Don't underestimate the people you pass on your way up.

When I do consult missions with different artists, I usually get claims and dreams from them that are from the past. Things that are no longer relevant. I usually say that the audience that is really young and update is in front run the people inside the music industry that are on conferences are one or two years behind what is really happening. People that are working in the industry and not going to conferences are usually four to five years behind. Artists are around ten years behind. The general public many times over twenty years behind. Of course, this is individual, and all is about how interested you are.

So, what do I mean by being after? I had a conversation with a friend that I the general public, he is middle age and fairly interested in music. One of the artists I work with just had released a new album and he asked when the CD was out. I explained that you didn't do CD: s any longer. But in his world when he was a young witch is in the 90: s the release is not real until you have a physical copy. On top of that, he also claimed that the big artists like Taylor Swift released her music on CD!

And they do that! Big artists have such a big fanbase they even release cassettes or minidiscs, but it's in small quantity and it's just to satisfy that part of the audience that is even beyond twenty years. Still this I can see in artists over thirty just using Facebook, they always ask about releasing on CD, but since CD is really out they also go back and try to do vinyl since it has a better and warm sound. Vinyl has that if you have done the recording in that way. Unfortunately, these people have a budget recording done on a computer with extremely poor mics and with a sound engineer that is totally used to work to get the music on to the digital channels. In the end, the vinyl will sound crappier than the song on Youtube. No, the pressing is because the artist is still in the world that if the product is not in something that you can hold in your hand, then it's not finished.

It's about dreams, I guess. If your dream and picture in your head have been to hold a printed record in your hand, exactly like your childhood artist-hero. You haven't fulfilled your dream buy just putting your new song on Soundcloud.

Here we have the newer generation the artist that is twenty-five and up. The ones that are laughing reading the text above. Their goal is to get the song on Spotify and get many streams. If your song has a hundred million streams, you’re a star. This is proven wrong time after time and the industry in the front has already left this number-crunching because of the new statistic tools. But the artist is still there, looking at how their idols during 2010 just went online and got a million streams the first day. That it was all cheating and that it was just one platform they don't want to hear. When you work with them the only thing that matter is how many streams they get. They are also very centred around Spotify. That you can compare numbers against Youtube or that Apple is already bigger than Spotify in USA goes by deaf ears.

I had a funny conversation with a young punk band. First, I was commenting on that their music sounded like in the beginning in the 90: s. They were very flattered because they really embraced all those punk bands from that era. I explained that those band had developed the punk sound from the late seventies. And they need to update their sound to today instead of trying to sound like some 50-year-old dude that is still up there doing punk songs from the 90: s. 

Nope, they wanted the whole package. The next goal was to play on CBGB: s. I just had to explain that CBGB: s had closed several years ago. It was like killing their dream. They had seen themselves going into CBGB: s and play. I just had to tell them that the early punk bands didn't play on CBGB: s because it was cool. It was the only place they could have a gig on. Then they made the whole thing cool. When I spoke about CBGB: s with these bands like Ramones, Television and Blondie they were looking out and wanted to go beyond CBGB: s. 

This is part of the problem I have when I consult. In many cases, the dreams can't be matched. Today you as an artist must create the new CBGB: s if it's online or in the physical world. The problem is to have clear goals since the industry is changing very quickly. Right now, for some of us, it looks like Spotify has been there forever it just ten years. Ten years ago, we had MySpace and you think that is old. 

Jumping trends though never work. Right now, everybody is talking TikTok. At the same time, we see the stars of Snapchat dying. Also, each platform contains its generation. Facebook is for people over forty. Instagram for people over 25. TikTok for people just become a teenager. Then you have Twitter which is only if you are famous in some other field. So, jump from your fanbase at Facebook to TikTok, nah it won't work.

It's all about the dreams that you have in your head. The older you get the older the dream becomes, or should I say expectations. In reality have the dreams it's what keeps you going. Still have in mind that the things that you create will be someone else's dream. This crappy gig place or festival might later become legendary. No CBGB: s or Woodstock was not cool when it started, it has built its legacy.

So, to be able to make it you need to see the smaller outlets as the next thing. That blog, that radio station might be big in a year or two. Don’t just aim for the big shows or the big outlets, that is already done and are reserved for the big ones. Don't underestimate the people you pass on your way up. And don't just do the things that you think is cool. It's a big chance that what you think is cool is already out.

The technical shortcuts you should avoid!

Yes, every time you see a new superstar they just appear. Or it seems like it. Most of the time they have been around for years. In the industry, you usually hear about the next star a year ahead. Before it was usually three years ahead, but things are going faster without internets no borders. Still, it never happens overnight, and it never happens as fast as you think.

Just a couple of examples. I had a meeting with Avicii:s manger at least two years before he even became big on the DJ market. After he became big there it took at least two to three years before he went on to the normal big pop market. My guess is that I knew the name at least five years before the coolest mainstream started to recognize him.

Halsey, we got from out American record label they where friends with Haley’s manager and they told us she was going somewhere. She just released Badlands and was going well. I guess the mainstream here in Sweden really does not know her yet.

2011 we had a band opening up for our band in New York it was their first NYC gig I think even their first gig out of the state. Really nice people, and now they are famous as HAIM. Took though at least four years after I saw them on in the media.

The new technological things are tempting to use. Right now, everybody is talking TikTok, and yes, they produce a couple of stars. So did Myspace also and Snapchat. Still these new ones are easy since they are relatively easy to cheat on. And cheating is not going to get you a career. There is no way Doja Cat will be as big as the Beatles. My guess Doja Cat is gone in five years.

Why? She came through TikTok, cheating we don’t know it was a new medium and she maybe was really good on it. The Beatles came with “She loves you” after spending two years playing live in Hamburg Germany. They played over 250 nights in the seedy seaport city, and venues often demanded they play four or five hours a night. The shows were not glamorous. That made them live experts and when they got their hit. They knew how to get the audience to listen and also how to make everything work.

Today the average mumble rapper is giving out songs then cheat by buying streams to get to the top chat. Suddenly they get their 15 minutes in the spotlight. They have no live training, no media knowledge and everything they have done can be traced by social media. It is all over before it’s over. You can’t build a sustainable career on these premises. 

But all artists just carve that everything goes that fast. Witch is impossible. Even with a world hit, you cannot be booked to all festivals. There is no way you can schedule that many concerts. To just handle the first success, you are doomed to be out for three years to cover them all. Also, that is hard work if you haven’t toured before and are through upon a big stage there is really no chance that you would do that stage justice. 

These years that you need to do is called the dog years. You need to learn for a small audience when and the technical difficulties to handle the big stages. That is why tv shows like the voice or x-factor seldom work. Here they put them on the big stage directly and then they go back to the small ones. There is no build-up by knowledge on how to handle your fans or audience.

Right now, I see so many artists just looking for shortcuts in the form of platforms or bad tv formats thinking they can build a career. Cheating is a part of that. Yes, Spotify we know that you can stop cheaters. The likelihood that an unsigned criminal rapper for a suburb in Stockholm has 7 songs on the top fifty charts outdoing Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's new hit with two songs and Drake is not just plausible. And not that guy has never done a live show and will probably never be able to make it.

No, the shortcuts will not make you a star. The digital things are just new tools that replaced the fan clubs.

Self-sabotage and the damager.

-We had a discussion and feel that posting on social media is not our thing. We more like to be a secret band and people post more about us!

The band I worked with had one of those famous meetings. The ones when they sit in the rehearsal room picking up things from some random dude, like the clerk at the local music store, that gave them some tipoff that is totally insane.

Yes it sounds like a cool idea to be this secret band. In reality its a career suicide. Why is it attractive? The main reason is that the band is lazy and really doesn't have the stamina to keep things up and alive. Then this stupid idea sounds really attractive.

As a manager, I can fight this idea. Then, of course, I'm the idiot that doesn't get this new cool thing. Or I can let them try it and slow down their career with a couple of years. And then its always a possibility that they quit.

The problem is also that I will lose sponsors that realize that doing that kind of trick is pointless. And it will be really tough to get them back when suddenly some random dude will tell the band that posting things all the time is the right method. And suddenly they are doing the opposite what they said from the beginning.

I don't know how many careers that are going down the drain of fatal small decision that are discussions in different places of boredom like touring, studios and rehearsal rooms. And you get them a lot. Here are two other famous ones.

- Oh! No one is released during the Xmas holidays. No pr person is willing to help so I will release on my own with no pr at Xmas eve as a gift for my fans!

- No I rather stay at home rehearsal and write songs then play on that showcase and make new connections.

I don't know, but it seems like a mechanism to sabotage your own career. The plunge is too scary so instead, you just take this crazy idea. I just got the feeling that is the case, self-sabotage. Of course, people have released on Xmas before, why you don't know it is because it's almost never successful since most people are on holiday. Sam by staying home writing songs, those artists never leave the rehearsal room and never get anything done. Maybe it's the fear of success taht is creeping on.

Then you have the other side when the manager just goes on any trend that comes around and adapts it for a month or two making the artist waste time on building stuff that never comes to use. I think it was Nikky Sixx that came up with the expression "we don't have a manager we have damager". Yes, history is full of these fatal mistakes as well. Like why have dinosaurs with sombreros on the front cover of Ramone's last album? Threat the Police in the south of USA in front of the record label president? Or how many were not just following when all managers saw that mid-tempo songs worked best on Spotify and ordered everybody to do the same formula?

Here the band has to be creative and do something new, prove it to work to get the manager on the right track. Same here is the manager fast enough to adapt or does it take to long so its time to change?

In the end the best is if everyone is on the same page. Not easy, but in the most successful careers, it is what seems to work.

Here is the secret how to break!

No there is no one that can fix your career. Stop looking! The time where an artist could just be on for the ride and do drugs and just have a party is no longer there. Yes, it was in the 80:s and 90:s mainly because you could write off things as tax defaults. Today that is no longer possible.

There is no secret label that can fix your career. You have to do the work yourself. the closest you get to someone to fix your career is the manger, but that person needs help to keep the wheels turning.

A band that I know was in this discussion. Their friends had been signed to one of the three majors. And my band thought it was cool as hell. I just told them taht it won't make any difference. The band is totally unknown and the major can only operate on their local market. The chances that this will go further is so slim taht I cit's a bigger chance that they get an offer to play on the mainstage of Swedens biggest festival. Still, the band thought it was a cool thing.

Now a year later we have the outcome. The band I had have done gigs in front of thousands of people in both USA, Asia and Europe. They have released four singles with full promotion on everyone just with the help of their management that really cares. The other band just showed up with an application for my company looking for a new A&R. My guess they already have been dropped by the record company. The only thing that happened was that the band was slowed down for a year doing nothing and in the end, the major released their songs without any PR and just some adds on some of Spotifys more horrible playlists with background music and the major labels own playlists with fake users. Okey the playlists get you numbers but in reality, the major signed band has only 500 followers and the other band has 750 followers. Nothing that really affects your career in any way.

The thing that affects you is where you have played and where you are going. Actually, the major signed band is still unknown none of the bookers at my festival did know about them. The other band they had seen in several places and considered a band to reckon with.

The funny part is that when the band was looking for an A&R they mentioned that they had seen the success from the other band as a reason to seek us out.

I see this problem every day. Actually, it was not the major company's fault that the band was failing. They should have kept on going and do the same things as the other band. Instead, they sat on the sofa and thought everything was clear, their job done, they were signed.

I guess that is what people are looking for someone to just fix your career. That magical person that just does everything and you just tag along and become rich and famous. I see this issue every day.

Yesterday it was an artist that wanted to get signed. Why? I asked. Well, he had done all the things himself and could only reach this level. Now he needed someone to take it further. Not bad thinking. But here is the problem. If he was good enough it would actually happen by itself. he has been around so much that it would have hit someone that could do something. The reason why it didn't happen is that he is just ok, nothing more. Is not utterly bad like Eilert Pilarm



And he is not super good as Elvis so a bad Dj twenty years cand do a great remix.



No, he is just ok. Not good, not bad. That is the big issue and that is the reason why he doesn't move forward. Nobody can help that position. There is no magical label or person that can fix a mediocre artist.

Then it was the old guy that was asking me if there were a lot of industry people are these days, Midem, SXSW? Yes, there is but not for an artist that only does three shows a year and has a problem to tour because they are involved in so many other projects. There is no reality for a professional to work with an artist in those conditions. It doesn't matter if the band is really really good, they are not in for taking the risk And that is the reason why they never meet any industry professionals. They won't show up for a thing like that.

The secret of how to break is to become better and better. Then surround you with people that can get you opportunities, not big ones, just opportunities in a steady stream. Then take action to these opportunities to collect the people that like what you do. This is how you break. Yes, it's brutally hard work that is on the line.

Mind the Gap

I recently saw a post in a web forum from a manager that was asking for connections to a couple of big publications. His artist had been added to two bigger “editorial” playlists on Spotify and was doing some 100,000 streams.

He was certain that these playlists would get him interest from bigger publications but none of them replied to his emails. And several comments were just that being on playlists you need over 20 million streams on Spotify before things happen.

I did a panel this Spring with the top four bloggers and big publications on a Showcase Festival. One of the quotes was “If you start your mail to us by describing how many Spotify streams you have, that is a good reason right way for us to throw it in the trash.”

This is part of a new problem that has been rising for quite some time now in the music industry. The gap where you get traction is much wider than before. In the ’80s and '90s you signed a band to a very small label that mainly gave out a record with very limited do it yourself PR. That got local attraction and with that, you could move the artist upwards to an Indie company with some national and some limited international connections and PR. There you did like two to three albums and got recognition. From there you could jump on to a major label, and back then there where more than ten of them. And then you got a full PR that was international.

Today you must almost conquer all that the indie labels were doing, by doing it yourself. Which is possible but a very daunting task. The middle section of record labels is gone, either that or they are now depending on a major or has vanished. On the major side, there are only three left (well four if you count some new publishers). All these wait until the artist has the fan-base that they require before they sign anything. But lately when I speak to managers they more or less just say that if this and or that label don’t grab them in next six months, they will keep on doing it and just do the whole journey by themselves. So even these bigger ones are missing out opportunities with the new gap.

This has led to the fact that many don’t understand how much work it is from the start before you get any interest from a bigger company to show interest. Or even any publications or gig places to work.

Of course, you can be discovered but then you are owned by the major label. Here I’m talking about real artists not made up boybands and projects from talent shows on TV.

I get many artists telling me that they would like to send their lastest recording to record labels. My answer is that yes if you have good songs, but more important is future plans or proof on the fanbase. My latest signings with record labels have been on the story and what is coming up, in some cases they didn’t even care to listen to the music before signing.

To sum it up we are all looking for the fanbase. Real fanbase. I was at a showcase festival and was hanging with a couple of A&R reps from the top ten biggest labels. Of course, they started bragging about their latest signings.

-“I just signed a band that have 6 million streams on Spotify alone.”

Everybody rolled their eyes, and you could really see no one was impressed.

- “None of the streams are from playlisting.” The guy added.

Suddenly everybody was listening.

Are you sure it’s real fanbase streams?

- “Yes, we force them to show us their Spotify artist page and we collaborate it against Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and they match. They have been working hard to get real superfans and have a phenomenal dedicated following.”

There you have it. You need to get a fanbase that can generate 6 million streams on a single in around two months. No playlisting or other fake things. I would guess in the old days it was equivalent with 500,000 streams in a half-year or even so low as 100,000 in two months. This gap just gets wider and wider, because the market is not local it’s international.

With all this, I’m glad that some people open up places where you can get that fanbase, like Cashbox Radio (https://www.cashboxradio.ca/) where they will play the new music for the audience to find it. Not caring so much about a fanbase. Like my great friend, Sandy Graham, who started Cashbox Radio says “Someone has to play a hit song for the first time. I want that to be our radio station.”

We really need this.

This one was posted on Cashbox Magazine Canada first

Your hubris will kill your career.

I was just on a showcase and ended up with some record labels. They discussed how they just dumped artist and how similar they were in the reason why between each other.

First, it was an artist that the label guessed that they wanted to work with them since they had really great success with some of their other artists. After three releases the artist started to get an attitude that he hadn't got millions of streams like the other two artists on the label. Of course, the label had over 20 artists and two yes had a lot of streams. Still, they were more famous and also releases with not that many streams. Still the artist just saw what he wanted to see. And now he suddenly had an attitude towards the label. They didn't like it and dropped him.

The other label had a band that never answered. Their attitude was carefree. Suddenly they thought they could record and release a single in one week, right when the label had quite lot to do. In best diva fashion they demanded stuff and got dumped.

The third was an artist that had all these feelings. If the label did things the artist always felt things and started to complain. In the end, the label grew tired and dropped the artist.

I guess hubris is getting you some time. Try not to have so much or you get dumped.

The career screwers

A friend of mine was reading to a become psychologist and said that quite many that started the semester quickly jumped off. In reality, they wanted to find out more about their own problems then become the profession. he said every starting semester was the same game to who was there for their own problems. Of course, people with problems always thought they were masterminds of helping others. In reality, it was blind leading blind in many cases, just because you have gone through it makes you a great person to help others.

This is the reason I'm pretty skeptical when former musicians take places in the professional industry. Yes, there is many that are great on it, but a rather high percentage is really not good at it. Just this week I have been forced to "re-program" some artist that former musician had got into so many strange ideas and things.

Also, age is a matter thing. Not the number just when you did your things. For example, just found a book by a guy that just had one hit ever in the early nineties. Probably that hit was more a lucky stroke since he only did one. The hit was not done by him, it was a good marketing team and the right place and the right time. Suddenly he thought he was a mastermind of giving out music and has spent the rest twenty years screwing peoples careers with strange advice that is really not good for an artist. Like here his claim to fame is a hit made over 25 years ago. it's before the internet, it's before cellphones. There is no reality to it, and all the things he is teaching is more or less for that era. Which of course doesn't fit in what is going on today.

Later on, he also became a teacher in a music school. Of course, these people never make it, they end up in schools, government programs and sits around and still proclaim disinformation. I got a question the other day why the students from this school sucked, and I had to tell the story. The person I talked to was really upset and wanted me to expose the whole thing here in my blog.

I can't do that, there is no crime being sucky. Sure I feel sorry for the students that put in a lot of time an effort and don't get a good education back. Still, I can't put people on the line here. can't tell which school it is or witch teacher. Age is the key to it though to check things out. If your teacher never left the school environment, or the last time they worked in the industry at all in a more professional way more then five years back. You should think twice if they really have the knowledge any longer. Or if they are just like the psychology students just seeing the education as a platform to make money before heading back to become a musician.

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You have a passion for music?

Just bumped another social media post from an artist telling "music is my passion". The problem is uif you really did the things you should do instead of making a stupid post how much you have a passion for music and wants to have a career you might actually get a career.

It's scary how often I hear artists talking about their passion around the music and how much they really work on their career. When you go behind this fake wall you really look into something different. I got so many stories from different managers around how the artist is not doing half of what they should do in order to have a career.

If you really have the passion you will do the extra mile to get there. that extra mile is the difference between a hobby and a job. Most of the time if you have the time writing a post like you have to much time on your hands. I was just checking some artist pages around just linking to media. A task like having all your written media on your homepage is quite a busy thing to do. Not hard you just have to put googel to seek out when ever someone is writing about you. Then take the link and make a library. This is great to have later when you do press releases.

So none of the artists I checked had that simple task, in fact, two out of ten didn't have a homepage. So, in fact, that artist that wrote that he had a passion for the music. I guess this is the bigger problem you focus more on the things that actually doesn't mean anything in the thing that you are kind of lazy. Same here instead of writing an important email I'm sitting and updating my blog. But hey it's better then mane a stupid post.

I guess we all could go faster if we just focus on it.

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Recognition, fueled by hate.

We all want our recognition. You create something that you are proud of and no one is even commenting or give feedback, really nothing. Then two weeks later the whole feed explodes by someone doing half what you did and get all the spotlight.

Of course, you feel enraged. Why the spotlight on this? You get angry and really want to tell the world that what you did is even bigger and better.

My whole career has been that way. I can create the biggest showcase on the biggest festival in the world and they expose some indie label that does bad DIY experiment in the next town. I placed music in the biggest commercials and movie for over five years, then they spotlight that one indie label got one placement in one reality soap in Denmark.

Then they had a panel about how to get on showcase festivals. Since I have done most showcase festivals, even been speaker and VIP guest on most of them and every year gives over 50 artists the chance to go aboard, wouldn't be interesting to have me on that panel. Hell no, instead they take five people that just place some bands on the Swedish showcase festival that got bankruptcy last year.

Or the speech about getting on to the radio. I had the most played indie song that year. They took a label that had a song on rotation for two weeks to speak.

In the beginning, I was really angry around this. The whole industry was more or less ignoring what I was doing. But I let my frustration going on to more creative stuff. I started to get on to bigger things, bigger meetings. Now when they still are on that low level it doesn't become me that much and I have created something that is bigger than life in many eyes.

I guess the recognition will come, but I guess by then I don't need it. the question if I'm strong enough to just say no when they ask me to get there?

This is what every artist will also get through in their career. I get so many parallels around it and it's part of it. You will never be big in your own eyes, and when you get that recognition it really doesn't matter. But one advice is to channel the frustration to do greater things.

The best time hasn't been.

I was home at my father apartment for a visit. And there were my mothers funeral speech. She had cancer and in the end, she wrote her own funeral speech. I read it again and reflected over how in that short ceremony she had to pick out the best times in her life to tell us.

Of course, there was a lot of music also, I guess I own my mother quite much of how to judge music she always played cool pop hits when I was young. One of the more funny thing is that she loved "I Will Survive" with Gloria Gaynor. But she thought it was too morbid to have on a funeral. I still smile when that song is on.

Apart from the music, you looked at the times she picked out. There were the young days when she was out and dance in Stockholm. You will remember your young years. A carefree time in your life.

The rest was through a lot of her free time. She was very active in an amateur theatre group lot alot came from those memories. The passages that weren't in the speech is her work. She worked my whole adolescence on the Swedish railway company. She even got a gold watch for her long years there. Then she worked as a secretary in different places.

What I want to get to, is that this just work. She worked to get money, but her passion was the theatre. I guess one of her favorite jobs was on Swedish Television where she was a secretary for some years. Still, even that was gone in the speech. So you make your career to what you want to. Will you write these years in your funeral speech? If not, change it to the times so you will remember it and want to put it into your funeral speech.

I have been out with many artists over the years all around the world. In the end, many of them come back and just tell memories of that time. I just wish they could keep on going to get even more memories. I guess everything has an end.

Still, salute to those who just keep on going and just create your life to a long long pearl necklace of cool memories. Keep on doing the things that really mean anything to you. Either you are living them, if not break free and create them.

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Are you really put everyting on your career? Obstacle

Right now I feel I have this communication with several people in several layers. No, the post is not about you even though it touches the subject. This week I just dedicate the blog to the most common things that are pretty good sign that you are not putting everything on your career.

I get so many times that people are really serious about their careers. They are doing everything to get a spot with the stars. They are really putting everything on it. They want to know how to get to "the next step".
At least that is what they say.

One thing to see if they really are putting in the time in careers is to see how they look on obstacles. So you won't write perfect songs! Are you ready to move forward to co-write with others? Or even worse get songs for songwriters just to perform?

If you find the right solution to move forward you are putting the time in your career. Too many are just stubborn to try to keep a broken thing to work. I seen so many careers go to hell because they artist couldn't get into their head that tehy wouldn't write good enough songs, or just need to change the style.

You maybe need to kick out that producer that you are best friend with? Yes, the one that is going for a career is willing to get around the obstacles instead of getting stuck there. In retrospective, you hear a lot of these stories how the artist that failed blame someone else. In reality, if you look closer it's usually because they didn't want to get around an obstacle.

Are you really put everyting on your career? Boring things..

Right now I feel I have this communication with several people in several layers. No, the post is not about you even though it touches the subject. This week I just dedicate the blog to the most common things that are pretty good sign that you are not putting everything on your career.

I get so many times that people are really serious about their careers. They are doing everything to get a spot with the stars. They are really putting everything on it. They want to know how to get to "the next step".
At least that is what they say.

Yes, your career will be full of boring things! And you will be the one who is doing them. So many artists talk how much they work but as soon you get to the boring stuff like updating the homepage, going through email lists and getting gigs suddenly there is no time for that.

Too many are just prioritizing the fun stuff. What that differs, but sitting in the studio recording music is usually one of the more fun stuff. Promote that music later is not that fun, but essential.

If you really are putting all on your career you will even do the boring things with a smile. You will be so interested in the whole process that you sit up all night just working on it. I know myself I was on the tip to burned out just because I loved the whole process so much that it was no stop to all the stuff I wanted to do.

Still, it's a very big problem that you just want to focus on parts of the career. One of the most common things is that the cool stuff is alright like shooting a video, photo shoots and hanging in the studio is the most favorited ones. In the end, they are the small parts of what is needed to put everything on your career.

Are you really put everyting on your career? Relationships...

Right now I feel I have this communication with several people in several layers. No, the post is not about you even though it touches the subject. This week I just dedicate the blog to the most common things that are pretty good sign that you are not putting everything on your career.

I get so many times that people are really serious about their careers. They are doing everything to get a spot with the stars. They are really putting everything on it. They want to know how to get to "the next step".
At least that is what they say.

This problem comes a bit down the road. In the beginning, you can put your relationships aside. But in the end, it will be strained. You will be that person who misses all parties. The one that comes on any birthdays. In the end, your old friends will not call you anymore when they re doing something, they know you will just answer you can't be there.

In the end, it will come to a bigger event. That birthday when your best friend turns even and a party where everyone will be at. You are in a shotty club in a city you never have heard of.

Here are the ones that put their careers will do it. the other ones will suddenly start to say no to these gigs because it's more fun on the other thing. Yes, I have seen people in bands cry on tours when tehy call home and miss their child's birthday. Hey, I even pushed my mothers funeral for this career. Yes, you will be selfish but it's in the reality you have to be.

The worst is partners, girlfriends, boyfriends that are left behind and are making your life miserable. I usually tell people that I can't count all the relationships I have burned over the years of my career, and i'm not even touring. You need a very understandable partner.
No, you can't bring them on tour every time. Not even the bigger stars can do that. If you put your relationship before your career, you are not putting things on your career. You are going for a home life with a secure job, and it will crash along the way. You can't joggle this one.
Kids, no you won't see them. You have to choose, be with your kids or do a career. Yes, 99% will choose the kids. Still, we are looking for that 1%.

Are you really put everyting on your career? Work...

Right now I feel I have this communication with several people in several layers. No, the post is not about you even though it touches the subject. This week I just dedicate the blog to the most common things that are pretty good sign that you are not putting everything on your career.

I get so many times that people are really serious about their careers. They are doing everything to get a spot with the stars. They are really putting everything on it. They want to know how to get to "the next step".
At least that is what they say.

Work! This is where many fail in the beginning. You manage to get a gig in another town. It's not the hottest gig but ok. The payment is ok but is not pay any rent or anything. But any gig is needed, also the artist has been nagging about getting more gigs and be able to been seen in front of more people. Also, all gig is part of a story around the artist. You present that for the artist.

Suddenly that gig is not that important. They have trouble to get off work. It's fast away and not cool enough. They could take it another week or if it was closer.

When your work is going before your opportunities, your career is not first, it's your job that is first. This I meet a lot. Artist gets a pretty nice well paying job and the opportunities are sorted around the job.

You know what, I always took my jobs in second hand to be in my position that I'm in today. Yes, I have burnt many bridges and many of my old bosses would not recommend me in any way. Just because I put everything in my career in the music industry. Not as an artist but behind the scene. I can't count all the times I have said no to things or called in myself sick just to be on that festival or that showcase that propelled me forward. And Yes I expect the artist to do the same if they are serious with their career.

You just have to make things work and put your career first. that is the only thing that is the right. You cant be a hard-working artist and have a nice job on the side. Not even if it is a job with music connections for the government. You won't be able to combine the both you have to choose.

When you hear that their regular job is in the way for an opportunity you know they are not putting their career first. This is mostly shown when they can get time off for something they think is cool but not for the regular stuff.

Are you really put everyting on your career? Showcase...

Right now I feel I have this communication with several people in several layers. No, the post is not about you even though it touches the subject. This week I just dedicate the blog to the most common things that are pretty good sign that you are not putting everything on your career.

I get so many times that people are really serious about their careers. They are doing everything to get a spot with the stars. They are really putting everything on it. They want to know how to get to "the next step".
At least that is what they say.

The problem is that people don't get how much you have to spend on your project to succeed. It's not about finding the right people to involve. It's all about how you work and how hard you really want it.
The answer will still be that yes they really want this and it's the only thing that occupies their mind.

Still just with a couple of small tests they fail at the first step.

The first is usually not take the chances. You give them an opportunity to play at a showcase somewhere on the other side of the world. Actually, they have been nagging for a while that they are ready for the big leap and playing abroad would be a cool thing. Of course, this is not the easiest task so it could take some months before the opportunity arise. You spend a lot of work to get them on and in the end, you get a small favor and the last spot is open for your new coming band to play.
You get back to the artist and get the great news that they are on.

You just expect that they will be happy and just get the things going. Instead, you get a barrage of different excuses.
-Will they pay for our airfare and hotels?
- Of course not, you are just lucky to get a spot. You wanted to get a break, so take care of the airfares and get an Airbnb.
- What is the backline, did we get a "good" place to play and is it at a good time?
- Probably not, but what is a good spot? You are small so I guess you should just be lucky to start to take the first step. The Backline we have to check later.
-Well, I don't know. It's a lot of money to get over to this festival, is it the right thing to do?
- If I was a fortune teller I might be able to say. But if you don't play you won't win.
- Since it's important maybe we should bring people to quire behind us?
- No make it as simple as possible to save cost, you just told me that you thought it was a lot of money.
- Yes but we sound much better with a drummer and a quire behind us!

Then it just goes on and on and everything is scrutinized in minutes detail. Of course, you lose interest, instead of doing your job you answer questions and clam them down. Every second question is if we are meeting the right people, getting the right stuff. In the end, they will pull off since tehy are uncertain that is the right thing.

People that are doing a career and need a safety belt to do are in reality not put everything on their career.

The hobby band vs the pro band

It's quite easy to say that you want to do something full time. I have written about it before that I have a passion for cooking. I just picked all cherries and black currants and done liquor and jelly the whole weekend. I love it it's really fun to test new recipes and stuff.

It's quite easy for me to say that I should be a professional chef. I should open a restaurant doing my own menu and all that stuff. But I have one advantage and I know how hard it is to be that chef. You have to be closed in the kitchen for years just to get that restaurant to fly. Overall it is at least ten years of investment in your life.

I'm an amateur chef I don't even know if I have the talent to make it as a professional chef. My friends like my food. Still says nothing how the general market would say. And also standing in the kitchen doing the food I want to do instead of getting orders for what kind of food I should cook is a huge difference.

Here is see many do the mistake when we ask if you want to be the hobby band or be the professional. It would be nice living out of your music. Go on tour and make a lot of money while the fans scream out your name.

The thing is that it's so much more than that. It's the same that you are locked in that kitchen but here you are locked in trying to do new songs all the time. Also the same you don't know if your talent is enough to be one of the biggest stars in the world. Still, when you get the question you still say that you want to do it.

I usually pout some extra questions in for it. Could you be away from your friends for two years? Can you just focus on music nothing else for two years? In overall, they all say yes.
If they say no it's already clear that you can't do it.The funny part even the ones that say not as the ones that say yes want to try. And here is the tricky part. We know that only one out of thousand bands has what it takes to even do a test run. We easily test them by putting some important at the same time as their holiday. If they fail to cancel the holiday they are not in the position to make it. Then we even get harder by putting the thing in all the time. Here if you have ten bands that made it out of the thousand. Nine out of ten will fail. Yes, it's very few that have what it takes and most failures come from that the artist wasn't ready for the amount of work that has to be done to make it to the top or be a hobby band. My calculation is that in my whole 30 years career I will only find around 10 acts that really have what it takes among these ten thousands of artists I meet. The question would I find them and nurture them in the right way?

PERSONAL:
I guess I have exposed that I like to cook food. I actually do quite many strange hobby things where I do some arts and crafts. For example, I do strange garden gnomes. I have developed different technics in doing things in concrete. Over the summer months, I usllay do over three hundred different kinds of garden statues. Usually with a strange twist.
This summer it has been garden gnomes with a certain theme. I have done the Punk Gnome, The Terrorist Gnome, the Weed Gnome and the Gangsta gnome. Here is a gnome with attitude.

Are your partner right for your career?

Before we start you can get the latest post in your mailbox just by putting your email in the box up in the right corner.

Is your partner right for your career? I kind of mean question. I have seen many careers though go under because of a partner.
Like I wrote before this is not a 9 to 5 business. Have a "normal" life with time off on weekends to do your hobbies and take the kids to the park won't exist if you do it more then a hobby.

Most of the time it's not the person playing the music that has trouble to see that it is more than a hobby. It's the people around them. It's their friends, partners, and mother in laws etc that creates the demands which lead to the shortcuts that put everything to crash. I have seen shows being canceled of the death of a boyfriends hamster. Or people going crazy for the artist does not show up for the annual family reunion.

It's not easy to have a friendship or a relationship with someone that is gone two third of the year doing their job. You have to have really understanding partners and friends. And that's why people start their thankyou speeches on awards to their parents, relatives, and partners. It's not a cliche its reality. They sacrifice a lot for doing what they are doing.

So you get a partner that does the same? I guess it looks good in theory,  hard in practice. Would you be happy if your partner suddenly got the success your aiming for? Maybe you can, but the successful partner might slow down and want you on the journey? And you might not be talented enough. Yes, we have seen the very talented artist trying to promote their partner's careers. Did anyone really cared about Linda McCartney's career? We would have forgotten Yoko Ono if she didn't marry John Lennon? Many careers have gone under in the pursuit to keep the less talented in the spotlight. Also many have stopped working with an artist that always let their less talented partner come with crappy advice or just want to keep the partner off the career.

I sometimes tell the story of how many relationships I have crashed to be in the position I'm into today. This is not just musicians it's also entrepreneurs and people that want to reach a certain goal.

To have an understanding and forgiving partner is very crucial in this career choice.

Personal: Spent a week now with officials from Primavera Sound, The Great Escape, SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, Modern Sky, Sound City, North by North East, C/O Pop, Le Guess Who, GMA, TIMM and some more.

Yes, the biggest showcase festivals in the world. In the same lineup, you got Live at Heart.
Still, the Swedish industry thinks you can do an international showcase if you have a booker that books a lousy gig to pubs in Sweden. And let the conference part be run by ex-people from a major record label with no international experience at all. You have to have experienced people from the international scene to pull it off. I feel many have made a bet on the wrong horse and now have to pay a costly prize.

You have to wake up and think how am I taking my career forward?

Before we start you can get the latest post in your mailbox just by putting your email in the box up in the right corner.

You have to wake up and think how am I taking my career forward? Most people I meet both artists and people in the industry usually claim they work hard but with some small tests, you easily see that people are really not doing that much. They rather stay in their comfort zone waiting for things to happen or just work on one target.

Just an easy test is to make an important call or meeting. I had a manager that wanted some stuff done for her band by me. I know the thing I would do was important to her. We booked a time to meet. The day before she canceled because of her kids where sick. Okay, that can happen. But also at the same time if it is important and you really want it you would have said to their dad to be home or fix a friend babysit for a couple of hours. So we booked another time. That was canceled by her busy schedule. Then it went for awhile and then I suggested a time since I was close by but she had to go out to ski with her children.

Today she is not working in the industry. She never went anywhere and her artist has closed down. In reality, she didn’t want it bad enough. She wanted it like a 9 to 5 job where her free time with family is more prioritized.

And that is okay. But I don't want to waste my time on people that just want that.

Also the same with artists if they have trouble to free time to take important meetings or opportunities you also know that the motivation might be high but not in the top that is necessary.

Many think it's not that dangerous to skip a thing or just take things later but it is a good indicator that you're not that serious.

PERSONAL:
Just waiting to do my panel on GMA. It will be fun. I might take the thing I wrote up here on it. It's about breaking bands around the world. And the biggest problem is the find the artist with the right motivation. They hide the level quite well, but I have developed some tests that I use to shine it through.

Artist: just got some new things done for my artists worldwide it will be fun to see their reactions, it's quite massive stuff.

Here hanging with Deputy Minister, Ms. Celest Hsiao-ching Ting. Yes, I have been quite determined with my career to get meetings like this.

No one is hopeless, but..

No one is hopeless. You can practice things so they work. You can buy songs if you not a good writer. You can get your live show great also with professional help. There is no real hopeless case.

The problem is to be stubborn about things. Keep on writing your own songs just because you want to, but they are not up to date. Think that you can do a perfect show without help. Think that your taste for artwork is better than a pro.

This is the thing that people fail from. Sure if you are really talented all things will go faster. But being stubborn about a solution can break your career.

The bigger you get the more of your artistic career will be scrutinized. And yes some advice is wrong, but many are right. It's an art form to know when to be stubborn and when to just hang on. And it is hard to select in the armada of criticism.

And also rethink things is important. See it in a new light. That is the hard part of an artist career.

What kind of career? Sean Banan?

This is something I really had thought about for a long time. And I really don’t have an answer to it. At least not an easy answer. It is a difference of a career and a career. I meet an artist that really is no household name, but have gotten her a big name in china. Or well she has been in front of magazines. And she has played some really big shows. But when I asked some chinse industry pros they didn’t know the name.

That doesn’t mean anything. I know a hell of a lot of industry people here in Sweden that doesn’t know Arash who is a big star in the Middle East. But both is not household names in either china, Sweden or middle east.

They have a career, they have lived out of their music, done things many artists just can dream about. Still we really don’t consider them to have made it? You can just tell that they are not the ones that are in the gang.

At the same time you would say that Sean Banan ( Swedish stupid artist, see video)


Has a career. At least in Sweden. But these other two artist has done more, but they would never be counted next to this joke to artist.

And when it comes to real artists it’s even harder to say why people think Danny Saucedo (another really bad Swedish artist) has more of a career then these other two? I mean Danny really failed to leave Sweden and make a career abroad. These two has really done it. But in peoples mind they haven’t.

I would guess it has to do if you are a household name. Why a career is real and not real. If you have made it or not made it. Yes in Sweden we know Danny Saucedo and Sean Banan they are household names that never will leave the borders of Sweden. Still many would think they are bigger then Millencolin that has toured the whole world and done all that Danny failed to do? Since Millencolin is not a household name, more a name in certain genre.

Right now I work with projects that really have both sides and I can see it clearly. But I can’t explain what is doing it. I can also see that the more famous artist is really not as good as the unknown artist in many cases, and I wonder why we are so blinded by the mainstream of peoples mind.

In the end though it is that house hold name thing. And that is easier to do in one country. I would guess that every country has their own Sean Banan that never leaves their borders. To be a household name then in several countries, now we talking doing a really heavy task. You just have to admire bands like ABBA and Cardigans.

At the same time, no you don't have a career until you are a house hold name.