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    Education

    Derek Sivers podcast

    Derek Sivers very short articles and audiobook chapters, read by Derek Sivers. Transcripts at https://sive.rs/blog

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    Copyright: © 2022 Derek Sivers

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    Latest Episodes:
    A good plan wins no matter what happens Apr 04, 2000
    Show notes

    You don’t need a formal business plan. But you do need a plan. So make two simultaneous plans.

    Make one plan that depends on nobody else. No record deal. No investors. No lucky break. Your profits may be small but sustainable. Grow your audience. Develop your skills. Build your reputation. You can happily continue this way indefinitely.

    Make another plan that uses the music industry. Build your team. Pursue a record deal. Find investors. Increase your odds of a lucky break.

    Pursue these two plans simultaneously.

    Then if a deal is offered to you, you can take it or leave it. It gives you great power in negotiation. You become a better investment when you don’t need their money. It shows that you’ll be successful whether they’re involved or not.

    If you’re prepared for either path, then your plan wins no matter what happens.


    Test marketing Apr 01, 2000
    Show notes

    If you want a bigger company to help you some day, imitate what food companies call “test marketing”.

    When companies create a new product, before they try to release it to the world, they want more proof that it will be a success.

    So first they’ll release it only in a small city like Albany. They ask customers for feedback, then make improvements based on that. They repeat this process until it’s a local hit. Then they test it in a few more small cities until it’s a local hit there, too.

    Only after it’s a proven success do they get the financial backing to release it to the world. The investors are confident because it was a hit in all the test markets.

    So think of what you’re doing with your music as test marketing.

    Whether you use a physical location or a virtual community, test it somewhere small first. Ask people for feedback, then make improvements based on that. Repeat this process until it’s a local hit. Then test it in a few more places until it’s a hit there, too.

    Show this proof to a big company, so they can confidently invest and release it to the world.


    Well-rounded doesn’t cut Mar 20, 2000
    Show notes

    Imagine the world’s attention as a big squishy pile of apathy — so thick you could cut it with a knife. To call attention to your music, you want to cut through that muck.

    Only problem is, if you’re well-rounded, you can’t cut through anything. You need to be sharply defined, like a knife.

    Let’s look at a bad example first: Your name is Mary and you put out an album called “My Songs”, and the cover is a picture of your face. The music is good quality, and the songs are about your life. When people ask what kind of music you do, you say “Oh, everything. All styles.” You put your music out into the world but nothing much happens. Doors aren’t opening.

    Imagine instead: You write nine songs about food. You put out an album called “Sushi, Soufflé, and Seven Other Songs about Food”. You recorded your vocals in the kitchen. You quit cooking school to be a musician. Now you’ve got an angle for promotion. Now people can remember and recommend it. Yes, it’s a silly example, but you see how this would be much easier to promote?

    You may be thinking, “But I have so much to offer the world, I can’t just limit myself like that!” So stretch-out your musical offerings to the world over many years, and keep each phase focused clearly on one aspect of your music.

    Look at the long careers of David Bowie, Miles Davis, Madonna, Prince, Joni Mitchell, or Paul Simon. Each went through sharply-defined phases, treating each album as a project with a narrow focus.

    Be sharp as a knife, cut through the pile of apathy, and make a point.

    Do this every year or two, and you will have a wide variety in the long run.


    A hundred actors on stage Mar 05, 2000
    Show notes

    Imagine you’re in the audience of a play, and there are a hundred actors on stage.

    Which ones would stand out? Which ones would you remember?

    It’s not necessarily the loudest or most hyperactive. Maybe you’d be drawn to the woman with the long black hair, half-hidden, standing silently at the edge of the stage.

    Now you, as a musician, are one of the actors on that over-crowded stage.

    Would you stand out? Would people know what you represent, at a glance?

    Be identifiable, so that people who want you can find you in the crowd.

    (Though don’t forget: the most memorable actor would be the one that talks with you after the show.)


    Don’t try to sound big Feb 27, 2000
    Show notes

    When communicating with your fans and contacts, don’t try to sound bigger than you are.

    Don’t use the corporate “we”. Say “I”. Fans want to connect with you as a person, not as a brand.

    Don’t appear flawless. Show a charming flaw. Confidence attracts, but vulnerability endears.

    Definitely don’t use corporate-speak to try to sound like you’re a big business. It comes across as fake, insecure, or spam.

    Your fans are your friends. Speak to them like real people. Be weird. Prove you’re a real person. Write every post or email as if it was from you to your best friend.

    People have grown deaf to the bland language of big business. It all sounds like contrived posturing. It has no personality — no voice.

    This is one reason why it’s so much cooler to be small and independent instead of big and corporate.

    Being able to say “I” in your communication with fans is a great competitive advantage.


    Touch as many of their senses as you can Feb 22, 2000
    Show notes

    The more senses you touch in someone, the more they’ll remember you.

    The most sensory experience is a live show, with you sweating in front of them, the sound system pounding their chest, the flashing lights, the smell of the stinky club, and the visceral feeling of pushing up against strangers.

    The least sensory experience is an email or a plain web page.

    Reach as many senses as possible.

    • Have some great photos that you use next to any text.
    • Make a video for every song.
    • Be a guest on every video-show you can.
    • At your live shows, burn incense or hug every person there, or…

    You get the idea. Keep aiming for the most sensory way to reach your audience.


    People search harder for the obscure Feb 17, 2000
    Show notes

    On CD Baby, there was a great musician who made an amazing progressive heavy metal album.

    When we had a “search keywords” section, asking for three artists he sounds like, he just wrote the biggest-selling pop acts of that time (“Britney Spears, Ricky Martin, Backstreet Boys”).

    What the hell was he thinking? He just wanted to turn up in people’s search engines, at any cost. But for what? And who?

    Did he really want a Britney Spears fan to get tricked into finding his dark progressive metal album? Would that pre-teen actually spend the time to listen to his ten-minute epic called “Confusing Mysteries of Hell”?

    I suggested he instead have the confidence to target the real fans of his music.

    So he put three obscure progressive metal artists into his search engine description. (“Fates Warning, Shadow Gallery, Angra”)

    And guess what? He sold more music than ever! People searching for these obscure artists found only him. He found his true fans.

    Fans of the obscure niches search harder for it. Make sure they can find you. You want the passionate fans of your niche, not the casual fans of mainstream.


    If you target sharp enough, you will own your niche Feb 12, 2000
    Show notes

    Let’s say you’ve decided that your style of music should be proudly called “power-pop”.

    • If you say, “We’re power-pop!” in the very first sentence or paragraph of all of your marketing
    • If your email address is “powerpop@gmail.com”
    • If your album title is “Powerpop Drip and Drop”
    • If the license plate on your band van is “POWRPOP”

    When someone asks me for a music recommendation and says they like power-pop, guess who I’m going to tell them to buy?

    Have the confidence to find your niche, define who you are, then declare it again and again and again and again.

    If you do it persistently enough, you will own that niche. People will not be able to imagine that niche without you.

    Don’t forget you can use your city or country as a niche! Amplify your regional influence on your genre of music, and declare it to be an official sub-genre, of which you’re the originator. Think of past examples: Minneapolis funk, Seattle grunge, Korean K-pop, Icelandic avant-garde, and of course the different kinds of hip hop from every corner of the world.

    You can make your own niche, if you’re brave. You might be the best “a cappella medieval metal” artist in the world.


    The most expensive vodka Feb 07, 2000
    Show notes

    There is a vodka company that advertises itself as “the most expensive vodka you can buy”.

    It’s enticing. It’s almost a dare. (And it proudly excludes people!)

    While most companies are trying to be the cheapest, a few do the opposite and aim to be the most expensive.

    Most people try to imitate current trends and styles. So I suggest you boldly declare that you are something totally un-trendy — the opposite of what everyone else is trying to be.

    Advertise your live show as “the most boring concert you’ll ever see.”

    Call your music “the most un-catchy, un-memorable, un-danceable music you’ve ever heard.”

    Tell the music industry “this music has no hit potential whatsoever.”

    I’ll bet you get people’s attention.

    It’s almost a dare.


    Proudly exclude most people Feb 02, 2000
    Show notes

    We love when someone hates the same thing we hate — especially if that thing is popular.

    We’re drawn to the confidence of someone who is not trying to please anyone. We admire a strong, defiant stand.

    You can use this to attract your future fans.

    You can say, “If you like Katy Perry, you’ll hate us.” Then people who hate Katy Perry will love that you said that and want to check you out.

    You can say, “Don’t listen to this if you’re happy with your life.” Then people who hate all that happy crap will be intrigued.

    Most musicians are trying to please everyone. So when you are not, it suggests that you’ve got the talent to back up your confidence.

    You can be like the doorman of your exclusive club. Maybe you refuse anyone who is over 30, or under 50. Maybe you refuse anyone wearing a suit, or anyone without a tattoo.

    There are some cool people around the world that would like your music. They may only be 1% of the population. But 1% of the world is 75 million people!

    Loudly reject 99%. It signals who you are. When someone in your target 1% hears you proudly excluding the rest, they’ll be drawn to you.


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