TEM40: David Cutler of the Savvy Musician on being a creative problem solver, living in a golden era for artists and the link between impact and income

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM40: David Cutler of the Savvy Musician on being a creative problem solver, living in a golden era for artists and the link between impact and income

David Cutler is the author of The Savvy Musician and Associate Professor of Music Entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina. He is one of the world's foremost thought leaders in the field of arts entrepreneurship and his enthusiasm for the subject is contagious.

David is a great friend and I enjoy busting on him throughout this interview. I hate saying nice things about my friends but I can't deny that he truly is one of the experts in the field and that he was one of the main people who inspired me to take my career past simply trying to play the tuba well.

This interview will give you a little bit of insight into how his brain works and how he thinks about and approaches problems. It's a great lesson for all of in our quest to try to create something remarkable, just as David has done with The Savvy Musician.

But please don't tell him I said nice things about him. Thanks in advance.

Topics Covered:

  • How he took his skills as a classical musician and applied them to being a creative problem-solver when it came to his career

  • Why he thinks artists are living in a golden era

  • The importance of having both big ideas and follow through

  • Why he always starts with a dream and not with logistics

  • Why you should start with the why rather than the what

  • Why school is the time to be building your platform

  • Why doing your job well may not be enough to leave a mark on the world or to create a viable business model

  • How impact and income are linked if you do it right

  • How to make yourself indispensable

  • Why it is frequently not remarkable today to do one thing really well

Links:

Books:

Favorite Quote:

  • "Musicians are usually good at doing their job well. But there are generally speaking a lot of people who do their job well so you probably need to do more than that to be indispensable."

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass.

TEM39: Going with Plan B (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM39: Going with Plan B (TEM Short)

Setbacks are inevitable. Will you have the courage to act on your Plan B?

The story of ChopSaver's Dan Gosling's reaction to losing an orchestral audition for a position he had held for the last three years is truly remarkable.

He didn't just make a decision to pivot in his life. Within 48 hours he was taking actions towards that end. Truly inspirational stuff.

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

TEM38: Dan Gosling of ChopSaver

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM38: Dan Gosling of ChopSaver

Dan Gosling is the musician turned entrepreneur behind the incredibly popular ChopSaver lip balm. His story, from making the finals but then losing a professional orchestral audition to inventing a lip balm that is now sold in over 7,000 CVS Pharmacies, is truly incredible.

This interview was so great that I don't even know where to begin. Dan's story isn't just filled with lessons in entrepreneurship or the music business. His story is filled with life lessons. As you will hear, his pivot from intense professional and personal disappointment to going 100 mph down the road with his Plan B is quite inspiring.

And the business skills he has acquired through trial and error (rather than through getting an MBA) over the last two decades shows us that truly anyone can do this entrepreneurship thing.

He got me fired up!

Topics Covered:

  • How he did market research before he knew that that's what it was called

  • How he ended up developing the skills on the fly that he would have gotten from getting an MBA

  • How he applied the skills he already used to systematically approach his practicing to develop his product

  • The value of believing that things (and in particular, failures) happen for a reason

  • Learning from the bad decisions of other people

  • Life is constant trial and error

  • The importance of "getting beyond the idea" by taking some action

  • The constant need to continuously be honestly assessing what you can't do and realizing when you need to reach out to others for help

  • Why a smaller number of passionate people who will evangelize for your product is better than a larger number who won't

  • Why pitching multiple companies is just like being on the audition circuit

  • Rejection is inevitable in business just like in music

  • The power of collaboration

  • Why you need to get other eyes and ears on what you're doing

  • Why career pivots are not failures

Links:

Books Referenced:

Favorite Quote:

  • "Are you going to learn from the rejection you get from an audition-like situation or are you going to go home and pout and say 'Oh those people don't know what they're talking about. I nailed that audition.' Well, you probably didn't."

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

TEM37: Would anyone miss your art? (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

One of the things Michael Harley of Alarm Will Sound discussed in Episode 36 was how loyal the audience of his Southern Exposure New Music Series is which reminded me of a question from the great Seth Godin: "If you stopped making your art tomorrow, would anyone miss it?"

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

TEM36: Michael Harley of Alarm Will Sound

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM36: Michael Harley of Alarm Will Sound

Michael Harley is the bassoonist for Alarm Will Sound as well as the Artistic Director of the Southern Exposure New Music Series. He is also Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of South Carolina.

Michael's career has had many twists and turns and many instances of him ending up doing things he never envisioned himself doing. His approach to both music and the music business are spot on. It is no wonder he has had such a successful career.

Topics Covered:

  • The importance of jumping right in and saying yes and then figuring it out

  • Why you have to be ready for the opportunities that will come your way

  • Why this might work is better for creating art than this better work

  • The importance of working your ass off

  • What he looks for in a group when booking his concert series

  • Contemporary classical music is an easy sell if it's great

  • How Alarm Will Sound was able to go from a student group to a professional

  • Finding something no one else is doing and that you can do better than anyone else

  • What it was like working with Medeski, Martin & Wood

Links:

Books Referenced:

Favorite Quote:

  • “You jump right in and you say yes and then you figure out how to do it. You say ‘Of course I can.’"

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass.

TEM35: Are you with the 99%? (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM35: Are you with the 99%? (TEM Short)

In Episode 34, Lance LaDuke talked about how 99% of the world goes in the same direction when marketing their product or event. Are you with the 99% or is your marketing remarkable?

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass

TEM34: A Conversation with Lance LaDuke on marketing

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM34: A Conversation with Lance LaDuke on marketing

For Episode 34 I welcome back my partner at Pedal Note Media, Lance LaDuke.

Lance is fresh off of an appearance as a Thought Leader at "Marketing Chamber Music: A Savvy Strategy for Success", an event arranged by David Cutler as a part of the Chamber Music America Conference in New York City.

Lance has some really great ideas about marketing and shares with us a bunch of groups that he thinks are really doing the arts marketing thing well. It's a list that really made me think!

Topics Covered:

  • Using a business model canvas to hone your product and determine exactly what problem you are going to solve for whom

  • If 99% of people are going in one direction with their marketing that you should be going in the other direction

  • How marketing is everything (and everything is marketing)

  • Why you or your product need to be remarkable in the literal sense

  • Why you must be incredible before you ramp up your marketing

  • Why only competing on price to make a name for yourself is a losing game

  • Why how you are perceived is reality

  • Why you shouldn’t assume that anyone cares that you can do something better than it has already been done

  • The importance of finding someone who is having success in your corner of the music business and figure out how they’re doing everything they’re doing

Links:

Books:

Favorite Quote from the Interview:

  • "Marketing is everything and everything is marketing. Everything you do should be with an eye towards it."

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM33: Act like you belong (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM33: Act like you belong (TEM Short)

As Sam Pilafian shared in Episode 32, you have to act like you belong no matter who you are talking to in the music business.

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM32: Sam Pilafian of Boston Brass on founding a world-renowned chamber group, what makes someone hirable and how luck seems to be self-generated

in ,

As one person who heard this episode with Sam Pilafian said to me "People just don't have careers like this any more. It doesn't even seem real all the things he's done." Anyone who has played with the Metropolitan Opera, Lionel Hampton and Pink Floyd has some lessons the rest of us can learn from. The entrepreneurial path of Sam Pilafian is incredible. Someone will write a book about this man someday. 

Read More

TEM31: What's In store for TEM in 2016

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

This is a quick run down of what's in store for the podcast in 2016 including a few changes to the format. As you'll hear, I will still be doing interviews with industry leading entrepreneurs. But I'll also be discussing various aspects of entrepreneurship with different guests in a more in depth basis.

I will also be discussing my latest venture which will soon be found at banddirectorsguide.com. I'll be sharing the entrepreneurial lessons I learn (hopefully not all the hard way!) as I launch this brand new business.

I'm excited for what the year ahead has in store!

Links:

Books Referenced:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM30: Can you withstand an avalanche of no's? (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

iTunes
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM30: Can you withstand an avalanche of no's? (TEM Short)

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM29: Peter Seymour of PROJECT Trio on energy in your presentation, taking action and the need to be brutally honest with yourself about what you can and can not do

in ,

Peter Seymour is one of my heroes in the business. From traditional success (postions with the New World Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra) to founding one of the most creative and successful chamber groups of the last decade (PROJECT Trio), Peter has taken the music industry by storm and his energy is completely contagious. This will fire you up!

Read More

TEM28: The most important part of being an entrepreneur (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM28: The most important part of being an entrepreneur (TEM Short)

The most important part of being an entrepreneur is obvious and even though it goes without saying, we still need to be reminded from time to time.

Links:


You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM26: Believing you can figure it out (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM26: Believing you can figure it out (TEM Short)

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who believe they can figure out absolutely anything and those that don't. The former make the best players, teachers, entrepreneurs, conductors, anything. The latter usually end up bitter.

I love Jennifer and Julia's story from TEM25 about "figuring it out."

Links:

Books Referenced:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM25: Jennifer Rosenfeld & Julia Torgovitskaya of iCadenza and Cadenza Artists on dealing with fear, the power of simply asking and incorrect assumptions musicians make about the music business

in ,

Jennifer and Julia are two of the bright young stars of the next generation of the music business who are wise well beyond their years. Their discussion in this episode of dealing with fear and the incorrect assumptions people make about the music business are must hear.

Read More

TEM24: Find reasons it will work (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM24: Find reasons it will work (TEM Short)

Finding reasons why something won't work is easy. But as Ron Davis reminded me in Episode 19, sometimes the key is finding reasons why something will work.

Links:


Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM23: Michael Davis of Hip-Bone Music

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

 TEM23: Michael Davis of Hip-Bone Music

Michael Davis is the owner of Hip-Bone Music and has performed and recorded with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, James Taylor and Buddy Rich.

Topics Covered:

  • What inspired him to launch Hip-Bone Music long before it was common for people to self-publish books and albums

  • Why listening as a human being is just as important to success in the music business as listening as a musician

  • How he was able to establish himself as a freelancer in a crowded scene like New York City

  • What the hardest part is about owning his own company

  • How he has funded over 10 different recordings

  • How he approaches product development

Michael's Website:

Books Referenced:

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM22: Load the bus first (TEM Short)

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM22: Load the bus first (TEM Short)

My interview for Episode 21 with Max and Scott McKee reminded me of the great book by Jim Collins, "Good to Great". In that book, Jim makes the argument that you should start by putting the right people on the bus before you figure out where it is headed.

Links:


Book Referenced:


Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM21: Max & Scott McKee of the American Band College

in ,

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM21: Max & Scott McKee of the American Band College

Max and Scott McKee own and operate a music education empire which includes the American Band College, the Western International Band Clinic, and Bandworld Magazine.

Topics Covered:

  • How hiring the best people in the world even at the expensive of losing money in the short term was a successful strategy

  • Why forging personal relationships with both your employees and your customers is vital to success

  • The importance of getting happy customers to do your marketing for you

  • Why passion drives everything they do

Websites:

Links:

Books Referenced:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!


Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM20: Are you fungible? Hopefully not! (TEM Short)

in

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud
Stitcher

TEM20: Are you fungible? Hopefully not! (TEM Short)

This is in reaction to my interview from TEM19 with Canadian jazz pianist, composer and entrepreneur Ron Davis. Ron mentioned the dangers of being fungible in today's music business. If you are simply selling skills that many people can do at or nearly at your level, prepare for the race to the bottom in terms of compensation.

The key is to market yourself rather than simply your skills, just as Ron has.

Links:

Books Referenced:


You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass