Perspective is everything

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As Seth Godin points out in this spot on blog post, perspective is absolutely everything.

Four different people will experience the exact same thing in completely different ways based on their professions and world views.

Recognizing this fact is very powerful because it enables us to recognize our own bias and intentionally attempt to view something from a different perspective when that is helpful (which it almost always is.)

When trying to provide goods or services to someone (in or out of the music business), it is imperative that we forget everything we know about the product, service or situation and think like the customer.

Of course we think what we are providing is important, but have we made that case to our customers?

Practicing the ability to change one's perspective is one of the common traits that the insanely successful people I've interviewed for TEM all share. Might be good for the rest of us to that skill as well.

Processing negative reviews

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No matter how convenient it would be for our egos, nothing you could ever produce for the world is going to be for everyone. Literally nothing.

Most Americans have never stepped foot in a Starbucks. Hard to believe if there are five within 10 miles of your residence, but it's true.

Most of us know that trying to please everyone is a fool's errand, yet we all bristle at negative reviews or feedback. 

But that's a waste of time.

Follow the link for a great (and as always, short) post by Seth Godin on processing negative reviews in a constructive manner.

Godin: Processing Negative Reviews

Godin: New habits

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"You can live on old habits for a while, but the future depends on investing in finding and building some new ones with (and for) your customers."

How many schools of music, orchestras, publishers, record companies and music stores should have realized this over a decade ago?

And how many of them either continue to not notice or are standing there with their fingers in their ears, their eyes closed and screaming "LA LA LA" at the top of their lungs?

It's easy to spot the blind spot in other people or other organizations. But can you spot your own in time?

Seth's Blog: New Habits

Beware schools that only make you better at following a path

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“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

99% of all college music degrees in the world today have curriculums which are designed to help you follow a path better than the next woman or man. And there's a reason for this.

They were all designed many, many decades ago when it was close to impossible for anyone to blaze a trail for themselves.

There were gatekeepers everywhere you looked deciding who was allowed to make an album, who got to write a book and who got to do just about any other artistic endeavor you can think of.

But those people are all gone.

To make matters worse, there are thousands upon thousands of students graduating every single year with music degrees in the United States and all over the world who are being taught these same "just follow the path better than the next person" skills. And they're all competing for the exact same jobs. (A number that is getting smaller with every year that goes by.)

What you have there is a math issue.

What are the odds that you are going to one of the incredibly lucky few who will find a path that's already been cleared and will make a great living, both financially and artistically, as a result? They are not good.

Of course it happens. But you have a shockingly better chance of finding success in the music business (whatever success means to you) by taking Emerson's advice above and leaving your own trail.

Look around at all of the people who are making their own go of it. They are everywhere.

And you certainly have the best chance of success by getting an education that provides you skills for both the "path" and the "trail" approaches to a career.

Once you get out into The Real World™, literally no one gives a crap that you went to Northwestern or that you studied with (insert famous teacher here.) No one.

So if you're looking for a school to attend to be a music major, consider what skills they are offering you as a major factor rather than just going to the famous place or to study with the famous person.

You'll be happy you did.

© 2017 Andrew HitzSunrise in The Berkshires which has nothing to do with anything in this post but it's pretty so I threw it in!

© 2017 Andrew Hitz

Sunrise in The Berkshires which has nothing to do with anything in this post but it's pretty so I threw it in!

We don't have a talent problem. We have a shipping problem.

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"We don't have a talent problem. We have a shipping problem."

—Seth Godin from "Linchpin"

First of all, if you are the skimming type, at the bottom of this post there is a link to a book that Seth Godin has been generous enough to let me offer to my audience for free. Follow the link to get your free copy.

First of all, if you have not read Seth Godin's book "Linchpin" you should immediately stop reading my little blog here and go purchase it immediately. No seriously. Go do it right now. (And for the record that is not an affiliate link. I would of course let you know if it was. You just need to read the book because there is some life changing stuff in it.)

I just finished reading (actually listening since I am an Audible junky) "Linchpin" it for the second time and there will be a third time through it very soon.

The title of this post is a quote from the book and it is a blatant call to action.

Have you been "in the process" of writing a book for the last 18 months? I dare you to look in the mirror and say out loud that the reason you haven't published it (whether that means self-published or with a publisher) is because you are waiting to become a better writer.

Even if you might quietly think to yourself that that is a factor, I bet that if you say it out loud your bs detector is going to go off. In fact I guarantee it will.

(And you can substitute performing a recital, composing a symphony, opening a teaching studio, booking a tour for your band or anything else for writing a book.)

Because what's the way to get better as a writer? IT'S TO PUBLISH MORE DAMN BOOKS.

It's not to think about becoming a better a writer. It's not to read blog posts like this. And at some point (which is a lot earlier than a lot of us like to admit) it is not to read books, listen to podcasts, or watch videos telling us how to be a better writer.

You can accumulate all the information and inspiration in the world and if you don't actually write (and ship!) anything then what the hell are you really doing? Not much is the answer.

The first iteration of my second book is a lot better than the first iteration of my first book (even though they are two volumes from the same series.)

The launch of my second podcast was a lot better than the launch of my first podcast.

That's because the only way to truly learn anything is by shipping.

I used the word "you" in this post over and over again. And obviously I have shipped albums, podcasts, books, websites (all plural) over the years. But I promise you I am writing this post as a reminder to myself.

What the hell am I waiting to acquire more "talent" (whatever the hell that even means) or more knowledge or more financial support before I ship? Avoidance and fear never lead to learning. But shipping does.

So go ship.

Through the incredible generosity of Seth Godin I can offer you a copy an ebook copy of "Seth Godin: Live at Carnegie Hall" for free. You can click on the cover or click here to get your free copy.

The problem with school

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In a couple of hours I am going to talk entrepreneurship with students at my alma mater, Northwestern University (which has me in one hell of a great mood!)

I'm going to start with some bad news for them:

The skills required to excel at school bear very little resemblance to the skills needed to "make it" in today's music business.

At the beginning of every college class, each student is handed a syllabus which contains everything they will possibly be asked to know for a grade. In fact, if a professor ends up lowering a student's grade for something not on the syllabus there is an appeals process that students can undertake to get their grade restored. It involves committees and panels and lots of paperwork.

A syllabus is basically a checklist. Everything you will be tested on. Everything you will need to read. Every deadline. When the class will be completed. They are all neatly contained in one place.

How nice.

But the Real World (which we capitalize to scare you) looks absolutely nothing like this. There isn't a checklist. There isn't a reading list. There aren't deadlines established for you that can't be moved under any circumstances. None of it.

Here's the good news: Just because you aren't required to use these skills (to not only complete a college degree but to actually excel) doesn't mean you aren't allowed to use them. As with playing the drums or composing music, when you first start to utilize some of them you won't be very good at them. At all.

Which is exactly why you need to start before the world requires you to start. As in today.

Anyone who is any good at charting their own path wasn't good at it before they got good at it. (Deep, right?)

So what are you waiting for?

Say yes

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"I'm no longer sure what the question is. But I do know the answer is yes."

—Leonard Bernstein

I love this quote.

The more I pay attention to the people already doing what I want to be doing more of in the music business, the more variations of "saying yes" I hear.

Whether it is this guy or this guy, there are examples everywhere of people who have said yes only then to have figured out how the hell to pull off what they just agreed to do.

I know I need reminding of this from time to time.

Why self-awareness is everything

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"Ideas are worthless without execution. Execution is pointless without the ideas."

—Gary Vaynerchuck from "#AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness"

There aren't too many people in the world who are really great at both ideas and execution. There are some, but there aren't many.

If you are reading this right now, there is a very good chance you are great at one of these and only good at the other. Or great at one and average at the other.

This is why partnering with the right person (or people) is so imperative for anyone looking to be an entrepreneur. Find someone who compliments your strengths and weaknesses well and move forward with them. (That's why I partnered with this knucklehead to form Pedal Note Media.)

If you don't want to partner with anyone, outsource whatever it is you aren't great at. Even if you had the time to get great at everything (and if you're a human, you don't), I argue you shouldn't be wasting your time learning how to do these other things at the expense of spending more time doing the work you think will change the world.

And the key to all of this is self-awareness. If you are brutally honest with yourself about what you can and can't do, it informs who you partner with and even what you attempt to bring to the world in the first place.

Self-awareness informs the ideas and the execution. So the question is what can you do today to get a little more honest with yourself?

RIP To Prince, a brilliant artist and entrepreneur

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I posted this on Facebook earlier today but thought it was appropriate to post it here as well:

Sad day as the world lost a true pioneer on so many fronts. Performer, composer, entrepreneur, artist and brilliant marketer, Prince was the real deal.

He wrote, sang, produced, arranged, composed & played all 27 instruments on his first album, "For You". AT THE AGE OF 19!

Before "Sign of the Times" came out, he ran a full page ad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune with just the lyrics to the title track. Nothing else. Brilliant.

I could easily do an entire TEM episode on Prince. He was a true genius as a musical entrepreneur.

And that's to say nothing of his writing (even songs made famous by other artists like "Nothing Compares To You"). His songs transcended genre and touched everyone. When Phish opened their 12/31/98 show at Madison Square Garden with "1999" the roar of the crowd after the "Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999" line momentarily drowned out the band. The screams were deafening. I get goosebumps on command when thinking about it close to 20 years ago.

And oh by the way his voice was phenomenal and he was one of greatest guitar players to ever live. Can you imagine doing all of those things that well? I can't.

Today is a very sad day for the world but I'm pretty sure he'd rather we all crank "Let's Go Crazy" than spend too long mourning his death so that's exactly what I'm doing. RIP, Prince. There will never be another.

When in doubt aim higher

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"Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss but because they aim too low and hit."

—Les Brown

Is your big entrepreneurial idea really big enough? Would the rest of the world agree that it is a big idea or is that just your perspective?

When in doubt, dream bigger. The ideas that catch fire in the world of business are the ones who have lots of impact. They can impact many. Or they have a huge impact on a smaller number of people.

I don't know about you but that Les Brown quote above scares the crap out of me in a good way. It is making me challenge my beliefs that some of my ideas are big ideas and that is healthy.

When in doubt, aim higher.

The will to execute

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"I don't think there is a shortage of remarkable ideas. I think your business has plenty of opportunities to do great things. Nope, what's missing isn't the ideas. It's the will to execute them."

—Seth Godin from The Purple Cow

This is especially true in the music business and in the arts in general. Artists are by definition creative people. We produce creative ideas for a living.

You have plenty of great ideas, many of them quite creative. The problem is so does your competition.

Execution is the name of the game.

It is infinitely harder to get your great idea for a chamber group booked for concerts than it is to come up with the group in the first place.

It is a lot harder to write a book than it is to come up with a good idea for one.

It is much easier to think of a great idea for a website than it is to actually build it.

If you are wondering why you are not having the same amount of success as your competition the answer is almost certainly execution. The X's and O's but also the will to execute.

Different is better than better

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"Different is better than better." 

—Brian Clark (CEO of Rainmaker Digital)

Yes!

There is a very popular etude book for tuba by Phil Snedecor titled "Low Etudes for Tuba". Phil wrote this book years ago and it continues to sell very well for him in spite of having been released a long time ago. This is not by accident.

It turns out that back in the day John Cradler, Phil's friend who plays tuba in the Presidents' Own Marine Band, told Phil that he should not just write a tuba etude book but one that contains melodies in the extreme low register.

John pointed out to Phil that in spite of the existence of many tuba etude books there wasn't one that specifically addressed this skill head on. Phil asked him if it really would sell. John assured him that it was a glaring hole in the tuba etude book market and that it would.

Sure enough it did and continues to!

The point is that Phil didn't write a better version of a low etude book for tuba. He wrote the first book to do so.

Phil is an incredible writer (both arranger and composer) and very likely could have written a better book than what was already out there if he had been beaten to market by others.

But by writing the first book in that specific niche he was able to sell a whole bunch of them right away. It was a need that people didn't even realize they had and he solved it for them.

The path of least resistance to both impact and financial success is being different. This is much more important than being better.