Meatball sundae- it’s about them

If you’re an artist you probably have done your fair share of promoting your next show, album or newest youtube video with fliers and email blasts. That’s great, you are getting yourself out there and trying to reach someone. But, if you’re yelling at them (and its highly likely that you are) they will not only ignore you and feel angry about the interaction but the permission you once had to use their most precious commodity, time, is now at best framed badly (potential customers will consider you an option but be sure that you’re not the best choice) and at worst totally lost -they will unsubscribe, delete your emails and tell their friends just how awful you are.

Bands and artists do this all the time when we blast out show information to people who can’t make it with no other relevant information in the email for them (a video, news, etc). Somewhere along the line the fan opted to be on your email list but you have to realize it is not about you. It’s about them. They don’t really care about your music. They care what that music can do for them, how it relates to them, how it makes them feel and if they share your music with friends does that make their friends love them (your fan) more because they shared an exceptional product with them.

It is not about you. Not when you put out a record, not when you’re on stage, not when you write a song or write a blog.

This blog, if I’m doing this right, should be about you. It should help create a moment that takes you out of your systematic way of doing this and challenges you to grow and think differently about the world around you so you can grow. And that’s what the best records, performances and songs do.

Seth Godin’s book Meatball Sundae encompasses a lot of ideas from his other books and connected them for me. In the interest of writing a shorter blog than I did yesterday so you (like me) can get to implementing some of this stuff I’m going to bullet point what else I think is most important and how it applies to what you are doing and how you could do it better.

* In a few of his books Godin tells a story about being in a Walmart office and seeing “You can’t out Amazon, Amazon.” You can take from the greats but you will never be able to beat them at the game they created. For instance I can’t out Jewel, Jewel. I’m not even sure she could (most fans of hers are more fans of her early albums). So even when you’re putting together another album don’t try to outdo something you did before. Just make the best thing you can at that time. Maybe that means making only a video or putting out the story behind each song in the liner notes. Above all it means be authentic and be yourself.

* If you approach every interaction, from booking a show, selling your merch to fans, sending out emails and interacting with fans at shows with the question “How can I make your job/life easier?” how would that change your business.

* With email and interactions your clients and fans expect fast responses to their emails and questions or they will start to write you off. Short of outsourcing that to someone how can you get back to people faster to grow those connections.

* “Its not us and them, its us and us.” Old media used to be just a few people talking and selling to the masses. Now clients (and fans) are the media. With the use of forums, blogs, youtube and social media your fans and their opinions can be more important then a review in Rolling Stone or an appearance on Oprah or Late Night. Stop dreaming and instead ignite your network of fans by giving them the tools to promote for you. It’s far more realistic and profitable. Instead of yelling at your fans with a megaphone give it to the people who want to spread your music.

* Can you create merch or music that is new and novel? Something so different or the best that people will seek it out? Could you sign everything? What if you raised the standard of quality on everything? I personally don’t sell a CD if there is even a small crack in the jewel case and have been considering special shipping options so getting something from my store is like opening a gift. What if you wrapped your CDs and merchandise like a gift before shipping them out or if your music only appealed to a small but very connected group of people because it was all recorded and produced on an iphone. Do you feel confident enough in your product or performance to offer a money back guarantee? If not, why not? How could you change it so you did?

* “What are your self imposed (but unspoken) limits on your growth?” Did you say you couldn’t offer that guarantee? Is it because you think you’re not good enough? Could you ever be good enough if you’re limiting yourself? Maybe you limits aren’t how good you could be but realizing how good you already are a great artist and that you do deserve to be paid to perform. While giving away some stuff for free your songs are worth something. It goes back to creating moments and feelings that other artists can’t help your fans feel. “If you can’t offer something more than a commodity [CD / average performance / average love song] someone else will sell it cheaper.”

* “The web is the biggest haystack in the history of mankind and you’re just a tiny little needle.” It is useless to try to interrupt people that are disinterested. You can leverage what your doing and help people find you by creating something remarkable and then putting it out there where your fans would like to find things. Godin talks about how in the long run having more variety leads to more sales and he is talking about flavors of soda, cereal etc. but I want you to think of it as variety of connection. Some of your fans only want to be emailed but I be a lot of them would love to hear from you ever day via text messages or twitter etc.

Thanks again for reading. I hope it got some ideas moving for you. These books have been a blast to read and I’m very thankful for them being written by Seth Godin and I look forward to reading more of his book. Thanks again to Derek Sivers for choosing me as one of the artists for this project as well.

And thank you to you for reading!
If you want to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Myspace or by Email all the links are right here in this sentence.

Enjoy making music and sharing it with more people than ever possible.

Trick or Tribe?

Everyone wants to belong to something from the time we’re very little till the time we die. It’s part of how we cope with life. Its also important that we decide what we don’t want to belong to -though I think a lot of times that’s decided for us.

I grew up feeling like an outcast till I went to an arts high school and found myself in a group of outcasts just like me. I think a lot of artists and entrapaneurs can relate to feeling like they didn’t belong. Can you blame us? We’re usually the people that shake up social norms. Asking “Why?” constantly and challenging the world around us like it’s in the job description -it is. We should constantly be looking for a better way to write a song, tune a guitar or grow our fan base.

I’m going to talk about Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, which you might have caught on has to do with a tight knit community that is really excited about a cause, product, artist or anything really that matters a lot to them and the reasons, benefits and necessity for the tribe. The book was full of great content that a lot of artists can apply directly to building a group of not only fans but empowered allies that are within themselves incredibly connected to each other self motivated people to your mission as an artist. I realize that last sentence may have been a little dense but bear with me.

When you are a part of something, when you love a product, artist, movie, city… what do you want to do? Connect with other people who also love it. And if you can connect with those people you are persuaded that since you are both onto something it couldn’t just be a fluke. You can’t be crazy thinking that Patty Griffin (she’s my fave!) is the best singer/songwriter or that Columbus, OH is a surprisingly cool little city if you find other people who feel the same way.

Once you decide you know what you know, and your passionate about it, you’re going to tell as many people as you can. I know I have personally told at least 25 people how much each of those things are awesome and should be checked out.

So what does this have to do with you and your fans?

You have an opportunity as an artist or band to be the leader of your own tribe. I realize that can sound very daunting and like it’s a lot of work but if you have been getting your music out there performing live, releasing albums and getting involved with social media you have probably already established a small tribe without even realizing it. Quite often if I go back to a certain town to perform there is a small but definite group of people there I can not only count on to show up and make me feel like driving for 10 hours to perform for 1 or 2 was absolutely worth it. They are the people I think about when I book shows and look forward to seeing again and sharing new songs with.

The truth is that I have not been so great at actually leading them and I think they would feel a lot more appreciated if I got my act together and set up even more of a community for us. Seth Godin says in Tribes that one of the most important things to empower your tribe is to give them the tools to contribute, track the tribes progress publicly and above all be transparent. I titled this blog Trick or Tribe as a reminder of that last point. If you are trying to trick your fans and tribe or even yourself people will know and it just wont work. People wont respond to what you’re doing because they can sense the fact that you’re not being honest with yourself.

In the next few weeks I’m going to work to change that. I have been thinking about putting together a street team or exclusive fan group for some time. I’ve toyed with the idea of sending out a special email with exclusive news and I might still do that. It might also be great to start a forum and special section on my website that gives my tribe the tools to share my music and provides a home base for us to communicate as a group and gain some momentum. Like I said before, once the ball starts rolling, once I realized that other people thought Patty Griffin was –the best ever- I wanted to share it more and invite people to belong in my tribe.

I don’t think tribes are just for fans either. As a musician I know a lot of other independent artists that I regularly set up lunches and coffee meetings with to swap ideas and encourage each other. I think it has made a big difference in how my career has advanced and has helped the people I connected with because I shared as much as I could with them. I also took note of things they were interested in and try to regularly stay in touch and send a message if I see something they should check out.

Leading a tribe of your peers including not only musicians and artists but also business and entrepreneurial types can be extremely beneficial. Besides realizing how much you have to share with each other you will also find yourself lifting each other up as your careers progress. Reach out and surround yourself with people that are passionate about what they do.

Start your tribe, and then start a few more tribes. Make them as exclusive or inclusive as you want – there yours. Have fun.

Are you a double dipper? Don’t be!

I’m not talking about onion dip or salsa – by all means go ahead on that one. There is another kind of dip out there you should be aware of though…

In my last blog I quoted from Seth Godin’s Purple Cow: “Are you making very good stuff? How fast can you stop?” I started reading his book, The Dip, next without realizing it was about just that (quiting what you should), which I found pretty ironic considering that it encompassed one of the main points I took from Purple Cow.

As an independent artist I realized one day that I wear a ton of different hats that if I was just an artist (with a team or a label) I wouldn’t have to. I made a list a few years ago of all the things I do for my career that someone would do as part of my team if I had one: Marketing, PR, Booking, Tour Management, Travel Arrangement, Accounting, Production, Graphic Designer, Project and General Management, Shipping Manager… Coffee Girl. Wearing all these hats can be a bit overwhelming and depressing or maybe it’s exhilarating if you appreciate yourself for all your work on multiple and very separate tasks -or if you just have a unique affection for head accessories. The truth is though, that you need to quit the stuff you don’t do well or just shouldn’t be doing and focus on being the best at one thing.

I think that Godin would agree with me that it’s important to have a taste of all of those jobs and realize the work they entail because he recommends that everyone involved with a product be involved with it’s marketing. I think it has definitely benefited me and made me realize how important just the right people for the team I am assembling are to my success as an artist and as they come together I will appreciate how much work it takes to do any of them exceptionally.

I have gotten very good at a lot of those “hats” but the truth is I would probably be a lot better at the stuff that mattered if I didn’t do so many of them. Time and talent are my biggest resources and over time, if I’m going to grow, its absolutely necessary that I let go, quit as Godin would say, all of the stuff that I just shouldn’t do and someone can probably do better. Not to mention that they would enjoy doing it a lot more than I do.

It’s more important than ever to be the best at what you do because we have such a global community now and people have access to products, or music, that may be more of what they want. Going back to Purple Cow you should pick your niche and then strive to be the leader and the best at what you do.

Isn’t it a tragedy to go after something half-heartedly anyways? I know I have felt that way when I realize I am too immersed in the business of my career and need to just listen to music, play for people and write some songs about what I’m feeling and learning.

The bright side of all of this is that when you’re doing what you love and focused on that one thing that you want to be the best at the little upsets will matter less and The Dip won’t feel so tough I think. I want to say a bit about that because I know a lot of people haven’t read the book and don’t know what I’m talking about.

The Dip is the time when after some success whatever you’re trying to do gets tough. It’s no longer fun like it was when you first started and you’re trying to decide if what you want is really worth all the work, fear, struggles and set backs your experiencing. We all experience those moments and those times in our lives. Right at the top of the book Godin says: “I feel like giving up. Almost every day, in fact. Not all day, of course, but there are moments.”

I read that and felt like I wasn’t so alone anymore. Here was a Bestselling author admitting that it’s tough. It would be so much easier to just lie in bed all day and be mediocre but that’s not what I want in my heart.

The point is, all the tough stuff, The Dip, is called a dip for a reason. If you work through it you will come out on the other side a much better musician and so much better at that thing you do that you will be the best at. Even better is, if you face it head on, realize it for what it is, and charge thorough it you will appreciate it for the challenge it is and get to your goals faster.

I’m going to do my best this year to make charging through dips a habit. I have been wearing a lot of silly hats for a very long time so hopefully you’ll see me passing those on little by little to people who will like booking, managing and dealing with all of that business stuff a whole lot more than I do.

I know a lot of you made resolutions for the new year and I want to implore you to push through any of your dips too. Whatever you do don’t be a double dipper. If your going to quit, quit early because it was the right thing to do for you and focus that energy at working through what you really want and the dip it takes to get there once. If you’re going to be the best at what you do or just loose those holiday pounds it’s not worth the time to quit, get momentum to start over and find yourself back in this dip some time in the future.

If you want to pick up the book or check out Seth Godin, he has a cool blog at www.sethgodin.typepad.com Tomorrow I’ll be blogging about his book Tribes as it applies to my career so stop back.

iProng Magazine #43: Paul van Dyk, Phil Rossi, Burn Halo, War Tapes and more

iProng Magazine #43: Paul van Dyk interview and more

iProng Magazine has released its 43rd issue featuring a cover story interview with Paul van Dyk, podiobook author Phil Rossi talks Crescent, and reviews of Documents To Go and Bed Bugs. Also interviewed: Burn Halo, War Tapes, Daniel Brusilovsky, Jamie Lynn Noon and much more.

Tap here to read this issue

The Crystal Method interview

There are a number of reasons why The Crystal Method is perhaps the most recognizable name in electronic music over the past decade and a half. While the duo’s studio albums have built a large following within the electronic genre, their cross-genre collaborations over the years have expanded their presence even further, along with their work on everything from movie soundtracks to the original Nike+iPod soundtrack. Having just released their new studio album Divided By Night, I caught up with Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland to talk about Divided By Night and more.

Last I heard you guys were building your own studio so you could make this album, and that was a few years ago. So what took you so long?



Ken: Well two years is actually not bad time for us, you know? (laughs). Up until we got into the new studio we were busy with a lot of other things. We did a soundtrack album, a mix CD, we did a project for Apple and Nike called Drive, and so that kept us pretty busy. And then when we got into the studio we started working for real on the new album.

Divided By Night is a phrase that could apply to a lot of things that have gone on in this decade as far as division and darkness. Is that a worldview statement, or is there something else to the name?

Scott: It was more borne out of this beautiful sunset that we saw flying from one DJ gig to another. We were coming over the city of El Paso at night with the lights on, and above you could see the stars and space and the moon and sort of off on the horizon was this sort of bend of beautiful color and lights that obviously was the sun setting on the west coast. And being from the west, the beauty of it all was something to behold. And then “Divided By Night” just popped into my head. It was more a reflection of there’s my family, my kids, my wife, reflecting on them, you know, probably sitting at the table and eating and sort of wrapping up the day, and here we are at night flying into another city to spend the next four or five hours living this alter ego, these characters of this band that comes in and takes over a club and plays music two or three, and the two different worlds sort of seem to be divided by out late-night personas, if you will. Album titles are difficult. You try not to have, at lease we try not to put too much meaning into them, and kind of feel that that should be left to the consumers or the fans to add their own meaning to that. It does conjure up a bunch of ideas, and I think that’s cool that we can come up with a name that does have little bit of mystery and intrigue behind it.

You guys are no strangers to collaborations over the years, but this album has a ton of guest stars even by your standards. Was that the plan going in, let’s get a bunch of people to work with, or did it just end up happening that way?

Ken: I think it was overall a little bit more of a plan. We wanted to have more song-oriented tracks and a little more vocals. It’s not overwhelmingly more but it is more than we usually have on our albums. A lot of times we’ll try a lot of collaborations and they won’t work out, but only a couple we tried this time didn’t work out, and no one will hear those. But these are the ones that came out really great.

You told me last year that you were really looking forward to working with Peter Hook. You ended up getting him on two tracks on the album. What was the experience like of bringing him into the studio and recording with him?

Ken: It was really great. Some of the collaborations on the album, it was people that had their own studios or people that were not available to Los Angeles, but Peter Hook was in LA for a couple of days. I think it was when he was doing some promotion for the documentary side of the whole Control / Joy Division, you know, the two films that came out. So he was in town and we got him to come by, and he was just a really amazing guy. He was really funny and played well. He’s not afraid to play his signature sound.



The Matisyahu song turned out great. But it’s almost wall to wall vocals and he’s got such a unique identifiable sound. Did you have any thoughts about that when you chose that as the first single, that people are going to think it’s just a Matisyahu single, they’re not going to realize it’s The Crystal Method?

Ken: We still feel like it really feels like a hard-driving Crystal Method track with a lot of electronic elements in it, but yeah, you know, we did pare down the vocals some. But it was going to be our first single, and singles for the most part have vocals. We were pretty comfortable with it.



Scott: Yeah, I had never heard him do a vocal like that. The vocal and the treatment of the vocal and the lyrical direction fit the track really well. Anytime bands that don’t have a lead singer and you use someone that has developed their own sound, you run the risk of that. It was just about putting out a song that we thought sounded good.



You guys have done so many things, soundtracks, collaborations, remixes. What have you not done yet that you still want to do at some point as a Crystal Method project?



Ken: Playing the Super Bowl wouldn’t be bad.



Scott: So many things have happened to us that we’ve been a part of that early on we would have had no idea these thing would have been a possibility. And the reason why that has happened for us is that we’re always in the moment, we’re always sort of focused on where we are at the time.