Tag: planning

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Exposing The Biggest Scams In Music Today [Video]

scam artists

Scam artists continue to profit off the dreams of musicians caught in the struggle, but we have three tips that will make you more successful than their schemes ever could.

Scam artists will always exist in every facet of any business. That is because dreamers aspire to reach their goals, and enough of them are willing to pay for so-called experts to advise them that con artists can continue making money. After all, who wouldn’t want to be an overnight success?

There is a dark side to the world of self help and advice that rarely gets acknowledged. While many people do legitimately want to see artists succeed, there are many more who see aspiring stars are targets for their money-making schemes. As the saying goes, “If you want to make money in music, exploit the dreams of musicians.”

We’ve all seen these scams online. You probably see ads for playlist placements, music mentorships, and “direct access” to A&R reps on a regularly on social media. You may even consider looking into these services. The lucky ones don’t let their curiosity lead to spending money, but not everyone is that fortunate. A lot of artists spend money on these people and companies making impossible promises on the off chance they might be legit, and every single time, the artist ends up losing money without advancing their career.

The reason these scams never work out is because they ignore the three rules of music success:

  • Make great content
  • Network with your peers
  • Be a decent human being

Anyone promising mentorships in exchange for annual fees or placement in front of prominent tastemakers for a one-time charge are lying about the essential building blocks of any career. The musicians that are big right now, whether they’re bonafide celebrities or someone who seems to appear overnight, got where they are through hard work, networking, and being someone people enjoy knowing. Those three things are the cornerstone to any legitimate career in this, or any other, field.

That doesn’t mean that all scammers are bad people. Some do offer interesting advice in a very broad sense. They’ll talk about the need to hustle hard, believe in yourself, and consistently release new content to keep people engaged, all of which are good. But that kind of vague motivational fodder will only get you so far in this business.

For more insight on con artists and how to spot them, check out this video our friend Jesse Cannon made on the scammer you’re most likely to find in music.

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News

[How To] Make A Plan To Succeed in 2019

“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.” – Brian Tracy

If you use any social media platform, then you have no doubt witnessed an avalanche of resolutions, hopes, and dreams for the new year being shared over the last few weeks. You may have participated yourself. If not, that’s okay too.

Resolutions are good intentions with a better name. Hopes and dreams are much the same. We all want to be better, and most of us tell ourselves each new year will be different than the last. Some of us make lists filled with changes we hope to make, while others choose just one or two areas of life they would like to improve. Both methods are useful, but neither one guarantees results.

Most people don’t understand that a declaration of a desire for betterment is not enough to create meaningful change. Most know what they want in life, and many try to get there, but the vast majority fall short of their goals for one simple reason: They don’t have a plan.

Resolutions are nothing without plans. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Maybe you want to sign a record deal this year, or perhaps you want to launch a label of your own. Maybe you want to write for your favorite magazine or speak at a half-dozen conferences. There are no apparent reasons for those goals, or any other (within reason), to be considered impossible. You can do more than you know, but even the simplest of goals can feel hard to achieve without a good plan.

To borrow a quote from Benjamin Franklin, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

This week, take some time to sit down with pen and paper. You can use a computer or phone if you desire, but studies have shown that writing — real writing, by hand — helps forge a meaningful connection to what you are creating.

Once you’re seated and comfortable, write out the things you hope to accomplish this year. Dream big and use as many details as possible. If you want a record deal, what kind of deal and with what label? If you’re going to write more, how much and for whom? If you want to write a novel, what will it be about?

After the goals are in front of you, grab a second sheet of paper and outline your plans to achieve every goal you’ve set. We all have to start somewhere, so where will your next journey begin? Details matter. You cannot go from writing once a week to churning out chapters overnight. Just like those who wish to lose weight must commit to lifestyle changes so must those who want to be more creative commit to changing their habits. Maybe you need to get up earlier, so you have more time to create, or perhaps you need to find a new career that allows you to express yourself better. Whatever it is, write out exactly how you plan to achieve that thing, step-by-step.

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News

How to Set Better, More Attainable Goals in 2019

Winter is here. I have tried to deny this fact since Thanksgiving, but the ice clinging to snow-covered grass outside my front door has forced me to admit the truth. Winter has set in, and before the weather gets warmer, we will be saying goodbye to 2018 and all it did (or didn’t do) for us. Are you ready for a new year? I like to think I am, but to be honest, I’m not sure.

Working online is a constant battle between what you want to be doing and what cultural trends demand that you do. Maybe you want to write a daily editorial on something that matters to you, but you also need to exist on social media, actively market your existing work, and plan for what you will do over the next several days, weeks, months, etc. Heck, I’ve been trying to program social media content to post automatically during the holidays in hopes of gifting myself some time away from screens. That work will help a little, but I know all too well I will still be glancing at my inbox periodically every day during my so-called “time off.” I bet many of you will do the same.

So there I was, avoiding the cold and contemplating the coming new year. The one thought running through my mind over and over was what it was I wanted to do in 2019 that I have as of yet been unable to accomplish. I’m sure many of you have or will find yourself internally debating this same question in the days to come if you have not already begun to do so. Most of us never thought we could get a foot in the door of this business, so usually we’re pretty happy just to be here in the moment working on whatever is immediately in front of us, but we owe it to ourselves to look up and think about what could lie on the horizon. It took a world of belief in yourself to get this far, so you – and I – can’t stop now.

Here are a few things I encourage you to  ask yourself when contemplating the places you will go in the year ahead:

Is what I’m doing right now making me truly happy?

No one gets into music because they dislike music, but just because you’ve gotten your foot in the door or found a role that helps pay the bills does not mean your journey has to come to an end, or even stall. We have all spent our lives being told that next to no one makes it in the entertainment business, and because of this, we have a tendency to not want to risk what little success we have already found. This may be good for the sake of security, but in the grand scheme of existence, all you are really doing by not chasing after exactly what it is that you want to do is restricting a part of yourself. You are preventing yourself from becoming the person you feel you were meant to be to please someone or something other than yourself. That may provide short-term happiness, but it will create longterm regret. 2018 should be the year you focus in on what makes you happy and pursue it with all the strength you have in your bones.

Am I making the most of my time?

Laziness is a disease that infects us all to varying degrees. What few people will tell you is that the extent laziness impacts your life is entirely in your control. Just like how we all have a habit of settling for the first opportunity that comes our way we also have a habit of wasting time we know could be better spent focusing on our goals. Maybe you tweet too much (guilty), or perhaps you scroll Facebook even after complaining to everyone you know about how awful Facebook is these days (also guilty). Maybe you sleep until the last possible minute every morning and rush to work without eating a good breakfast or exercising (guilty again). Whatever the case, there are things you do on a regular basis that deep down you know is nothing more than a waste of time and resources. Identify those elements in your life and set to minimize them in the new year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t relax, but if you feel something you are doing is not right, you need to listen to that sensation and correct your path.

How can I work towards my goals without sacrificing something I need (work/money/etc.)?

Reaching almost any goal requires some kind of sacrifice on your part, but you have to be smart about what you sacrifice or else you may get yourself into trouble. If your passions lie outside your current workplace and you have no other way to make money, then you probably shouldn’t quit your job to pursue your dream full time. Dreams require money. Life requires money. You have to make sure your needs are met to have the mental clarity needed to pursue your passions. I like to say people should sacrifice within reason, or sacrifice what they are able, as long as it does not interfere with their quality of life in such a way that they are doing harm to themselves and/or their families.

What can I do to improve life for those around me?

If your bucket list for the new year reads like the agenda of a person who has the world’s biggest ego, then your brain is leading you down a broken path. Happiness in life comes from much more than personal gain. You know that saying about how it’s cold at the top? People say that because they often reach the pinnacle of their personal journey and realize they have left behind the people, places, and things that mean the most to them. Victory doesn’t have to be a lonely thing, but you have to be conscious about your actions if you wish to lift up everyone around you in 2019. Helping others often improves happiness far more than personal accomplishments, and it does so while developing better relationships with those who mean the most to you.

How will reaching my goals for 2019 help me in 2020 and beyond?

Life is about the journey, not the destination, so you shouldn’t be looking at 2018 and thinking it will be the last year you ever have goals. Knowing where you want to be in two, five, or even ten years can help you figure out what you need to do in the coming months to achieve your long-term goals. Once you reach them, set more and repeat the process over and over again until you die. Life is for the living. Keep your head up, your hopes high, and never let a bad day, week, month, or even year deter you from chasing after the things you want.

It’s important to note that not all goals have to be long term. If you want to eat the world’s biggest slice of pizza or work your way to running a 5k those things can be done in a relatively short amount of time. My advice is to balance the big goals with smaller, more easy to accomplish ones so that completing those tasks will help keep you motivated to fight for the bigger picture.

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News

Brace yourself: The Annual Music Industry Slowdown is Coming

On the final Friday of October 2018 more than 120 albums were released into stores, with countless more being released by independent artists from around the globe. That number was a high point for the industry in a year that has felt flooded with new albums, but it also marked the end of what many to believe the last big ‘push’ the industry makes to grab consumers’ attention before everyone begins fighting for their cut of the holiday spending rush. There will still be albums released between now and the end of the year, of course, but the volume of releases has begun to taper off in anticipation of changing consumer behavior.

With this in mind, now is the perfect time to recognize that the seasonal music business slowdown is fast approaching. Traditionally launching one week before Christmas, this is a period where many of the industry’s most prominent corporations give their employees an extended holiday break. Those fortunate enough to be employed full time may see anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks of free time, if not an entire month. Emails will be minimal, calls will be sent to voicemail, and announcements – often the lifeblood of many music blogs – will slow to a crawl (or be nonexistent).

That is all good news for those fortunate enough to have full-time employment in music, but it is often frustrating for those on the come up. Bloggers and music writers, for example, have to work harder and harder to keep their readership up as industry announcements slow and people spend less time on their devices due to plans with family/friends.

Similar frustrations exist for independent professionals in management, publicity, production, and all other corners of the industry. Unless you are making enough money to live comfortably for a month without any new income, the end of the calendar year always seems to add a bit extra stress to daily life. Family and holidays can help to ease the mind, but such downtimes can start to feel like an attempt at financially treating water if one does not plan.

To avoid such difficulties, we want to advise everyone caught up in the struggle to begin thinking about how to use the slowdown to their advantage. Here are some ideas:

  • Starting today, make a calendar from now until the end of the year detailing all the work you hope to accomplish. If you’re an artist, outline your goals as a creator as well as your promotional ones. If you run a blog, describe your planned features and when you want them to run. Be specific.
  • Speak with any collaborators, parents, or bandmates you may have about holiday travel plans. Everyone deserves time to disconnect and be with family. Knowing when people plan to unplug prevents any problems over responsibilities and activity from interrupting someone’s time with their loved ones.
  • Make a plan to disconnect yourself. Contrary to what that crazy voice inside your head may be telling you there are very few, if any, people expecting you to be steadily churning out new work throughout the final two weeks of 2018. All websites see a decline in traffic around Christmas and New Year. Many artists see a decline in attendance at shows as well. People are still enjoying music and engaging with it, but their focus is mainly on other, far more important things. Don’t miss out on time with your family because you believe you need to be the creative that changes this global trend. For once, accept that you, like everyone else, need a break.
  • Set goals for the new year. Once you plan the remainder of 2018 and set aside time for relaxation, you might as well get a head start on your plans for 2019. You’ll no doubt want to hit the ground running once the holidays have all passed, and having a plan of action in place is a good way to ensure that happens.
  • Take time to reflect on – and take pride in – what you have accomplished this year. All creative people that I know are hard on themselves far more often than they should be because they have an insatiable thirst to see what else can be done. While a drive to keep pushing forward is admirable it can also be problematic. There will always be another task to complete or achievement to unlock. The mountain never ends, so if you’re waiting to reach the top before celebrating your successes that time will never come. The end of the year slowdown creates a unique opportunity to disengage from the day to day struggle long enough to look at your body of work as a whole. Don’t miss out.
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News

You need a ‘When-Then’ plan. Here’s why:

You need a when>then plan for every occasion.

There are few feelings better than the sensation you get when you’re about to explore a new idea. Creativity, of any kind, is a rush unlike any other, and far too many of us are forced to suppress original thinking throughout the majority of the day because our current careers do not fall in line with who or what we aspire to become. Most people find they need to set aside time outside their 9-5 to try exploring any creative endeavor, but following through is much easier said than done.

There is a great and frustrating old saying, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Maybe you hope to dedicate an hour a day to doing something creative, and perhaps for the first few days or weeks, that goal is reasonably easy to meet. Inevitably, however, a day will come when something happens to break your newly established routine:

  • A late night out causes you to sleep in
  • A child, pet, or loved one falls ill and needs you to help care for them
  • Your job demands you spend more time at the office
  • A family event (birth, death, etc.). unexpectedly occurs
  • That little voice inside that tells you there is no chance you will succeed convinces you not to take a day off
  • Your alarm doesn’t go off

There are countless reasons why our best made plans go awry, both big and small. When those things happen, our new routine of purposefully setting aside time to create is jeopardized, it can be incredibly hard to get ourselves back on the right track. We tell ourselves that people meant to succeed would never allow themselves to slip so easily. We tell ourselves we cannot trust ourselves to chase our dreams. We tell ourselves we are not deserving of aspiring to or becoming something greater than what we war and we are wrong for doing so.

Everyone fails. Everyone has setbacks and unexpected turns that throw their lives into chaos. There is no perfect plan for dealing with life’s ability to spin out of control at any given moment, and there never will be. What separates those who rise above the hurdles of existence and those who do not is something relatively simple: Those who succeed have a when-then plan.

What is a when-then plan?

When-then plans are a system of checks and balances that ensures creative people do not lose focus when life throws them curveballs. Let me give you an example:

“WHEN I am unable to spend an hour writing in the morning (or any time at all), THEN I will spend five minutes reviewing my recent creative output in the evening and deciding how I’ll work the next day.”

Here’s another:

“WHEN I know I will be unable to spend any time being creative in the more the morning of evening THEN I will take 10-minutes out of my lunch to write, draw, or otherwise express myself.”

When-then plans do not make up for the hour of time you lost, but it does keep you connected to your creativity and your goals when you do not have time to work on them. So much of the reasoning behind why we lose connection to our goals when we start becoming increasingly busy is that we allow ourselves to stop thinking about them. We push our future ambitions out of our mind to focus on an immediate need or problem, and in doing so, we make it incredibly hard to pull those thoughts and ideas back into the realm of possibility.

The lost time is still a downer, but by having a then-when system in place, you can still make personal progress on a daily basis. Taking a step back from your work before reviewing it can help you be more reasonably critical of your efforts. These short sessions of review can help you readjust your focus and more precisely plan your future timeline, which will account for the time lost to the demands of the day/week/etc.

New habits are only good intentions until you have a when-then plan in place, and that plan is only good when you put it into use. Do not let life convince you that you will never be more than what you are right now because that is a lie. You can aspire to something greater, and there is a way to get there as long as you’re willing to put in the work.

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News

5 things to consider when planning for 2018

This morning I woke to discover no less than three inches of snow had fallen in the six hours since I last looked outside. After cursing at the sky for a few moments in hopes that whoever or whatever is up there could understand my frustration over winter’s inevitable arrival, I glanced at my calendar and noticed that the year is nearly out. In less than two weeks Christmas will have passed and we will all be killing time as we wait for the new year to arrive. Are you ready? I’m not.

Working online is a constant battle between what you want to be doing and what cultural trends demand that you do. Maybe you want to write a daily editorial on something that matters to you, but you also need to exist on social media, actively market your existing work, and plan for what you will do over the next several days, weeks, months, etc. Heck, I spent more than three hours of my weekend scheduling tweets to run during the holidays so that I might spend a little more time with family and a little less staring at my phone (note I said less and not ‘no time at all’ because – let’s face it – that simply isn’t a reality for most right now).

So there I was, avoiding the cold and contemplating the approaching new year. The one thought running through my mind over and over was what it was I wanted to do in 2018 that I have as of yet been unable to accomplish. I’m sure many of you have or will find yourself internally debating this same question in the days to come if you have not already begun to do so. Most of us never thought we could get a foot in the door of this business, so usually we’re pretty happy just to be here in the moment working on whatever is immediately in front of us, but we owe it to ourselves to look up and think about what could lie on the horizon. It took a world of belief in yourself to get this far, so you – and I – can’t stop now.

Here are a few things I encourage you to think ask yourself when contemplating the places you will go in the year ahead:

Is what I’m doing right now making me truly happy?

No one gets into music because they dislike music, but just because you’ve gotten your foot in the door or found a role that helps pay the bills does not mean your journey has to come to an end, or even stall. We have all spent our lives being told that next to no one makes it in the entertainment business, and because of this we have a tendency to not want to risk what little success we have already found. This may be good for the sake of security, but in the grand scheme of existence all you are really doing by not chasing after exactly what it is that you want to do is restricting a part of yourself. You are preventing yourself from becoming the person you feel you were meant to be in order to please someone or some thing other than yourself. That may provide short term happiness, but it will absolutely create longterm regret. 2018 should be the year you focus in on what makes you happy and pursue it with all the strength you have in your bones.

Am I making the most of my time?

Laziness is a disease that infects us all to varying degrees. What few people will tell you is that the extent laziness impacts your life is entirely in your control. Just like how we all have a habit of settling for the first opportunity that comes our way we also have a habit of wasting time we know could be better spent focusing on our goals. Maybe you tweet too much (guilty), or perhaps you scroll Facebook even after complaining to everyone you know about how awful Facebook is these days (also guilty). Maybe you sleep until the last possible minute every morning and rush to work without eating a good breakfast or exercising (guilty again). Whatever the case, there are things you do on a regular basis that deep down you know are nothing more than a waste of time and resources. Identify those elements in your life and set to minimizing them in the new year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t relax, but if you feel something you are doing is not right you need to listen to that sensation and correct your path.

How can I work towards my goals without sacrificing something I need (work/money/etc)?

Reaching almost any goal requires some kind of sacrifice on your part, but you have to be smart about what you sacrifice or else you may get yourself into trouble. If your passions lie outside your current workplace and you have no other way to make money then you probably shouldn’t quit your job to pursue your dream full time. Dreams require money. Life requires money. You have to make sure your needs are met in order to have the mental clarity needed to pursue your passions. I like to say people should sacrifice within reason, or sacrifice what they are able, as long as it does not interfere with their quality of life in such a way that they are doing harm to themselves and/or their families.

What can I do to improve life for those around me?

If your bucket list for the new year reads like the agenda of a person who has the world’s biggest ego then your brain is leading you down a broken path. Happiness in life comes from much more than personal gain. You know that saying about how it’s cold at the top? People say that because they often reach the pinnacle of their personal journey and realize they have left behind the people, places, and things that mean the most to them. Victory doesn’t have to be a lonely thing, but you have to be conscious about your actions if you wish to lift up everyone around you in 2018. Helping others often improves happiness far more than personal accomplishments, and it does so while developing better relationships with those who mean the most to you.

How will reaching my goals for 2018 help me in 2019 and beyond?

Life is about the journey, not the destination, so you shouldn’t be looking at 2018 and thinking it will be the last year you ever have goals. Knowing where you want to be in two, five, or even ten years can help you figure out what you need to do in the coming months in order to achieve your long term goals. Once you reach them, set more and repeat the process over and over again until you die. Life is for the living. Keep your head up, your hopes high, and never let a bad day, week, month, or even year deter you from chasing after the things you want.

It’s important to note that not all goals have to be long term. If you want to eat the world’s biggest slice or pizza or work your way to running a 5k those things can be done in a relatively short amount of time. My advice is to balance the big goals with smaller, more easy to accomplish ones so that completing those tasks will help keep you motivated to fight for the bigger picture.

Categories
News

Making the most of working on a holiday

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day in the United States. Unlike Christmas, when the vast majority of citizens are given the day off work in order to be with family and friends, this day is a bit trickier. Schools are closed. The postal service and all other government offices are closed. Banks are closed, too.

Everything else, for the most part, is business as usual.

Unless your job falls into one of those categories mentioned at the very top of this post you are probably stuck at work right now just like us. Your social feeds will be filled with contacts who managed to get away for the day, but you, like us, have not. You need to work.

The problem with working on holidays like today is that you never really know who else is going to be working. The likelihood of your emails being read or your calls being taken today is lower than it will be on any other Monday in 2017, but still – you have things you need to accomplish.

With all this in mind, here are a few suggestions we have on how to make the most of your day at the office (while everyone else is busy having fun):

Review your progress on current goals

Most Mondays are so busy you barely have time to get situated before you’re pulled into a day of conversation, phone calls, and email, but today is different. Today is moving at a much slower pace, which means you should be able to step back and assess precisely what it is you are doing with your life. Are you still on track to achieve your professional goals? How about personal ones?

Get caught up

This can pertain any task big or small. If there is something you have been putting off because it’s too hard or boring or some combination of the two then today is the day you make a change. Do that thing you don’t want to do and get it out of the way.

Plan ahead

While things are quiet, pull out your personal calendar and begin outlining the next several weeks/months of your life. What do you need to do, and when will you make time to do it? Should you be doing more? Less? Figure it out.

Educate yourself

The world is changing much faster than we realize. Your field of expertise is likely undergoing a major evolution right now and you need to stay atop the latest trends, as well as any new developments. Consume editorials. Look up reports on consumer behavior. Check news feeds. Get caught up on your business before your business passes you by.

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News

5 Questions to ask yourself before setting goals for the new year

This morning I woke up to learn it was -7 degree Fahrenheit outside. This was not the wind chill estimate, but in fact the actual temperature. It was a moment of horror that soon gave way to reflection because the sheer fact it’s possible for such a cold to set in can mean only one thing, and that is that we are almost to the end of 2016. A new year is less than three weeks away and to be completely honest I am not at all prepared.

Working online is a constant battle between what you want to be doing and what cultural trends demand that you do. Maybe you want to write a daily editorial on something that matters to you, but you also need to exist on social media, actively market your existing work, and plan for what you will do over the next several days, weeks, months, etc. Heck, I spent more than three hours of my weekend scheduling tweets to run during the holidays so that I might spend a little more time with family and a little less staring at my phone (note I said less and not ‘no time at all’ because – let’s face it – that simply isn’t a reality for most right now).

So there I was, avoiding the cold and contemplating the approaching new year. The one thought running through my mind over and over was what it was I wanted to do in 2017 that I have as of yet been unable to accomplish. I’m sure many of you have or will find yourself internally debating this same question in the days to come if you have not already begun to do so. Most of us never thought we could get a foot in the door of this business, so usually we’re pretty happy just to be here in the moment working on whatever is immediately in front of us, but we owe it to ourselves to look up and think about what could lie on the horizon. It took a world of belief in yourself to get this far, so you – and I – can’t stop now.

Here are a few things I encourage you to think ask yourself when contemplating the places you will go in the year ahead:

Is what I’m doing right now making me truly happy?

No one gets into music because they dislike music, but just because you’ve gotten your foot in the door or found a role that helps pay the bills does not mean your journey has to come to an end, or even stall. We have all spent our lives being told that next to no one makes it in the entertainment business, and because of this we have a tendency to not want to risk what little success we have already found. This may be good for the sake of security, but in the grand scheme of existence all you are really doing by not chasing after exactly what it is that you want to do is restricting a part of yourself. You are preventing yourself from becoming the person you feel you were meant to be in order to please someone or some thing other than yourself. That may provide short term happiness, but it will absolutely create longterm regret. 2017 should be the year you focus in on what makes you happy and pursue it with all the strength you have in your bones.

Am I making the most of my time?

Laziness is a disease that infects us all to varying degrees. What few people will tell you is that the extent laziness impacts your life is entirely in your control. Just like how we all have a habit of settling for the first opportunity that comes our way we also have a habit of wasting time we know could be better spent focusing on our goals. Maybe you tweet too much (guilty), or perhaps you scroll Facebook even after complaining to everyone you know about how awful Facebook is these days (also guilty). Maybe you sleep until the last possible minute every morning and rush to work without eating a good breakfast or exercising (guilty again). Whatever the case, there are things you do on a regular basis that deep down you know are nothing more than a waste of time and resources. Identify those elements in your life and set to minimizing them in the new year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t relax, but if you feel something you are doing is not right you need to listen to that sensation and correct your path.

How can I work towards my goals without sacrificing something I need (work/money/etc)?

Reaching almost any goal requires some kind of sacrifice on your part, but you have to be smart about what you sacrifice or else you may get yourself into trouble. If your passions lie outside your current workplace and you have no other way to make money then you probably shouldn’t quit your job to pursue your dream full time. Dreams require money. Life requires money. You have to make sure your needs are met in order to have the mental clarity needed to pursue your passions. I like to say people should sacrifice within reason, or sacrifice what they are able, as long as it does not interfere with their quality of life in such a way that they are doing harm to themselves and/or their families.

What can I do to improve life for those around me?

If your bucket list for the new year reads like the agenda of a person who has the world’s biggest ego then your brain is leading you down a broken path. Happiness in life comes from much more than personal gain. You know that saying about how it’s cold at the top? People say that because they often reach the pinnacle of their personal journey and realize they have left behind the people, places, and things that mean the most to them. Victory doesn’t have to be a lonely thing, but you have to be conscious about your actions if you wish to lift up everyone around you in 2017. Helping others often improves happiness far more than personal accomplishments, and it does so while developing better relationships with those who mean the most to you.

How will reaching my goals for 2017 help me in 2018 and beyond?

Life is about the journey, not the destination, so you shouldn’t be looking at 2017 and thinking it will be the last year you ever have goals. Knowing where you want to be in two, five, or even ten years can help you figure out what you need to do in the coming months in order to achieve your long term goals. Once you reach them, set more and repeat the process over and over again until you die. Life is for the living. Keep your head up, your hopes high, and never let a bad day, week, month, or even year deter you from chasing after the things you want.

It’s important to note that not all goals have to be long term. If you want to eat the world’s biggest slice or pizza or work your way to running a 5k those things can be done in a relatively short amount of time. My advice is to balance the big goals with smaller, more easy to accomplish ones so that completing those tasks will help keep you motivated to fight for the bigger picture.

James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine and the host of the Inside Music podcast. You should follow him on Twitter.

Categories
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BRACE YOURSELVES: The annual music industry slowdown is coming

As much as things are always changing in the music industry there is still a lot that remains the same. Beginning at the end of October every year, the music business as a whole quietly starts winding down operations in anticipation of the holiday season. Most major PR firms and labels offer employees anywhere from 1-3 weeks near the end of the year because there is little to no new business to be done. Everyone is typically too busy with family and celebrations – as they should be – to care about work, and so far 2016 appears to be no different.

While this is an awesome thing for those fortunate enough to have full-time employment in music it is often frustrating for those on the come up. Bloggers and music writers, for example, have to work harder and harder to keep their readership up as the industry begins to release less and less news. This, all while the number of singles and albums released week to week from notable artists takes a significant plunge.

Similar frustrations exist for independent professionals in management, publicity, production, and all other corners of the industry. Unless you are making enough money to live comfortably for a month without any new income, the end of the calendar year always seems to add a bit extra stress to daily life. Family and holidays help to ease the mind, of course, but such downtimes can start to feel like an attempt at financially treating water if one does not plan in advance.

Knowing the slowdown is coming is a good step toward not losing your mind when work essentially grinds to a halt here in four weeks time, but there are things you can do to prepare as well:

  • Starting today, make a calendar from now until the end of the year detailing all the work you hope to accomplish. If you’re an artist, outline you creative goals as well as your promotion ones. If you run a blog, outline your planned features and when you want them to run. Be specific.
  • Speak with any collaborators, parents, or bandmates you may have about holiday travel plans. Everyone deserves time to disconnect and be with family. Knowing when people plan to unplug can prevent any problems over responsibilities and activity from interrupting someone’s time with their loved ones.
  • Make a plan to disconnect yourself. Contrary to what that crazy voice inside your head may be telling you there are very few, if any, people expecting you to be steadily churning out new work throughout the final two weeks of 2016. All websites see a decline in traffic around Christmas and New Year. Many artists see a decline in attendance at shows as well. People are still enjoying music and engaging with it, but their focus is largely on other, far more important things. Don’t miss out on time with your family because you believe you are able to be the creative that changes this global trend. For once, accept that you, like everyone else, needs a break.
  • Set goals for the new year. Once you plan the remainder of 2016 and set aside time for relaxation you might as well get a head start on your plans for 2017. You’ll no doubt want to hit the ground running once the holidays have all passed, and having a plan of action in place is a good way to ensure that happens.
  • Take time to reflect on – and take pride in – what you have accomplished this year. All creative people that I know are hard on themselves far more often than they should be because they have an insatiable thirst to see what else can be done. While a drive to keep pushing forward is admirable it can also be problematic. There will always be another task to complete or achievement to unlock. The mountain never ends, so if you’re waiting to reach the top before celebrating your successes that time will never come. The end of the year slowdown creates a unique opportunity to disengage from the day to day struggle long enough to look at your body of work as a whole. Don’t miss out.

James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine and host of the Inside Music podcast. We recommend you follow him on Twitter.

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Plan Now: SXSW is less than six months away

This morning I was walking to work when I noticed the leaves were starting to change. The summer temperatures seem to be lasting a little longer than usual, but soon fall will be in full swing and before we know it snow will be in the forecast. The sight of the trees lead me to thinking about the future, and then it hit me:

SXSW is less than six months away.

In fact, in exactly six months there will be tens of thousands who are just getting home from their time in Austin. They will be exhausted, possibly sunburned, and many will swear they are never going to drink again, but all will have a head filled with memories of connections made and one-of-a-kind moments experienced. They will have new friends, new musical addictions, and a craving for the dry heat of Texas that they will cherish so much they won’t even mind the credit card bills they racked up on Sixth Street because every cent will have been worth it.

We have been going to SXSW for years now, and each one is honestly better than the last. There is an energy to the city of Austin during those two weeks that is palpable in every nook and cranny of the world’s largest music gathering. More importantly, there are passionate industry professionals from all walks of life looking to change the business for the better through collaboration and new experiences. You can meet the person who changes your professional life forever at SXSW just as easily as you could meet your next best friend. Some people even meet their future spouse at SXSW!

We do not get paid to say SXSW is a place where the most passionate music fans from all over the world come to celebrate the art form and consider where it may go in the future, but that is the honest truth. There is plenty to be said about the rampant corporate branding and whether or not allowing companies like Doritos to promote themselves by having Billboard chart-topping talent perform on a multi-story vending machine stage just several hundred feet from a complete unknown talent hoping to get noticed is “cool” or “on brand,” but at the end of the day none of that really matters. What matters are the experiences to be had, and they are truly unlike anything you will find in any other festival or city on this Earth.

This is all a very long-winded way of saying you should be planning to attend SXSW 2017 and that the time to plan is right now. You should actually have plans underway already, but if not this post will hopefully get you to get into motion. SXSW is costly and hectic. You can wing it if you so desire, but in order to make the most of your time in Austin you need to be meticulous about your preparation. Figure out how you’re getting in, book a hotel or AirBNB, and start looking into flights or estimated the cost of gas. It would also be a good idea to make sure your knowledge of hydration is up to snuff, and that you’re working out regularly as there will be a lot of walking under an often hot sun while you’re in Texas. After you’ve got all that going, make a list of what you’ll need to bring and what you hope to accomplish. As the March nears, beginning making plans with others planning to go and lay the groundwork for meetings you goals ahead of your arrival in Austin.

SXSW will change your life, but the extent of that change depends on the work you put into your time in Austin. Start now.

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