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.
We wanna focus on one market!
Is that country interesting?
That is not a big showcase festival, why should we go there?
I would probably go on and on with stupid comments that are dropped every week from artists that miss the opportunities with a just dumb reason.
Today it was - I'm focusing on the American market. It was dropped by a Canadian artist about going to a Candian showcase. Duh! don't you think that there are almost 50% USA industry people on Candian events? Also even if it was just one, it might be the one that you should meet.
And what is the option? It's not that the artist has an option to go to an American industry event on the same day and choose between them?
So playing like your smart in some way all I can hear is that you don't take an opportunity. that gives me the conclusion that it's not smart to invest in you since you only take very obviously opportunities. The problem with that is the obvious ones is not going to get to you if you don't do the uncertain ones.
I always tell my artists, the day you start turning down opportunities because you don't care or laziness. You are probably ending your career.
Of course, an opportunity is if it is an opportunity. If it is a to big cost to get there and you don't have the money, no then it's not an opportunity. But if it is so far ahead that you can save up to go there suddenly it is an opportunity. And yes in most cases try to grab that opportunity.
PERSONAL:
Tomorrow it's flea market day (read this weekend, this publish later). I just love flea markets and thrift shops. I'm usually hunting for things that I can turn into garden gnomes ( see the post around that earlier last week). Another thing is comics. But special ones I'm a huge fan of Uti i vår hage, which is a Swedish comic that I always try to hunt for on these markets.
If I gave you an opportunity to play your song in front of a couple of million people on television. Guarantee you a gold record in sales or even more and get a decent income on your live shows. Would you say no?
Most will answer hell no I would easily do it. But then if I told you it was in the wrong format. You will be in a boyband/girlband not with what you want to express, yes your songs but not the production you like? Still wanna do it?
I guess many would still say yes, but some will jump off.
Then we add to the twist, if you jump off you will lose your team. You have to start all over again, finding new musicians, producers, bookers, agents you name it. Back to the bottom. Would you still jump off?
I guess many choose to stay, it's not that horrible and you lose more to jump off. You know what? Most actually jumps off. Why? I don't know but every time it becomes quite real not just a dream people start to slip. They start to question everything and want to stop the speeding train that they are on.
I know at least 50 artist careers that have gone to a standstill because of one lousy decision when the train was moving. 50 artists that now can't live out of their music and goes to a sucky 9 to 5 job. Many of them later start to take up the pieces when they are over 40 years old thinking that it's time then and they are better prepared. But it is lost forever, after the standstill you really can't jump on the rail and try with hand power to get the train going again. You just let the opportunity slip.
I most of the time talking about a rocket that just goes into the sky. When you start to say no to opportunities the rocket stops and that is your peak.
So why do they say no? Usually, because they are scared. The dream becomes a reality, sometimes the dream is better as just a dream. Or a vision that has no reality to it. A vision that just jumps from one place to another. One day you are fighting hard on the small stage and then in a magical twist, you are on the big stage playing headliner. That never happens to the ones saying no and stops the rocket. The ones that make it take the chances and keep going forward. There is no "right" decision, no next step. It's all just go on the next opportunity and take as much advantage on it as possible. The rest is just bullshit.
The only time you can choose is when you have several opportunities. But then try to combine them to get the most. Still most of the time there is not two opportunities at the same time.
"Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?"
Yes, you recognize the words from the start on Eminem:s "Lose Yourself". The problem right now is that people won't capture the moment, they would let it slip. A career is like a rocket and you just ride it. When you start to say no to things you reached your hight and the rocked stops and starts go down again.
Right now I see so many record labels, managers, artists do this mistake, saying no to opportunities thinking they getting bigger ones in the future. The reality is that the rocket starts to stop already with the first no.
Most of the time they blame that they don't have the money to take the chance. That is also bullshit. If you really going for it you find the money.
I watched one band that has done pretty well but have been very picky and said no to many things. In the end, they got a really nice deal. The problem is that since they have said no to many opportunities many won't take in them and also they have taken the chances to develop to make an impact good enough.
The deal got them on one of the bigger showcases in Europe. A chance they had waited for. The problem was just that since they haven't been around on the smaller ones, they got a really bad timeslot on the big festival. In reality, it was just a bought spot it was not that they were good in any way.
I was down on that showcase, and there was really no bigger industry people there. And with a smaller audience, they really couldn't do a good show. After that, they said that showcasing was not a good thing, cost too much.
In reality, they paid more money for this chance and didn't use its capacity.
At the same festival, one of my bands had one of the gold spots. Of course, since the festival knew that this band has done several small festivals and famous for their good live show. Packed room, TV, radio, and journalists were there. Opened doors to four new festivals.
Sure these four new festivals will cost us money, but it gives fuel to the rocket and open more doors. The other band I have a hard time to see that they are getting anywhere fast. They are still waiting for a bigger opportunity as an opening slot for a bigger band. the problem is that it will cost even more and they are definitely not ready for it. The waiting game cost you more then take a chance. The best things I have ever done was to let bands showcase on small festivals, there are the real opportunities. So would you capture it or let it slip?
It's never too small for you. This is maybe the biggest mistake to think something is too small. I'm going to a smaller conference in Sweden. I got called up by a local artist for some advice. Since I know he lives very close to the conference I ask if he would be at the same festival. No, he thought it was too small and wasn't worth going to it. At the same time, the artist was in desperate need to have a meeting with me, and I was a speaker at the conference.
He laughed and that was a point, but we could see each other outside the festival before or after my speech.
The problem here is that before he spoke to me he had ruled me out as "too small" now it was just someone telling him to contact me and he realized that I was a person to meet. In reality, most of the speakers were good to meet. In fact, some have rather big an cool projects going on, just the artist doesn't know it. And since this is a small conference it would be great opportunity to really grab the speakers and get a better network. Really nothing is too small, only people who can't see opportunities.
I got a mail from a manager today. He has been complaining that his artist is not going that much forward. Actually, the whole thing was not moving that forward. I suggested getting to some conferences usually you get new contacts and you get things moving in some way. So I gave him a couple of suggestions of some that is pretty good.
Now he got back thanked for the suggestions but he didn't have time since they were spending time in the studio.
At the same time, I got a message from a band that they were soon ready with their new EP and since they had spent time in the studio the last six months they were keen on going out playing,
This is the greatest stupidity of them all. In the old days yes you were in the studio, then did PR and touring band then went back to the studio. That was the life cycle of an artist. Still somewhat for big mega artists. But for a new unknown artist that is just empty phrases.
In reality, most studio things happen when you don't have anything going on. The possibility that you will spend six months to record an album in a studio is not realistic. Not even the megastars are doing that. To put all other things on hold sitting and rot in the studio is just not an option either.
In this new world, I bump into artists that actually release two songs a week and still do three live shows and think that is the normal speed. You have to be in the limelight the whole time. My artists usually record between shows one day in the studio here, one weekend there. You do it between when you have days off during the touring, and the touring is always.
You are out when you start to say no to opportunities I usually say. But you are also out of the game if you stop looking for these opportunities.
What puzzles me is what the manager is doing in the studio at least he should be out there getting new opportunities for his artist. The artist the answer is possible that easy that they actually don't have anything going on so they spend time in the studio. In the end, it will just be hard to present the finished results. A release of a song is not much of an event today so you have to keep you busy in the feed of things that people are bombarded with all the time.
