When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archeologist. I spent hours pouring over books, watching films, and turning over stones trying to learn as much as possible about the world of the past.
Now, as a songwriter and music business professional, I find myself once again turning over stones to determine how things got to be the way they are today.
Our music business, unfortunately, was not founded upon principles.
Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) defines a principle as something that is timeless and self-evident.
Timeless means that a principle can be applied at any time: past, present or future, and under any circumstance.
Fairness, for example, that’s a good principle. There is never an exception to when fairness is an appropriate response. Fairness is timeless.
Self-evident means that you have to be that thing yourself in order to have that thing.
For example, if you want to have respect in your relationships, you have to be respectful of others yourself.
You show respect to others and expect to be treated with respect in return. Self-evident.
How we get around to incorporating principles into the music business is up to us.
The commercial music business is out there, doing fine, running and gunning, doing things how it sees fit.
We independent artists don’t have to subscribe to the old unfair models of commerce any more, either.
The fact that you’re reading this right now is proof that the Internet can provide the distribution mechanism needed to spread any message, and dispense any content, just like seeds are carried on the wind to find fertile ground elsewhere in which to grow and flourish.
On Monday, Songpreneurs online community begins our 2020 courses with 10,000 Hours to Mastery: Life balancing skills and time management for creative entrepreneurs, and whether you are a songwriter or not, I invite you to join us for this 8-week online class.
By examining the clues (data) left from the past, and applying the ideas to our present situation, we can overcome the impasse that makes it hard for new original music to flourish.
If we continue to operate in a business as usual manner, we are succumbing to a sort of fear. This is the same fear some of us faced as teenagers when our parents disapproved of our activities.
It’s the same fear that all great innovators face, but we have to get over it! Learn from the past. Move boldly into the future. Learn to support the artistic endeavors of our spouses, of our sons and daughters, and yes, of our selves.
Original music is important! It’s one of the first ways we communicate with each other as a species. We can even talk to other species though music! It’s the universal language.
When we overcome our inertia and put the effort in to our activities we need to get started, we can amaze ourselves with the positive results.
Writing music makes us happy, releases tension, helps us resolve emotional turmoil, and more. It helps us focus and is a form of meditation for our media blitzed, weary minds.
If we can each inspire one person to write music, we will have done a great service to humanity. Lead by example and write your heart. Somebody needs to see it.
Join our Songpreneurs group in the 2020 Classes and get to work on making your dreams a reality in 2020.
