When Life Gives You Lemons...
If you’re going to be in the business of making lemonade out of the lemons given to you, you better have a steady supply of lemons.
Some people are great at making the best of the situation…and some people are great at serving up situations. i.e. The typical artist and manager relationship.
The lemon grower and lemonade maker need each other.
Opportunity Will Knock
The best way to prepare for opportunity is to have the song.
You’re constantly hoping for the opportunity. And along the way you’re going to get the opportunity.
If you get the opportunity and you have the song, it’s going to go well.
If you get the opportunity and you don’t have the song, you’ll wonder why it didn’t go well.
And the truth is…everyone hopes you’ll have the song but doesn’t actually think you will. It’s why when you do, the gates open. You’re giving them what the hoped for while at the same time surpassing expectation.
Spend time writing.
Size Of The Act
As a fan…
A band is perhaps easier to believe in because there are least three or four people who already buy-in to what’s going on here.
But with a solo artist, it’s very clear who I’m suppose to pay attention to.
When I see a band I want to be in the gang.
When I see a solo act I want to be best friends.
As fans, the size of the artist entity matters. It’s not make or break (the music is make or break). But it’s an insight that provides further relational underpinning for marketing and moving forward.
The Glamorous Road
The road is only glamorous to people who don’t do it.
In and out of hotels and busses and vans and planes and green rooms. Hurry hurry hurry. Wait wait wait. Dinner is late. And lunch was too early. Sleep bows to the schedule. And the schedule doesn’t think you need much sleep.
You get to see the skyline of the city and the inside of the venue before leaving for the next city. Even good hotels can do a great job of reminding you you’re not in the comfort of your own home.
There’s no downtime until there’s lots of downtime but the downtime never happens in the place you hoped it would. It’s working 24 hours a day…even while you sleep you’re in work mode.
Yes, the road is only glamorous to the people who don’t do it.
So how can any of us put up with it?
Because we don’t look for it to be glamorous. That notion was played to rest long ago.
We put up with all of the above not in hopes of glamour but in expectation of meaningfulness. And in the long run our desire for meaning trumps our desire for glamour.
If the road was ever glamorous, it stopped being that way a long time ago. But life on the road can be meaningful from day one and keep on being that way forever. The connections build, the relationships deepen, new things are discovered…the ups and downs of life played out while going from city to city.
The road isn’t glamorous but it is meaningful.
Prices
If I’m looking for a wedding band I don’t want one that claims to be great but only charges a few hundred dollars. It’s weird to claim to be great but not charge a great price.
There’s a reason there isn’t cheap drive through caviar (well more than one reason). Spending way more money and sitting down at a table with a white table cloth make the caviar taste better.
Do you want some time with the free therapist or the one who charges hundreds per session?
Price can be a tricky thing. No matter what price you charge, it attracts certain people and detracts others.
But chances are you need to raise your prices. And maybe by a lot.