Peter goes to Nairobi day 4

A bit of sightseeing, two new ugly sodas and no desserts in Africa.

Peter goes to Nairobi Day 3

On day three it's a photo shoot on the roof. Learning Swahili and going to the embassy.

Peter goes to Nairobi Day 2

Peter goes on a radio interview, try beer and coffee and in thee end do a romantic move.

Peter goes to Nairobi Day 1

Yes, the Vlog is in full swing. Here is my trip to Nairobi and ONGEA festival. Since the whole movie is 30 min I cut it down to days with around 5 min each.

Risk is part of the game.

If you start a company you have to in most cases invest money. Let say you have opened up a small shop selling clothes. It goes pretty good. Suddenly you get an opportunity to get a good spot in the top of the busiest streets in town. You also get to double your floor space. It's a great opportunity. Of course, you need to invest in the new store if you took the space. You would have to buy more inventory, hire more staff and with expansion, you have to do PR for your new location.

A lot of work and risk as well.

You can be safe just keep your old shop and just keep going. Or take the chance and start something bigger.

Would you expect the landlord of the new space to get you the store free from rent in 6 months? I mean you take a risk by moving there!

Of course not, and most didn't think that would work. In the first place, the landlord doesn't give a damn of your risk. He has space and takes a risk by not having it rented out. And you are a risk too. If you fail your expansion you might quit and he has to look for another tenant and that can make him lose money.

This is pretty simple stuff, huh?

Why on earth is that so hard to grasp around an artist career? Yes, you need to invest to make your career bigger. The more risk the faster. No risk at all and you keep it on the same small level.

Think about the big store as a showcase festival. No, they don't want to hear your whining on investment. They can easily replace you like the landlord can choose tenant. Yes if you are important its a different story. If it is an apple store being opened the landlord probably can let it go free in a couple of months for longer contact. But you are not, you are the small store getting an opportunity.

Can the landlord tell you that it will be risk-free to move in? Or if it is the best choice?

Of course not. It's a risk that the street change and people go in other directions. Or people buying things online and they won't visit your store. No one knows if it is worth it, it's a gut feeling. Best choice? Well, maybe you get an offer from an even better location pretty soon. But it has taken you four years just to get this offer, so it's not likely that it will happen. Same here you have to have a gut feeling.

Same with a showcase festival. No one will know ahead what the outcome will be. You have to have a gut feeling, a mind to take a risk and be a doer to get something done.

No, we don't care that you take a risk. The day you have grown big the less risk you have to calculate. But stop nagging around it. You don't hear shopkeeper going around complaining around the risk they take. To them it's natural. It should be natural for you too.

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Take chance on me.

I have an artist friend really complaining that he never got any chances. The industry was never giving him a break. If he just got the chance he would show what he was made of.

The nagging went on and on. Suddenly I had the opportunity that he had been nagging about. Since he had been talking about how he needed it I sent off a message telling a bit what it was and we should take a meeting to discuss further.

In my world, this is an easy one. You are presented what you been looking for, I would jump on that. But not him. He had great trouble to find a time to meet with me. Okay, I'm a busy person and travel a lot but I gave him three different time slots.

Since this what he sought you usually arrange so you can take those meetings. He just came back with excuses like he had to watch his children on Saturday. On Monday he had to go his normal job. Thursday was hard since his best friend had a party.

I just gave up and told him to tell me a time and we can see if he could match it.

Of course he never really came back with a time. I just remember it since I just saw him in a post on Facebook going on that he never get any breaks from the industry.

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This industry is 100% or nothing.

Is it possible to have a Skype with you on Saturday? The whole band can be on than on other days we work.

I can't meet that time because I pick up my kids from school.

We can't play there I have a family vacation to attend.

I have seen so many variations on these sentences. All tell me that your career is just not in the focus, something else is occupying your life. 

It might sound harsh to tell someone to give up their children to make a career. It is, and you should not do that. What you have to understand is that you can't make it so do it as a hobby. What the industry is looking for is the people that want it so bad that they actually give up kids, family, work to be on that stage.

Also if you have a job where you can't get off for 20 min for a important phone call. I bet you are in deep-shit when your career starts and you have to ask to be away for weeks.

Or even that you ask for my advice its not important or prioritized enough to take those 20 min off.

What i read it, it tells me direct that you don't have what it takes. To many think they can work a little bit until it becomes so big that you can live out of it. Sorry its not the case, then it is a hobby and stays a hobby. 

It's all or nothing. Its better you stay on your safe 9 to 5 work and get your life around that.

The industry don't care if you are picking up your kids on day care. They don't want to have meetings on the weekend just because the band is free then. They will not adopt the tour schedule around your kids birthday.

When you are at the top you can get this. But to get there you just have to give all or nothing.

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If you have shit music you have to do twice the work!

I just going through my mailbox and found emails in the bottom of my inbox from bookers I meet on a festival I did in the autumn.

From this festival, I got some really good bands that I followed up myself and got booked. Then there was some really crappy ones. Well, three crappy ones. The usual avantgarde noise crap stuff that is just artsy fartsy and has no real value. To be honest I think I could go up on a stage and actually do it better. Still, the taste differs so what I don't like someone else might do.

There is a way through to see that these acts are crap. The booking girl is actually taking the really long route trying to nag these in. She followed up the day after the festival. She has asked if we listened to the CD:s. She has sent new into of the performances we saw that they filmed and have on youtube.

I mean this girl work hard to get these bands in. That is also telling me that she has a really hard time to get them somewhere. If you are good the opportunity comes along anyway. If you have crap you have to go the extra mile or two extra miles in this case.

In the end, I will not take the bands anyway, it's just crap. I just wished that the girl was spending time on something that actually gave something back.

What is the critical line of stupidity?

You get an offer for a gig that is 20 min on stage. The offer gives you 100 euros for the gig.

Why do you say yes if you need 600 euros to play and want to play for 45 minutes?'

The conditions say in the first line. what you have accepted are 20 min and 100 euros. No, you should not haggle offers afterward. 

It's like that record deal you did early in your career, no you should not start to renegotiate the deal because something has changed. Sorry here is that you have to take a chance and you have to make the best of the situation. 

Start haggling and your reputation are out the window. 

My friend owned a club in a small city in 2000:s. He found a band online that he thought was really good and he managed to call them up and booked a gig with them 6 months ahead for like 100 euros. After two months the band got a smash hit and became the hottest band in Sweden. Everybody wanted them and their price went up to 2000 euros overnight.

Did they cancel the gig on my friend? No! Did they haggle the price? No! And that got them last night a new gig years after since I know that band stands for their values.

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Music is not important? Is the star sprinkle gone?

We just have the biggest award ceremonies in Sweden in the past weeks. the Grammy Award, P3 Gold and Manifest. Usually, this is quite a lot of attention for the media to cover these events. They are usually broadcasted on prime time.

Guldbagge galan, which is the Oscars of Sweden also went past these weeks. That was broadcasted and a lot of reporting. QX galan witch is the gay awards in Sweden where also broadcasted on prime time. To their favor, both these galas actually got a pretty good bunch of people down to the gala as well and there is a lot of risk into it.

The reports on the music gala have been none. I have been watching to see what happens and there was no reporting what so ever on any of the music galas. In fact, they haven't even reported who got the prizes?

Yes I know I can go in and find that out my self. I'm more into that music is not that important. There is no risk to record a record any longer, anyone can do it. To get it out is not hard either. In the end, it becomes as important as the lowest division of football, anyone can join and play.

Actually, the reporting from the American Grammy award when Ghost got a Grammy was not even reported either that much in Sweden. They report a bit now around that many starts said no to perform at the Grammy award. I just feel it's part of the change. The awards are not important and some of the star sprinkles are gone.

I guess it's part of the backlash of all this with numbers again. The media has realized that streaming numbers means nothing. Youtube followers mean nothing. And it's hard to find witch artists actually means something for the audience. So instead of reporting they just ignore it. Report on the 100 biggest stars in the world that have some star gazing around them.

Yes, it just got harder to get through the noise of the internet. Pretty time to get out in the real world.

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Listen to your own songs, and recommend them.

It's kind of usual that artist not admitting that they listen to their own material. They don't look on their own videos. Mainly the excuse is that they have listened to the song so much in the making they got bored with it. Well, I have listened to my favorite songs thousands of times and I'm still not bored.

Another thing is that the artist is embarrassed to recommend their own songs. I have to kickstart my artist to do promotion of their next single.
In fact, you should recommend your songs, tell us about them, the process they are done. Don't just do it when you are doing it. Tell us later as well.

Don't expect everyone also to jump on and listen to a song just because you said it once. No, it takes a couple of times and some other things to get to the point to listen to a new track.

So don't be afraid to tell people to listen to your work.

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Vlog Peter kollar Mello med expertpanel (Swedish)

Japp ytterligare en Vlog. Här kollar Peter Mello med sin expertpanel. Vart är G:son när man behöver honom. Eller Anna Book som alla vill ha i Mello och vem skriker som en bäbis?

How I wish there was a law that stopped hopeless cases to take up time.

Okay, the taste is different and yes all music should be played. The problems are the network that brings up artists that is not ready and probably never make anything more interesting than the stage in your local bar in form of compositions.

The cool part is that there is a network that actually brings smaller artists forward. The hard part is when they take hopeless cases. many of them are not even up to standards of a local newcomer in Sweden and are presented as the next big thing.

Right now I feel there is a bit too much of these hopeless cases.

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Peter goes to Ljublijana

Next episode in my Vlog series, and yes since this is abroad this is in english.

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Pearls for swine.

Do you want to play at a showcase festival and get paid for doing so, even if it is just a small amount? If I add accommodation and food? And The chance to be seen by industry people?

If no, showcases are not for you. You want real paid tours. You want full booked rooms all over the world in the capacity of 500 people on each show.

The problem is that you actually do not draw that kind of audience and you have not the money for killing PR to get to that.

Why hell are you turning the first offer down? You just said no to pretty good opportunity?

A mistake like this will probably end your career. The hill down always starts with a no.

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We have a spot left on the company for a new signing.

We are looking for an artist that is working hard and the focus to have an international career. Must invest a lot of time and be ready to take some chances.

Since we look long term on our investments with a workspace on ten years we want artists that are under 25 years old.

We are also working on a high level on the international career. We are looking for music that can be presented in mainstream channels worldwide.

We want the musicians to be included so no solo singers where we have to hire musicians to every gig. It can though be a solo artist is the musicians are included ( like Bruce Springsteen and E-street band).

Here is to send some material to us.

SEND MUSIC

Adée with the world producer JKey in NYC recording.

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How to tell that someone sucks?

I see it so many times that people are complaining that they don't get a shot in 5the industry. Complaining that we just go for young talents, that its only men or that a certain style is preferred.

They come up with whatever that is wrong when the real reason is that they suck. In reality, there is no chance that we can subsidize on quality or demand. If you suck as a songwriter it doesn't matter how many chances you get if you can't fulfill the task that is given to write a good song.

The problem is that no one has the guts to tell them where the real problem is. Instead, to get better they keep on doing the crap that won't lead to anything. It doesn't matter how many contacts you have to the industry if the work you do isn't up to the standard to a mass audience.

I don't want to be that person either that bring bad news. At the same time, if nowadays it wouldn't be so damn uptight with a generation that will break down on the smallest obstacle and the mind to think that they deserve the success by do nothing or learn by mistakes, it's not worth it to call out where the problem is.

What is professional?

It's a jungle out there with artists and people working in the industry. All call themselves professional. The problem is when are you professional?

I just saw an interview with a company that just collect old hopeless cases of musicians. And to some they really are professional for me they are more a hobby thing with very limited knowledge.

I guess some people think the same about me. A small player that just get around with smaller indie bands. And in both these point of views, they are correct.

As an artist how is it possible to know what is what? Both I and the other company can be in someone else eyes be described as the big thing a professional company.

In some ways, a certificate would be good. Nowadays the schools let those out quite easy.

No, it's not easy for an artist to know which level they are on. And almost impossible to know what a company is capable of until they tried it out.