I’m getting scared, y’all.
I don’t know about you guys, but my current state of denial is letting me down. Reality is looming, and it’s ugly. Ugly like yo’ mamma! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh……really though. This whole economic downturn recession epic disaster is real, and it’s time we stop waiting for someone to fix it. The fact is, we have all seen the effects of the recession, and correct me if I’m wrong, but most of us are still seeing it. I certainly find myself on Groupon a whole hell of a lot more than I’d like to admit. The only difference now is that we’ve all grown so accustomed to it that it has started to feel normal.
It’s time the music industry really starts thinking about where all of this economic change is going to land us in the next 5 years cause it’s not looking good. We are an industry that sells entertainment and depends upon the expendable income of others, and the fact is that most people really just don’t have much expendable income. A large part of our nation is struggling to keep the lights on, and we’re trying to sell them frivolity. It’s illogical. We simply cannot depend on the economy to adapt to us, and we must start adapting to it.
So you want your fans to buy your music and come to your shows. What are you going to do to set yourself apart from the others? How are you going to convince your fans that you are worth $15 of their monthly expendable income of $100? It’s very simple. Make yourselves more accessible. I think that the days of elite stardom in small markets are over. It’s time to stop trying to make people come to you and start going to them. Find out where your fans hang out and what else they are interested in, and go woo them. This is a relationship you are forming, and it’s one that you need for your craft to survive. It’s kind of like calling a girl’s house when you know her parents are going to answer. How badly do you want it? Are you willing to go through the chaperoned date to win her over? You’d damn well better be, cause you’re running out of options.
Hey recording engineer guy over there….turn on the lights. Welcome to daytime. It’s like a constant hangover. Believe me, I have the utmost respect for you guys. If I liked myself enough to sit in a dark room by myself for 15 hours editing the same 3 bars, I would be all over that shit. You guys live a tough lifestyle, and you have to love it. Unfortunately (and I’m not telling y’all anything you don’t already know), true engineers are becoming more and more antiquated. With all the easily accessible and inexpensive software out there right now, everyone has decided they are geniuses, and nobody wants to pay a studio fee. Most of you are probably already working 15 hour days, and I only see this getting worse. The more money people are going to have to shell out for something they think they can do themselves, the more they are going to expect you to provide. In translation, engineers/producers may have to start expanding their skill sets and learn how to become arrangers and composers in order to attract the kind of business and income they need. Many of you already do this, and my hat goes off to you. My point is….this may not be so much of an option as a necessity 5 years down the line.
Anyone in the music retail business has, of course, already endured some pretty tough hits over the past couple years. Everyone is hurting, and in a very big way. All the way down the line, even as far as the manufacturing companies go, things have become more expensive. It is simply more expensive to manufacture the instruments we are trying to sell than it was 2 or 3 years ago. As a result, prices go up, manufacturers ask more of the retail businesses, and everyone gets less in the end. Manufacturers suffer as they produce less volume; retailers are taking smaller percentages; and consumers are paying much more for exactly the same products they were buying 5 years ago. The national debt is monumental, and there’s almost no way to avoid it.
I don’t mean to put the fear of God in anyone, but it’s time we all sat down and took a serious look at this stuff and try to help each other out. Anyone who is trying to run a business of any kind right now needs to get smart. Get yourself on the internet and start selling your product…whatever it may be. Create partnerships with other local businesses, and talk to other retailers around the country. Build a web presence, and develop a personality for your company that will make people want to meet you. Your business is not just a business anymore. It is a little person with wants and needs and hopes, and you need to feed it or it’s going to get angry and start throwing things. Most of us have been taught that musicians are the ones who create the “stage personas.” We ALL create stage personas. Your business is your stage persona, and it needs to be concrete and attractive. You may have heard it referred to as “branding.” Whatever….it’s your little person who is with you all the time and is starting to get pissy and neglected. Nip that in the bud and start figuring out how you can make yourself stand out.
We are all having to work more and work harder. Our talents and specialties are becoming more diversified, and we find ourselves working in fields we never even knew existed just so we don’t turn down any opportunities. That’s the key. Take on anything and everything you can reasonably do without feeling like a cheat, and make people realize that you and your “little person” are indispensable. MAKE yourself indispensable…and they will come.
Listening to: Feist – My Moon My Man (Grizzly Bear Remix)
