we are now uniquely placed to serve up quality content and create our own Audience for it. There is an almost infinite array of channels flowing both up and down stream, we can talk to them and they to us. The traditional music industry model is failing because it was designed to operate through the singular, one way, Mainstream. The old rules no longer apply and new ones must be drawn up. The industry giants have become too big to play in the game, only the small and nimble will be able to pick up and run with these ideas. In the early stages the rewards will not be as glamorous or lucrative enough to support a Sony or a BMG but they will provide for an SME that over time could become a world beating brand.

The key to success in the 21^st Century is at long last going to be focused on quality, quality content, quality production, quality performances. Do you do what you claim? If not you will fail, why? Because “your” Audience will hold you to your word. The music business will become a collaboration between the willing Audience hungry for quality and an enthused Provider in love with their product. It will become a relationship, a fruitful and successful union and like all successful relationships it will be built on trust. Now that may take a while to develop but just imagine what we could achieve when we get there.