I was away in Florida all weekend for a wedding, so I am a little late to the party about the Walter Yetnikoff interview. If you have not already seen it, you should watch it. [Walter Yetnikoff Interview]
I first learned about Walter Yetnikoff a few years back when I picked up a copy of the book [Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business] by Fredric Dannen.
This interview is awesome. Yetnikoff has some great insight on how major labels are run today as opposed to when he was head of CBS Records. He also rails a bit on Hit Men.
Here are some blogs/articles I have stumbled across over the past couple of weeks. I subscribed up to these blogs, and I suggest you do to. It’s priceless information written by some of the best music business thinkers/marketers.
[http://sivers.org] Derek Sivers’ blog, the founder of CD Baby
[http://newmusicstrategies.com/?p=508] Came across this from a link on Derek Sivers’ blog. The article is written by Andrew Dubber as a post on his blog. Great perpective on piracy vs. sharing, and how it really fits into our industry.
[www.openp2p.com/lpt/a/3015] Another great article about piracy that Derek Sivers linked to on his blog. This one is written by Tim O’Reilly.
[www.musicthinktank.com/blog] A great new music business blog that has multiple authors all sharing very thought provoking ideas, and building a community around those thoughts. Authors include: Andrew Dubber, Derek Sivers, Bob Baker, Ariel Hyatt and plenty of others.
[www.futureofmusicbook.com] I googed Paul McGuiness because I wanted to read the speach he made at Cannes. I ended up at Dave Kusek’s blog. He and Gerd Leonhard co-wrote the book [The Future Of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution] Oh yeah, and he posted a [full transcript] of the Paul McGuiness speech.
The guys over at [www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog] are running the “Young Entrepreneur Challenge.” It’s an interview of 20 questions that you answer on your own blog, and then comment with a link back to your post. They are giving away an iPod, but I’m just doing this for fun. I have never participated in something like this before, so I thought I should give it a shot. Hope you enjoy my answers.
1. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business?
I have been in love with music all my life. I knew at a very young age that I needed to be in the music industry. I got interested in the studio because I wanted to have full control over the sound of the music I made. Over time as I became more and more involved in the music industry, I saw how hard it was to get your work recognized. I thought to myself, “if I want to produce a hit record, then I need to make the records I produce a hit.” I started Radical Notion (independent media) so that I could produce records and then promote them instead of leaving it up to someone else.
2. What is your definition of success and has your company achieved it?
My definition of success is to not give up. Thomas Edison once spoke about failure saying, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” When you set out to do something new; to cover new ground in your life, you are going to learn a lot of new and valuable life lessons. You are going to fall on your face a few times. Success is defined in how you react to falling down. Do you give up? Then you fail. Do you get back up, dust yourself off and try another apporach? Then you have been successful. Radical Notion is still here. In my book that makes us a success.
3. To what do you attribute your company’s recent achievements?
Many things. Patience, perseverance, passion, community, positive thinking, taking the time to pay attention to detail and do things right, communication, our fans/audience, trust, honesty.
4. How important have good employees and team members been to your success?
Integral. You cannot have success unless you form a strong team with your business partners, and communicate. You all have to share a common goal/vision. My business partner, Jonathan Harms, is a team player. I am a team player. The artists we manage are team players. We all share a common dream. We are a true family.
5. What three pieces of advice would you give to high school or college students who want to become entrepreneurs?
- Be a mavrick. There is no right or wrong. Learn the fundamentals of your trade, but be willing to throw the “book smarts” out the window. Be wise. Just because a text book says to do something a certain way does not always mean that is the only way. Often times the people who made a big splash did not do so because they colored inside the lines all the time.
- Have passion. Jonathan passed on some great advice to me over the weekend. It came from his mom, “Don’t do something that keeps you alive, do something that MAKES you alive.”
- Here is something I have learned the hard way: Don’t miss out on life because you were too busy working. Yes, you do want to pick a vocation that makes the line that divides work and play very blurry, but too much of any one thing is a bad thing. Don’t neglect spending time with those you love. You will only get burned out, which will suck all the enjoyment out of something that was once fun.
6. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
I have been known to talk too much. I learned to be confident, and say exactly what I mean. If you believe in yourself, then who cares if someone else doesn’t?
I have made the mistake of waiting too late to do something because I didn’t know every little detail about how to do what I wanted to do. I figured out that I should be “learning by doing.” You don’t have to be an expert in an area to get started. You don’t have to be an expert to have a good idea. Just do it. If you don’t, someone else will.
I have made the mistake of talking without thinking. I learned to “look before you leap.”
7. Describe/outline your typical day.
Wake up at 6:00 am, make coffee or tea (depends on my mood). Sit at my desk with the computer off. Relax/think/meditate for about 30min to an hour. Write out some ideas. Read for a bit. At around 7:30 or 8:00 am I begin to consult my lists. I prioritize my projects, and develop an idea for what I will get done for the day. I turn on my computer and check my email. If it is a Monday I post an article on my blog. Around 8:15 or so I jump in the shower. After my shower I tidy the apartment. If it happens to be a recording day, then around 9:00 am I head to the studio. I will then spend the day recording, mixing, or producing music. If it is not a recording day, then around 9:00 am Jonathan shows up. We sit and talk over some coffee about where we are regarding our current business affairs. We go over our objectives for the day, and then set out to promote, book shows for, market or generally manage the careers of the artists we represent. From there it depends. I could be in the studio all nite, my business partner and I may have to go to a show and sell merchandise or we may not have anything planned. Overall, my days are pretty unpredictable and wild.
8. Where did your organization’s funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
Our funding/capital has come partly from some money we had saved up, and partly from our loving families who support everything we do. I cannot express how much I appreciate them! They believe in us wholehartedly.
9. What stops you from throwing in the towel and giving up when you are frustrated?
My passion. I am so passionate about what I do, and it is such a part of me that I cannot even imagine doing anything else. It is a dream come true. There is no defining line between what I do for fun, and what I do as work. Setting that perspective makes it illogical to walk away from something I have so much fun being a part of. It does not matter what you choose to do with your life-you will feel frustration from time to time no matter what. It would be silly to just walk away from something because you got frustrated for a moment.
10. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Yes. Perspective, passion, patience, wisdom. People who are innovators, adapters, and opportunity seekers.
11. Who has influenced you most and been your greatest inspiration?
This is a very hard question for me to answer. First I have to mention my parents. They taught me so many priceless things. To pay it full tribute would be impossible. Outside of that, it would have to be Jacquire King, Butch Vig, Billy Corgan, Thurston Moore, Robert Smith, Roger Moutenot, Terry McBride, Steve Jobs, Mark Montgomery, Seth Godin.
12. What book has inspired you the most?
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
13. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
So far we have done the majority of our marketing simply by making a presence online. We are utilizing social media such as myspace, facebook and blogs. We are in a startup phase of business right now, and doing most of our marketing through a grassroots word of mouth approach.
14. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Dreamist
15. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
echo music
16. How do you achieve balance in your life? Or do You?
This is honestly a daily struggle for me. It’s very difficult for me to achieve balance working in the entertainment industry. It is one of the hardest industries to work in. Entertainment never sleeps. Entertainment never stops.
17. Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 years? 10 years?
In 5 years I see us as a profitable artist management/publishing/recording company. In 10 years I see us moving into other media circles in addition to music such as, video and web technology.
18. What’s your exit strategy?
There is not one. That is not an option.
19. If we could introduce you to anyone, who would it be and why? (you never know who we know!)
Terry McBride. I feel he has achieved what I am setting out to achieve. I would love to sit and have coffee with him for an hour or two. I could learn so much.
20. If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
Are you happy?
You can now buy Wes Sp8’s Please EP on CD Baby and iTunes. Check it out at the links below.
On CD Baby:
On iTunes:
Quarter one of 2008 has come to an end. I met every goal I set out on, specifically getting Radical Notion off the ground. I feel RN has covered a lot of ground in a short time, but that it is only a drop in the bucket when thinking about the road ahead. That’s a great feeling to me, because if I’m excited about what has happened so far, what lies ahead is going to be unbelievable. The most exciting part of it all, is that I could not have met any single goal without you. That means you responded positively, and I thank you tremendously for that.
So far in 2008 Radical Notion and our artists have made a presence on the web, made some appearances on the radio, thrown some awesome parties, and released two EPs-all of which you participated in, and contributed to the success of. Just as the calendar ticks over to the next phase of ‘08, I’m happy to say that the next chapter in the beginning of Radical Notion is already being written.
I’m excited about two new websites within the umbrella of the RN family:
- The Radical Notion Digital Store
- Street Corner Champs Official Site
The Radical Notion Digital Store is our new online store where we will offer all of our media content straight from our hands to yours. Our first release through the store is Street Corner Champs’ debut self titled EP. The EP comes as a download in three different versions. All of which are totally uninhibited by the control of any DRM. We even offer a version for free. The Radical Notion Digital Store is just another way we can connect with you. It allows us to cut out any middle man, and offer everything we do in a way that is convenient for you. Having our own method of distribution keeps anyone from putting a barrier of price, availability, DRM, communication or any other control point between us and you. We look forward to releasing more media through this store in the near future, the way you want it. [www.radicalnotion.net/store]
Street Corner Champs’ Official Site is going to serve as the central hub for all information, news and entertainment for the band. We plan on constantly updating the content of the site, and adding new features regularly. Make sure you stay up to date with this site, because you don’t want to miss out on anything. We may make exclusive announcements, run special promotions, or make limited releases through this website. [www.streetcornerchamps.com]
I can’t wait for what is next at Radical Notion. This is the best time of my life because everything I have desired to do is becoming a reality. We are sitting at the drawing board right now brainstorming our plans for our next move. We are in full throttle, inspired, and working hard to continue what we started. I hope to see you at all the parties that are going to happen throughout the rest of the year.
Together We Create Emotion…
So yesterday was April 1st. Duh… Oh well what can I say, I was caught at a vulnerable moment.
[http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/04/lefsetz-apple-b.html]
But at least it’s a reality in my world because The Radical Notion Digital Store is all set to go live tomorrow. And that is not a joke. March was a very long month, and April started hard, but we’re very excited to be releasing Street Corner Champs debut Self Titled EP, and doing it as a download only. It is the second release ever for Radical Notion (independent media).
Due to certain circumstances we didn’t have a chance to promote Street Corner Champs’ EP Download Party very much at all, but here are some details:
- The party is tomorrow nite at The 5 Spot in East Nashville
- We are launching Street Corner Champs’ website, as well as The Radical Notion Digital Store
- The lineup includes Wes Sp8
- Vovo may not be able to make it
- Cost is $5
Hope to see you tomorrow nite…
My business partner just informed me. Read this immediately!
[http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2008/04/01/apple-buys-universal]
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