In case you missed it, music business analyst / writer Bob Lefsetz sent out and posted this to his website:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/07/01/tiers/
I'm posting it here because if you're embarking on a music industry career, you need to see it. And it's far more comprehensive than I currently have the time to write. Bob's done it for you.
It's going to piss some people off, but his analysis is accurate. There are a couple of artists I might add to the mix, but that's quibbling.
I don't always agree with Bob Lefsetz, but this post is dead on. Even when we don't agree, I love that he tells it like it is and doesn't sugarcoat.
Artists tend to like to have a soft place to fall, so many of them have difficulty hearing the truth. Or sometimes they'll listen, but they want the information you're giving them to be heavily sugarcoated.
This is a tough business. Sugarcoating will kill you.
An eternal optimist myself, as a young artist I had to learn this early on, the hard way. I saw many people fall because people were afraid to tell them the truth.
Sugarcoating leads to things like pushing away people who care
about you in favor of leeches who cajole you into investing in their projects and drain your
money--or perhaps encourage you to donate to their favorite cult--while telling you everything's OK. They get away with this by seeming to protect you by only telling you exactly what you want to hear. (If you're an addict, they'll even keep you high while doing so.)
The person who can listen to information with no sugarcoating always has the upper hand, because they're hard to manipulate.
If you're the type of person who needs to have everything sugarcoated to get through life, start with your business stuff. Force yourself to read the realities of your business so you know what's going on.
You stand a much better chance of winning when you know what you're up against.
I want you to win. Bob Lefsetz wants you to win.
Start now, by learning about your business.
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice.
More Music Biz Advice: http://www.musicbizadvice.com
Showing posts with label Survivial in the music business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Survivial in the music business. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
So, Your Kid Wants to Be a Rock Star...Plus Waylon and Willie and Distraction By Critics
As promised in my previous entry, I've finished the piece I wrote in the wake of Justin Bieber's arrest. You can read it here, or access it from the Features page of MusicBizAdvice.com.
It's an article I've had in mind for years, but it never came together until Bieber's arrest pushed me into finishing it. Its original title was "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Rock Stars," a takeoff on the song recorded by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson (written by Ed and Patsy Bruce). Corny title for an article, I know--that's why I killed it. It referred to an old industry joke that pops into my head whenever a rock star does something stupid.
Readers, I have to tell you...This whole Justin Bieber thing enrages me. To say I'm so tired of seeing this happen to young celebrities doesn't even begin to cover it. That's why it took a few days for me to post the article: I needed to calm the f*ck down. (Some rewriting was in order, too: the line, "My, what a great big ego you have" probably wouldn't have gone over too well with the party it was directed toward.)
Even if you don't have kids who want to be in the industry, I hope you'll read it. There are things in it that have needed to be said for a long time, that no one is saying. It will probably piss some people off, and I'm fine with that.
By the way...When I point you to an article, I'm directing you toward the content of it--not saying it's my best writing. This blog and the writing style of my articles on MusicBizAdvice.com are slightly cleaned-up versions of the way I actually speak when I'm talking with friends. As most people do when they speak, I use fragments and and begin sentences with "And" or "But". In writing for this blog and MusicBizAdvice.com, I come up with wild punctuation combinations to convey the rhythm of my speech. I also use the words "a lot" a lot because unfortunately, I say it a lot. ;-) (Hey, It takes a lot of work to write this "badly"!)
I mention this to get ahead of the critics who may try to shut off a discussion that needs to be had. Whenever I write something that pisses someone off, the response is something like "poorly-written." It's a petty way of creating a distraction--often orchestrated by someone's publicist--to change the subject and focus the attention on themselves.
You're too savvy to fall for that, however, so when you see something like that, just consider it an inside joke amongst ourselves and have a good laugh. My friends and I do. Years ago I used to have dreams about hitting them over the head with my well-worn copy of A Grammar Book for You and I...Oops Me while shouting "Page 258!" so that's progress.
Meanwhile, here's Waylon and Willie singing "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."
I hope your year is going fab so far,
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
It's an article I've had in mind for years, but it never came together until Bieber's arrest pushed me into finishing it. Its original title was "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Rock Stars," a takeoff on the song recorded by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson (written by Ed and Patsy Bruce). Corny title for an article, I know--that's why I killed it. It referred to an old industry joke that pops into my head whenever a rock star does something stupid.
Readers, I have to tell you...This whole Justin Bieber thing enrages me. To say I'm so tired of seeing this happen to young celebrities doesn't even begin to cover it. That's why it took a few days for me to post the article: I needed to calm the f*ck down. (Some rewriting was in order, too: the line, "My, what a great big ego you have" probably wouldn't have gone over too well with the party it was directed toward.)
Even if you don't have kids who want to be in the industry, I hope you'll read it. There are things in it that have needed to be said for a long time, that no one is saying. It will probably piss some people off, and I'm fine with that.
By the way...When I point you to an article, I'm directing you toward the content of it--not saying it's my best writing. This blog and the writing style of my articles on MusicBizAdvice.com are slightly cleaned-up versions of the way I actually speak when I'm talking with friends. As most people do when they speak, I use fragments and and begin sentences with "And" or "But". In writing for this blog and MusicBizAdvice.com, I come up with wild punctuation combinations to convey the rhythm of my speech. I also use the words "a lot" a lot because unfortunately, I say it a lot. ;-) (Hey, It takes a lot of work to write this "badly"!)
I mention this to get ahead of the critics who may try to shut off a discussion that needs to be had. Whenever I write something that pisses someone off, the response is something like "poorly-written." It's a petty way of creating a distraction--often orchestrated by someone's publicist--to change the subject and focus the attention on themselves.
You're too savvy to fall for that, however, so when you see something like that, just consider it an inside joke amongst ourselves and have a good laugh. My friends and I do. Years ago I used to have dreams about hitting them over the head with my well-worn copy of A Grammar Book for You and I...Oops Me while shouting "Page 258!" so that's progress.
Meanwhile, here's Waylon and Willie singing "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."
I hope your year is going fab so far,
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
Friday, January 24, 2014
Justin Beieber's At It Again: Another Michael Jackson? Plus, When to Worry About Pissing People Off
I wrote this the other day while watching coverage of Bieber's latest antics.--RR
So, Justin Bieber got arrested yesterday.
Justin's been making a lot of bad-boy news lately. Am I surprised? No. One day he sped through my neighborhood before actually getting caught at it. I recognized his very recognizable car on the news a few days later, when he did get caught.
How innocent that all seems now...Except that I knew then that we'd be here now.
I have much to say about all this...I wrote it, but as always when I write quickly, it needs to breathe first before being posted. Stay tuned...
It will probably piss some people off.
"OMG!!! You're pissing people off! Are you sure you want to...???"
Yes.
People. It's the music industry. Pissing people off comes with the territory. If you can't handle people getting pissed off at you when you say something, you probably shouldn't be in the business. (Or any business, really. Or perhaps you might want to consider life in a solitary cave, because at some point, someone will be angry with you.)
As a business strategy, trying to avoid having people pissed off at you is one thing. (Particularly when stockholders are involved.) But on a personal level, there are far more important things in life to worry about than random people getting angry at you. (Should you go out of your way to behave in a way that's likely to piss people off? No. That would make you an obnoxious a**hole.) But I digress...
Someone just texted to tell me Justin posted photos of a side by side comparison of himself waving on top of a car, with a picture of Michael Jackson waving on top of a car. This confirms my first thought the other day when I awoke to hear Justin had been arrested for DUI:
Michael Jackson all over again. Except, Michael was much older when he really started to unravel. Michael made it to 50.
If things continue at this pace, Justin won't have that luxury. And he's nowhere close to having Michael's legacy.
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
So, Justin Bieber got arrested yesterday.
Justin's been making a lot of bad-boy news lately. Am I surprised? No. One day he sped through my neighborhood before actually getting caught at it. I recognized his very recognizable car on the news a few days later, when he did get caught.
How innocent that all seems now...Except that I knew then that we'd be here now.
I have much to say about all this...I wrote it, but as always when I write quickly, it needs to breathe first before being posted. Stay tuned...
It will probably piss some people off.
"OMG!!! You're pissing people off! Are you sure you want to...???"
Yes.
People. It's the music industry. Pissing people off comes with the territory. If you can't handle people getting pissed off at you when you say something, you probably shouldn't be in the business. (Or any business, really. Or perhaps you might want to consider life in a solitary cave, because at some point, someone will be angry with you.)
As a business strategy, trying to avoid having people pissed off at you is one thing. (Particularly when stockholders are involved.) But on a personal level, there are far more important things in life to worry about than random people getting angry at you. (Should you go out of your way to behave in a way that's likely to piss people off? No. That would make you an obnoxious a**hole.) But I digress...
Someone just texted to tell me Justin posted photos of a side by side comparison of himself waving on top of a car, with a picture of Michael Jackson waving on top of a car. This confirms my first thought the other day when I awoke to hear Justin had been arrested for DUI:
Michael Jackson all over again. Except, Michael was much older when he really started to unravel. Michael made it to 50.
If things continue at this pace, Justin won't have that luxury. And he's nowhere close to having Michael's legacy.
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Music Business Survival: Three Important Questions Every Artist Should Ask When Making Career Decisions
On MusicBizAdvice.com I've posted a new article, Music Business Survival: How to Balance Practicality with "Being Yourself," and Three Important Questions.
The articfle was originally meant to be a blog post for this space (hence the blog-style writing of it), but during the editing process I realized it contained the three questions that are crucial for artists to ask themselves if they want to maintain their mental stability while pursuing a career in the music business. So, I reworked it as a post for MusicBizAdvice.com's Body and Soul section.
In this business, or any high-stakes business, people will constantly ask you to do things you do not want to do. Some will ask you to do things that are illegal, unhealthy, against your set of personal ethics, or what many people may consider to be morally reprehensible. Some will even push your boundaries just to see how far they can take you out of them.
That doesn't mean everyone does any of these things, but at some point, you will be asked.
A music industry career can be fun. The "business" part of the "music business" is also deadly serious.
You must learn how to handle this.
Hopefully, my post will give you some ideas of where to begin.
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
© 2013 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com . All rights reserved.
The articfle was originally meant to be a blog post for this space (hence the blog-style writing of it), but during the editing process I realized it contained the three questions that are crucial for artists to ask themselves if they want to maintain their mental stability while pursuing a career in the music business. So, I reworked it as a post for MusicBizAdvice.com's Body and Soul section.
In this business, or any high-stakes business, people will constantly ask you to do things you do not want to do. Some will ask you to do things that are illegal, unhealthy, against your set of personal ethics, or what many people may consider to be morally reprehensible. Some will even push your boundaries just to see how far they can take you out of them.
That doesn't mean everyone does any of these things, but at some point, you will be asked.
A music industry career can be fun. The "business" part of the "music business" is also deadly serious.
You must learn how to handle this.
Hopefully, my post will give you some ideas of where to begin.
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
© 2013 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com . All rights reserved.
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