In a time long past, I actually saw Trent Reznor perform live in concert. Reznor is the lead singer and de-facto leader of NIN, which was big in my circle of friends during my high school days. On a hot summer evening circa 1993, the fellas headed over to the old "Purple Palace" to watch a medley of Marilyn Manson, the Jim Rose Circus, and NIN. It was a night to be forgotten to say the least.
In my now middle aged suburban lifestyle, I've toned down my tastes from NIN to artists like Jack Johnson and Brett Dennen (who if you haven't heard by the way, you should, this kid is very badness). Regardless, a link from a friend on Twitter, Ted Hoy, led me to Trent Reznor's twitter page, and from there to the NIN forum. Seeing personal interaction from hard rock icon Trent Reznor over the web is very different from the last time I had an up and close interaction with him, as one of a mob of fans in a crowded outdated stadium outside of Phoenix, 1993.
It is enlightening is to hear his advice to up and coming musicians regarding the business side of the music industry. I read through the post, and though I have a deficit of musical ability (dogs howl and ice melts when I sing), I got a lot out of his advice. Sound principles often transcend industries, and in this case Reznor's advice certainly does. Whether you're a fan of his music or not, he is obviously a phenomenal marketer. He's built a tremendous following behind the NIN brand that has lasted over 2 decades. Most of my business acquaintances probably would be repelled at NIN's version of art, but could learn a bit from its leader's advice. Frankly, say what you want about the product, but consider the success of Trent Reznor and NIN as a business. Can't argue that.
I'll summarize Trent Reznor's advice to the unknown struggling artist, but present it in a more general format, with my own commentaries of course:
- "Establish your goals. What are you trying to do / accomplish?"
This is the most simple of advice, that is presented in every self help format imaginable, but so often not followed. Nothing you do matters until you've decided where you want to go. (Think Cheshire Cat/Alice in Wonderland). But once you've decided where you're going, and have a little tenacity and self discipline...look out. "The world will step aside for the man that knows where he's going."
-Unknown
- Be realistic, if you want to be U2, then you need U2 level product/marketing/promotion. For the rest of you, you'll need to get scrappy. Don't expect to be U2 on a Sunday choir budget though.
Wow, how many startup businesses could use a little dose of reality here. Having started a couple of businesses, I know how easy it is to let the proverbial eyes put more on the plate than the stomach can handle. I'll be the last person to discourage someone's ambition, because I believe in ambitious world changing goals. BUT, do a reality check once in a while. Deciding that it's time for google, facebook, or American Express to step aside for your new business is a BHAG if I've ever heard one, but be ready to have world class products, marketing, leadership, capital (and 349 others) to help you realize the dream.
- "Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters."
OK, so you probably don't sell records, but the corollary here is that the world isn't just changing, it has changed, forever. I haven't purchased a CD in nearly 18 decades. I don't even buy from iTunes. I pay $50 a year (happily) to Pandora to play me a radio station customized to my likes w/out commercials. That's a far cry from the old days of carrying around a cd sleeve of your precious collection of music that at least once in your life gets stolen right out of your truck...(bad memory).
Point is, it's not just the music industry that has changed. The world of abstract intellectual property, from music and art to ideas and concepts, has been flipped upside down. The internet makes it so easy to exchange information and so fast to distribute that traditional models of selling this content just aren't working. Trent Reznor's point of view is fantastic, Stop whining about it, accept it, and adapt. If you have to give your music away, do it, but get something in exchange, like the email address of everyone you give it to. Then figure out what else you can CREATE of VALUE that people will pay for. The kind of thing that they can't get from a torrent site, like a hand made autographed album. The focus is on continually creating content, being intelligent, thinking and doing something about it. Build a tribe around your brand.
- "If you don't know anything about new media or how people communicate these days, none of this will work. The role of an independent musician these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools. If you don't get it - find someone who does to do this for you. If you are waiting around for the phone to ring or that A & R guy to show up at your gig - good luck, you're going to be waiting a while."
There are a couple of points here Reznor makes I really like:
I think that's what Trent Reznor means with mastering today's new media. DISCLAIMER: I'm not claiming any level of expertise here, in fact this post is part of my own development process of mastery of new media. It's a lot of work!
In my now middle aged suburban lifestyle, I've toned down my tastes from NIN to artists like Jack Johnson and Brett Dennen (who if you haven't heard by the way, you should, this kid is very badness). Regardless, a link from a friend on Twitter, Ted Hoy, led me to Trent Reznor's twitter page, and from there to the NIN forum. Seeing personal interaction from hard rock icon Trent Reznor over the web is very different from the last time I had an up and close interaction with him, as one of a mob of fans in a crowded outdated stadium outside of Phoenix, 1993.
It is enlightening is to hear his advice to up and coming musicians regarding the business side of the music industry. I read through the post, and though I have a deficit of musical ability (dogs howl and ice melts when I sing), I got a lot out of his advice. Sound principles often transcend industries, and in this case Reznor's advice certainly does. Whether you're a fan of his music or not, he is obviously a phenomenal marketer. He's built a tremendous following behind the NIN brand that has lasted over 2 decades. Most of my business acquaintances probably would be repelled at NIN's version of art, but could learn a bit from its leader's advice. Frankly, say what you want about the product, but consider the success of Trent Reznor and NIN as a business. Can't argue that.
I'll summarize Trent Reznor's advice to the unknown struggling artist, but present it in a more general format, with my own commentaries of course:
- "Establish your goals. What are you trying to do / accomplish?"
This is the most simple of advice, that is presented in every self help format imaginable, but so often not followed. Nothing you do matters until you've decided where you want to go. (Think Cheshire Cat/Alice in Wonderland). But once you've decided where you're going, and have a little tenacity and self discipline...look out. "The world will step aside for the man that knows where he's going."
-Unknown
- Be realistic, if you want to be U2, then you need U2 level product/marketing/promotion. For the rest of you, you'll need to get scrappy. Don't expect to be U2 on a Sunday choir budget though.
Wow, how many startup businesses could use a little dose of reality here. Having started a couple of businesses, I know how easy it is to let the proverbial eyes put more on the plate than the stomach can handle. I'll be the last person to discourage someone's ambition, because I believe in ambitious world changing goals. BUT, do a reality check once in a while. Deciding that it's time for google, facebook, or American Express to step aside for your new business is a BHAG if I've ever heard one, but be ready to have world class products, marketing, leadership, capital (and 349 others) to help you realize the dream.
- "Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters."
OK, so you probably don't sell records, but the corollary here is that the world isn't just changing, it has changed, forever. I haven't purchased a CD in nearly 18 decades. I don't even buy from iTunes. I pay $50 a year (happily) to Pandora to play me a radio station customized to my likes w/out commercials. That's a far cry from the old days of carrying around a cd sleeve of your precious collection of music that at least once in your life gets stolen right out of your truck...(bad memory).
Point is, it's not just the music industry that has changed. The world of abstract intellectual property, from music and art to ideas and concepts, has been flipped upside down. The internet makes it so easy to exchange information and so fast to distribute that traditional models of selling this content just aren't working. Trent Reznor's point of view is fantastic, Stop whining about it, accept it, and adapt. If you have to give your music away, do it, but get something in exchange, like the email address of everyone you give it to. Then figure out what else you can CREATE of VALUE that people will pay for. The kind of thing that they can't get from a torrent site, like a hand made autographed album. The focus is on continually creating content, being intelligent, thinking and doing something about it. Build a tribe around your brand.
- "If you don't know anything about new media or how people communicate these days, none of this will work. The role of an independent musician these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools. If you don't get it - find someone who does to do this for you. If you are waiting around for the phone to ring or that A & R guy to show up at your gig - good luck, you're going to be waiting a while."
There are a couple of points here Reznor makes I really like:
[1] Learn about new media, meaning facebook, twitter, blogs, community portals, etc. 2 way dialogues with your tribe, whomever they are.
[2] You need to put some real work into this. "The role of an independent [ANYBODY] these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools."
Mastery is a strong word. As a kid I mastered the Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Brothers. I mastered social politics in high school hallways. I mastered a native knowledge of Portguese as a missionary in Brazil. I mastered virtualization knowledge as I built the Xcedex professional services practice. What do all of these skills have in common? WORK, and lots of time. Mastery doesn't have to mean Michaelangelo skills in art or Algore level skills in global deception, but it does mean you need to put in enough effort to be the master of that particular domain. You need to know everything about it, the micro level details and macro level principles. It needs to become part of you, and actually will as you internalize the knowledge of the domain.
I think that's what Trent Reznor means with mastering today's new media. DISCLAIMER: I'm not claiming any level of expertise here, in fact this post is part of my own development process of mastery of new media. It's a lot of work!
Lastly, an observation about the article as a whole:
Reznor freely offers a summary of advice based on a career of successful experience. I stumbled on the nuggets of wisdom and benefitted, for free. That's what he's talking about. He says, "Be interesting. Be real...NEVER CHASE TRENDS." Net net? Be you, not someone else, some imaginary permutation of what you think others want/expect you to be. And work hard at being Interesting. How? Use that mound of flesh between your skull bones for something besides texting and you'll discover a world of interesting things to wrap your head around. Need some help? Hang out with interesting people. Where? Well most likely not at your house, but they are out there, invite CS Lewis over for a discussion about life, bring Dennis Prager home to meet your alter ego, and listen to him, or ask Ayn Rand how to solve today's economic and societal problems, or call your Grandpa up and ask him to tell you about his life, then shut your mouth and listen to the wisdom that spills out, or check your certainty of conventional wisdom with gems from Steven Levitt or Po Bronson.
Who would have thunk so much wisdom could have been gleaned from a hard hitting metal headed screaming lunatic? Maybe the stereotypes are not so accurate after all...
-dave
-dave
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