Interesting discussion points!
Is this guy trying to give pro advice? Sounds like it to me. He’s clearly not coaching people on how to have a hobby. Can we agree on that?
[quote] Ideas are overrated but execution is everything. [/quote] I agree with him here.
But not here…
[quote] Number one… start releasing content. [/quote] That sounds ass backwards to me. Not the way it works in any other profession, why is this one different? Start with the numbers then cram the artist into a mold that fits the numbers. If you’re the artist, figure out your market and ask yourself if you can compete in that space. Is your market to small? Are you under skilled? If you can’t figure out how you’re gonna make the financial end work, then what the hell is the point in making a damn record!? You just don’t do that. It should be a crime to insult and disrespect money like that. This guy isn’t talking to hobbyists. Again, that video is clearly aimed at aspiring pros.
[quote] Put your money where your mouth is…start dropping stuff. [/quote] NO NO NO NO!! Fuck no! Don’t do a god damn thing with your cash until you have focused objective. If you are your own record label, treat yourself like one. People need to start with defining the business model and don’t invest in proof of concept until you have articulated how you intend to structure your company from a fiscal and standpoint. Same goes with studios! Why prove a concept that no one intends buy??? Here’s what the guy in this video seemed to miss: The proof of concept from a marketing and sales standpoint is ~related~ to the quality of the product, but is not itself this same thing.
[quote]
Start connecting… Engage in dialogue. [/quote] Good advice there…at any stage in the game.
The more I think about this video the more problems I see in it. He’s damn right that no one cares about your talent. But his other propositions are screwed up.
An artist is three things when they start they are:
- the talent
- the label
- the booking, promo, management
Labels don’t start by signing all kinds of artists then figuring out what they’re going to do with them. When they’re setting themselves up as a company, they identify their strengths weaknesses, assess their financial position, define goals/objectives, then formulate a plan to get there.
A label differs from a management agency in that it loans out money. And always always has a plan on how they’re gonna get it back. They are not your friend. The management is representation on the artists behalf. They are supposed to be your friend.
If an artist wouldn’t loan money to another artists under the same business model set forth in his own business plan, he ought not invest it in himself. If an artists would not loan money to another artist due to the other artist lacking a business plan, then he ought not invest it in himself if his own plan lacks the same substance.
The guy on that video wants to talk about execution? THIS is execution. An organized business plan is the first step to organized execution.
[quote] Your friends will let you know whether your music is any good or not…by whether or not they share it [/quote] Fuck me. Really? You’re going to base your market analysis on THAT? How about we base the decision for buying a house on whether or not a friend we told tries to buy it out from under us?
Or maybe we can build a website called Indie Recording Depot, then see if everyone migrates from Recording Review 
I think you might be misunderstanding his target audience. He’s talking about people who think that the reason they aren’t succeeding in one way or another is because they haven’t been “discovered” or because the system is working against them.
What he’s saying is that if you really are that good, releasing content should be trivial. Just saying you are good doesn’t make you good. Releasing content at least gives you a hint of reality. I agree that friends aren’t the best test market. But going out and performing live is a pretty good test. If you release a video and nobody cares about it, then either A) it’s no good, or B) you don’t know how to push your content. If either of these are true, you will not be going anywhere.
You have to be open to the feedback though. You can’t blame your lack of success on someone else. If you aren’t succeeding, it’s your own fault and it’s your job to figure out why.
Making content costs almost nothing. It’s more of a time investment than anything else. I don’t think he’s talking about taking out a loan to go make a million dollar album. Buy yourself a mic and learn to use fruity loops and start releasing stuff.
And this is all stuff you have to do before you can even start thinking about having any sort of career in music. Do that, then you can start on your business plan. You are looking at this as going from step C to step D. In reality, he’s talking about going from step 0 to step 1.
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I interpreted it much the same way as you @bozmillar . I’ve known quite a few folks that have done the work to put out an album and then they are mad at the world that they haven’t “made it” and yet, they really can’t even define what that means to them… nor were they really ready to do the work to make it happen.
I don’t even disagree with you @Jonathan. They are definitely valid points.
That’s why I threw this out there. I figured it would lead to some good stuff