art and entertainment industry Archives - Debra Russell

Innovate or Perish

[RANT] I am sick and tired of reading articles and blogposts that scream out

“… doomsday – the sky is falling, the music industry is dead – it was killed by the internet. Blah, blah, frikkin’ blah!”

Enough already! It’s just so much crap! The music industry isn’t dead. IT’S CHANGED! What’s dead are the companies that refused to change with it. And I am just so over the reporters and bloggers who are much more interested in talking about doom and gloom. What’s failed, dead, dying. Instead of looking at what’s actually working now.

In The Recession-Proof Business: Lessons from the Greatest Recession Success Stories of All Time, Victor Cheng gives us specific guidance about how to create a successful business in the midst of great upheaval and change.

And I think we can all agree that the last 15 years has been a time of great upheaval and change for the Music Industry. The last 6 years have been a time of great upheaval and change for all industries. This is old news.

So what’s my point? We can whine and moan about what’s past and gone. We can doom and gloom about how HARD its going to be for you to create your successful business given the challenges of the time.

But I say – To HELL WITH THAT! What does that give you? It certainly doesn’t help you move forward towards your goals and dreams. Instead of focusing on all of the obstacles and challenges:

Look at who is making their business work for them.
Look at who your specific target market is and what their needs are.
And look at where your fans are currently spending their money.

“Forget the overall macro economy numbers; look for where the money is flowing to and position your business to piggyback off it.” Victor Cheng

And then innovate. How can you uniquely solve their problems?

Apply your creativity to creating a promise that will not only solve your target market’s problems, but shows them how deeply and clearly you see them, understand them and serve them.

In my class “Internet Marketing & Social Media – a Complete Waste of Time or the Key to Your Success“, I use Jonathan Coulton and Amanda Palmer as case studies of 2 artists who did exactly that. They saw the opportunity of the internet and social media and put themselves in front of that wave. There are companies and artists who are making a fine living in this world. I say find them, study them and then apply their lessons to your unique voice.

You can either ride the wave of the future or be wiped out by it. What will you choose?

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Taylor Swift – Is Her Career Over?

11 Comments/in Articles, Business

I wrote this to Bob Lefsetz in response to his rallying cry for Taylor Swift and against the almost universal online and mainstream media bashing.

Bob specifically gave Taylor the following advice:

Everything’s got to come out. Honesty is the best policy in a crisis. We’re a forgiving country. Tell the backstory, the true story, of how Scott spent so much to make Taylor happen. Not as a tale of millions spent, but as a father doing everything to make his daughter’s dream come true. Release video of Taylor singing at twelve. Show the arc of her development. Make the Grammy appearance part of her development. Instead of the end of the story…

This is serious business. Just look at John Edwards. The aforementioned Tiger Woods. There are people who specialize in handling these crises. Hire one. Because the team in control of Taylor Swift’s image is woefully overmatched. I wouldn’t call it a public relations offensive but an explanation, a bringing of the public into Taylor Swift’s heart. Don’t throw stones at your enemies, hug them tight, by admitting your faults and showing that you’re reasonable, and dedicated to solving the problem.

Thought you might be interested in my response to Bob’s email:

Dear Bob,

I so agree with you. And all she’s got to do is say – “Whoa, I’m 19 (or whatever age she is, I don’t track these things). I’m working with a vocal coach. I’m working with a guitar teacher. I’m always working on and improving my songwriting skills. When you’re an artist you must always be working on and improving your skills. I know I’ve got room for improvement. Who doesn’t?”

Being able to sing on key, support your breath, harmonize – these are skills. Some people are born with a large amount of talent. The rest of us need to build our skills. And the truth is, it is more likely the people who have to work very hard to achieve high proficiency are more likely to be successful in the long run, than the folks for whom it comes easy. Because those of us who have to work hard all along – become used to hard work. So, when the going gets hard, we just buckle down and get to work.

It’s also extremely rare for someone to be hugely talented across the board. You’ve said yourself, she’s a talented songwriter. I agree. I also think she’s a talented performer and producer. But she needs to build her skills in other areas. Hey, she’s young – give the girl a chance, will ya?

Your Music Business Coach,
Debra

Debra Recommends Session Singing In Hollywood

3 Comments/in Administrative, Resources - 5 hats

I met John West at the TAXI Road Rally a few years back. He became my client and one of the projects he worked on was creating this e-Book, Session Singing in Hollywood. I think that he and Elin Carlson have done a fabulous job of creating a clear manual for pursuing Session work as a musician. Many of my clients make a seriously good living working as a Session player. While it may not feed your ego in the same way as being the featured artist on stage. Being a session player will feed YOU, both financially and also by helping you to develop and hone your skills as a professional musician.

Inside this jam-packed e-book, you’ll learn:

How to effectively meet the right people
How to conduct yourself in the studio so they will want to hire you again
How to completely prepare yourself for making it in Hollywood.
How to avoid the pitfalls that many singers make in pursuing their careers, and how to save time and money in that process
How to make lifetime residual income
How to market yourself for the best possible results
How to be, and stay, prepared for the highly competitive world of session singing

And while John and Elin speak specifically in terms of singing in Hollywood, I’m confident you will be able to apply this information to being a session musician in any professional setting.

I heartily recommend John and Elin’s How-To eBook Session Singing In Hollywood.

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Debra Recommends Bob Baker – The Buzz Factor

1 Comment/in Sales and Marketing

Bob Baker is an author, musician, and workshop leader who is dedicated to helping musicians, authors, and creative people of all kinds get exposure, connect with fans, and increase their incomes through their artistic passions. Bob’s books include “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook,” “Unleash the Artist Within,” “Branding Yourself Online,” “Self-Publishing Success Secrets,” and more.

I was thrilled to interview Bob for the Artist’s EDGE Membership awhile back and everyone was very impressed with his knowledge of Marketing and how to apply it to the world of the Arts and Entertainment Industry. He made what can be a scary subject both understandable and approachable.

For hundreds of music marketing tips, visit Bob’s Website – The Buzz Factor

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Debra Recommends Ariel Publicity and Cyber PR

1 Comment/in Internet and Social Media Marketing

Since meeting Ariel Hyatt from Cyber PR in 2009, we have become good friends. I was honored to participate on a Panel at the TAXI Road Rally that she moderated. (Pictured left to right, Dean Krippaehne, Vikki Flawith, Ariel Hyatt, Derek Sivers, and me, Debra Russell)

I was very impressed by her knowledge and presence and the more I learn about her, the more impressed I become. She’s hosted me as a speaker in NYC and I’ve interviewed Ariel for the Artists Marketing & Business Academy.

Here’s some information from the Cyber PR Website:

Ariel Hyatt, author of Music Success in Nine Weeks, is the founder of Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR a New York based digital firm that connects artists to blogs, podcasts, Internet radio stations and social media sites. Over the past 13 years her firm has represented over 1,400 musicians of all genres.

Ariel Publicity started out as a traditional PR firm and for 9 years Ariel pitched bands to newspapers, magazines TV and radio. Five years ago she noticed a dramatic downturn in effectiveness of traditional PR for her clients. It was harder and harder to even secure a calendar listing in newspapers that once gave her artists cover stories and feature interviews.

At the same time she noticed that online portals were covering her artists extensively and much faster than their traditional media counterparts. 2005 was the year of the podcast and 2006 the year of the blog (The TIME Magazine person of the year was YOU) and 2006 was the year Ariel Publicity abandoned all traditional media pitching and went digital.

Teaching and educating musicians is an integral part of the Cyber PR platform and the philosophy is: combine social networking with Internet marketing to help artists grow their fanbases and increase their income.

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Debra Russell Recommends ReverbNation

0 Comments/in Fulfillment, Internet and Social Media Marketing

I’ve been hearing nothing but great buzz about ReverbNation as a one stop shop for contact management and social networking for your music business. Here’s what they say on their website:

ReverbNation.com is a Music 2.0 company that is responding to the changing music business paradigm.

We provide innovative marketing solutions that musicians need to compete, cooperate, and differentiate in an increasingly noisy online environment. Unlike typical “closed” communities, artists use ReverbNation as their home base for approaching marketing and promotion across the Internet as a whole — be it via social networks, blogs, or the artist’s homepage. Tools like TunePaks, FanReach, and Widgets give the artist the power to spread their music and information virtually anywhere. Real-time stats then provide a 360-degree view of how the music is spreading, who is listening, and which fans are actually passing it on to their friends and posting it on their pages. For more information on what ReverbNation can do for artists, click here.

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Debra Recommends Audition

0 Comments/in Creative

I was lucky enough to study with Michael Shurtleff for 2 years when I was acting in NYC, in the 80’s. In my opinion, this book solidifies in very simple terms the choices an actor must make in order to create a believable character. What’s so beautiful about this, is it enables you to make those choices in the few minutes you have before you step into an audition.

This review is from Amazon.com:

Whether one is an actor, director, writer or teacher, Shurtleff’s book is simply a critical must read. Shurtleff who spent many years as a top casting director possessed an absolute love for the brave souls who dare to place themselves on the stage. His ultimate legacy to his beloved craft is this indispensable “How To” bible.

Much has been written already about his twelve guideposts, and I have nothing new to add to those already glowing (and well deserved) comments. What I did find most illuminative and refreshing is his comments on how to behave at the job interview. It is in this chapter that this book becomes helpful to even the non actor. In this chapter/section, Shurtleff urges all people to realize that ultimately the pressure in the job interview is on the employer and that a good prospect will immediately put the interview board at ease. All too often actors become so self centered and fail to realize that their performance is really about their audience, not them. The same is true therefore of the job interview. It is about the employer, not the employee.

As a teacher, Audition has been most helpful to me as it has provided objective certainty to an area filled with far too many subjective judgements. In other words, Shurtleff has helped define the skills and tasks necessary to train actors in a manner that will help them transition successfully from the educational venue to the professional market. He has given us clear, active objectives to teach toward.

In Audition, Shurtleff articulates what constitutes good, effective acting. Once that becomes defined clearly, then success becomes not a nebulous ideal, but rather a concrete proposition.

If this is not in your theatre library, it is time you add it now.

Buy Audition from Amazon.com

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Debra Recommends I Am A Professional Artist

0 Comments/in Creative

The Key To Survival and Success in the World of the Arts

by Gilli Moon

My dear friend, Gilli Moon, brings a level of reality to this topic filled with illusions and lies. And she does it with great humor and compassion. A fellow TAXI Road Rally speaker, she created Songsalive! and several other resources for musicians. I’ve also interviewed her for the Artist’s EDGE Membership.

Amazon says:

Some say succeeding in the Arts as a professional Artist is all about fame and fortune. So much of our desires are based on false illusions about the industry and what we read in glossy magazines. Being a professional Artist is a life long journey of becoming who you want to be, and achieving success through what you love to do. It’s about living your dream. It’s also about setting goals that you alone determine if they have rewarded you rather than what the industry defines as success.

The Arts industry, whether that be in music, theatre, film, writing, dance or any business about Art, can be cruel and very un-artistic. It’s often about survival, especially survival of the fittest. It can feel like a competitive war against large corporations, those who judge you (which can even include your family) and the other artists who are also climbing their way to the top. Gilli Moon, artist, author and record company owner, brings to you her first book, I Am a Professional Artist offering Artists who’ve chosen the professional path, practical steps in harnessing one’s creative abilities to succeed and survive in the Arts and enjoy your artistry at the same time.

Including interviews with various professional Artists, I Am a Professional Artist combines a self-empowering practical guide in surviving and succeeding in the Arts with key business principles and spiritual nourishment. Consider it an Artistic soul’s survival guide in business!

I AM a Professional Artist follows 2 simple principles: If you want to be a professional Artist, the first thing to realize is that you have to be two people: An Artist, and a Business person. The second principle is based on her own coined phrase: The three Os: Optimism + Organized equals Opportunity I Am a Professional Artist will certainly change the thinking of any professional artist who may doubt themselves or their art, who may feel pressured by the industry, or may feel the hardship of the roller coaster ride.

Buy this book now

Debra Recommends Screen Actors Guild

0 Comments/in Creative

Screen Actors Guild is the most distinguished performer’s union in the world. Their members are experienced professionals who require certain standards of working conditions, compensation and benefits. Membership is often a major milestone in an actor’s career; every SAG card issued symbolizes success and solidarity with a community of 120,000 talented and accomplished artists worldwide.

In addition to negotiating and enforcing contracts for professional performers, Screen Actors Guild also offers members the tools to navigate the industry and expand their craft along the way. From the workshops of the SAG conservatory to resources for young actors, the Guild protects and enhances members’ quality of life on and off set.

www.sag.org

Debra Recommends Writers Guild of America

0 Comments/in Creative

The Writers Guild of America is a labor union
composed of the thousands of writers who write the television shows, movies, news programs, documentaries, animation, CD-ROMs, and content for new-media technologies that keep audiences constantly entertained and informed.