Weekend Brainfood, September 20th 2008
Posted by Justin Boland on Sep 20, 2008 | 0 Comments
Fronting: The Original Business Plan
I’ve drafted seven business plans in 27 years on this planet. Then again, Jeff Bezos did a business plan once, and I think that worked out okay for him.
See, a business plan only works when it’s full of relevant details and devoid of bullshit. And even then, it only works with enough capital behind it, and unfortunately for broke rappers around the world, “capital” means cash money dollars.
Success culture is mentally ill. I’m not saying there’s nothing useful and effective in your Tony Robbins books, but I am saying that the real lesson behind “fake it until you make it” is that most of the people we percieve as successful are full of shit. “Think positive thoughts” is good for exactly 30 minutes to work your way out of depression and frustration. If you take it further than that, you’re not being positive, you’re deliberately misleading yourself.
I’m working fulltime these days on launching a music business but I’m not kidding myself about being an executive. When someone whose website is a myspace page hands me a business card, I can only chuckle. In any given city, there’s a thousand promoters, yet only three to five people actually booking all the shows. Crate Kings, one of the best hip hop production sites I’ve come across, dropped a great breakdown on the subject this week:
Calling Yourself CEO Does Not Make You a CEO, by Semantik.
90% of Success is Just Showing Up
Adam Bernard has been running a lot of quality, useful articles in the past few months-from the value of an EP to the importance of small gigs-and this week, he dropped another gem: Showing up at Shows.
Also worth checking out: Adam’s analysis of first week sales figures and the tricks of the trade behind Soundscan inflation.
The Bruce Warila Curriculum
My personal favorite authors on the music business-by which I mean, the actual nuts-and-bolts business end of making a living off music, which is accessable to independents as well as people named Bronfman-are Ed Peto, Martin Atkins, and Bruce Warila, who writes for Unsprung Media and Music Think Tank.
Essential Reading
For Artists/Bands Seeking Investment Capital-this is detailed and precise how-to material for those of us who want to get real and fund large moves. You need to have your organization humming, and you need to provide a basic list of personal and business information. Warila explains it all here.
RSS for Musicians-Best overall article on the subject I found-also check out his sequels: Being Episodic and Create an Elaborate Plan.
You Will Never Get a Record Deal-a strong dose of professional clarity. Don’t take it as an insult.
11 Ways to Fix the Problem When You Work Harder Than Everyone Else-exactly what it says it is, and for most of the DIY entrepreneur cats reading this, it’s an important damn subject! This is science.
Why You Must Implement a Free Song Strategy-even if you’re already convinced, this is a good summary reader. For advice on implementing a free song strategy for free, check out the $0 Promotional Plan
Daily Routine Brainfood Regime
1. Hypebot has the best overall music news-they cover the whole industry and it’s run by a successful, and very respected, veteran who knows his science. Start here.
2. Prohiphop has the best hip hop news-same deal as above. Much respect to Clyde Smith for being a one-man CNN for all the internets. Buy him a beer.
3. Cryptogon is the best “news behind the news” site I’ve found-he’s consistent, level-headed but still bluntly honest.
4. The Big Picture is a rare example of Truth in Advertising. It delivers the macro-scale goods on a regular basis and the graphics are always exceptionally good. This means that not only are you being informed efficiently, it’s also really cool when you’re having trees for breakfast.