Tag Archive for: John Cleese

Creativity Is NOT a Talent

Creativity Crayon image

My good friend Wade Sutton sent me a link to a video of the amazing John Cleese (from the Monty Python comedic team) giving a speech on creativity.  I was blown away.  The video is 36 minutes but I highly recommend watching it because it’s worth it.Creativity John Cleese

I thought an article on some creative exercises would be a nice follow up to my last article which discouraged being derivative.

Here’s the breakdown on Cleese’s speech until you have time to view it.

Creativity is NOT a talent, it’s a way of operating.

 

Creativity is NOT an ability that you either have or do not have, again, it’s a method of operation.

Creativity is NOT a talentCreativity is NOT in any way whatsoever attached to your IQ.

In the 1970’s Donald Wallace McKinnon extensively researched the mysteries of creativity at UC-Berkeley.  McKinnon showed in investigating artists, engineers, scientists, and writers that those regarded by their peers to be “most creative” were in no way whatsoever different in IQ from their “less creative” colleagues.

 

 

McKinnon observed that the creatives had a facility for getting themselves into a “mood” or state of mind that allowed their natural creativity to surface. Creativity childlike vs childish

He described it as an ability to “play”.

He observed the playful mood as “childlike” among most of the creative people he studied.  He went on to articulate that when they were childlike they were able to play or explore ideas with no practical purpose whatsoever. They were playing strictly for FUN and ENJOYMENT.

Cleese goes on to mention a separate study that breaks down the functions of people into 2 modes OPEN and CLOSED.

CLOSED – is the mode we are in most of our lives. CLOSED is where we are purposeful with our actions. We are getting it done, practical, pragmatic, businesslike, executing. This mode comes with a certain sense of anxiety, hustle, pressure, and is very results driven.

Creativity cannot happen when in the closed mode.

Creativity open Closed

 

 

OPEN – is a state of creativity.  Open to anything.

 

 

***NOTE*** the CLOSED mode is necessary to execute that which was created in the OPEN mode.

Here are 5 conditions that will help you get into the OPEN mode necessary for creativity to occur.  Cleese offered up a disclaimer saying this doesn’t GUARANTEE you’ll get into the open mode, rather it will facilitate more consistent results.

  1. Space – You can’t be playful and therefore creative under your usual pressures because to cope with these stresses one must be in the CLOSED mode. You need IMG_2098undisturbed space away from your daily duties. Think of it as a creative oasis of sorts
  2. Time – You need to create this oasis for a specific period of time. Having a precise starting and ending time allows you to seal yourself off from the outside world and thus, the closed mode in which we habitually operate.
    1. It’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent (phone calls, email, laundry, errands, etc.) than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking.
    2. It’s easier to do little things we KNOW we can do rather than do big things we not so sure about.
    3. Therefore your brain will undoubtedly begin your creative time by defocusing on little things to avoid the distress of having to think. Give yourself some time and it will calm down, much like meditation.
    4. Because you need time to calm your brain down, don’t set aside 30 minute pocket watchcreative timeslots, rather set up a 90 minute slot. That will leave you with a solid hour of real production.
  3. Time – yes this is a second “time”. How do you USE this oasis you’ve created?
    1. There is an anxiety or discomfort living without a solution to a problem like an original verse or chorus for your new song.
    2. Because of this many artists make a decision on the first solution they come up with to quickly eliminate the discomfort.
    3. The most creative professionals always “played” with a problem for much longer before they chose a solution. They were prepared to tolerate the discomfort and anxiety of not having an answer for a bit longer.
      1. (Are you happy with a lyric because it’s A solution or because it’s the best solution?)
    4. Cleese says to give your mind as long as possible to come up with something ORIGINAL.
  4. Confidence – Nothing will stop your creativity so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.Creativity Confidence Meter
    1. To play is to experiment with an openness to any direction.
    2. You are either free to play or you are not.
    3. You cannot be playful if you’re frightened that moving in some direction is wrong or bad.
    4. You cannot be spontaneous “within reason”.
    5. To get confidence you must know that while you’re being creative nothing is wrong. There’s no such thing as a mistake and ANY drivel could lead to the breakthrough you search.
  5. Humor – Gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.
    1. Humor makes us playful
    2. Humor is an essential part of the spontaneity, playfulness, and creativity we so desperately need to solve problems no matter how serious they may be.Creativity Have A Sense Of Humor 2
    3. Being humorous about serious subject matter does not make the subject any less serious.

 

 

 

John goes state that if you put the “pondering time” in you will be rewarded at some point.  You will receive a gift from your unconscious in the near future when you least expect it.

That means punch in y’all.

 

Creativity Always be positiveIt’s also easier to be creative with more people.  However there is a very real danger that if 1 person makes you feel defensive you lose the confidence to feel playful and it’s bye-bye creativity.

Be careful to work with people that are positive and always be positive yourself!

Never say “No”, “Wrong”, or “I don’t like that”.  Always build on what’s being said with phrases like “Would it be even better if”, “Go on”, “What if”, “Let’s pretend”, and “I don’t quite understand that, would you mind explaining it again?”

 

Try to establish as free of an environment as possible.

 

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The Songwriter Future

It’s interesting to watch human nature during a massive paradigm shift within any industry; a songwriter is no different. We hate change. The more successful we are in any particular field the more removed we are from the undercurrent that is facilitating the change; and the more we fight it.

It makes sense, really, you make money via a certain pipeline or methodology and you get good at it, you have those relationships, you have that “groove” down. When something comes into the market that is disruptive to the status Songwriting Hate Change imagequo, we rebel.

We don’t trust it

We don’t want to start over.

We can’t think about the concept of it except for remembering and waxing about the way it was.

It doesn’t stop disruption from arriving, though.

I like disruption.

The music industry has certainly been disrupted by the internet, Napster, streaming technologies, too much consumer choice, etc.

What does the future of a professional songwriter look like?

Tomorrow will be way different, but it IS better.

Listen, all the answers are not in place yet. Big thinkers are working as we speak to identify and fill some of the vacuums that are being created with these disruptions.

Trust the Free Market

Trust the free market, many people will discover ways to make consistent money selling music on the internet. Then they will figure out ways to bring the supply to the demand. THAT fact we can count on.

If we look at what making a living as a songwriter used to be like, we can better understand the mindset songwriters currently have. Once we identify the old mindset and define it for what it is, which is old, we can tackle what’s going on now.

 

 

file9351251928986The old business model provided big bucks to the lucky few who could find their way into the party. The words “Lucky” and “Few” are the key words in the previous sentence because there are only a very limited amount of coveted radio slots to spin songs. So the club was exclusive, man.

 

 

If we generalize (yes, I’m REALLY generalizing but you get the point), a hit single, more specifically a #1 single on the country charts, is worth about $1 million of overall performance revenue unless it crosses over to the Pop market, then it is worth more. For the argument, let’s stick to $1 million. Since a #1 single requires “X” amount of radio spins in the same markets, the performance revenue difference between 1999 and 2014 is relatively the same.

Here is where a songwriter suffers today: mechanical royalties.

Mechanical royalties are paid to the songwriter based on record sales.

Let’s study a few of the top selling country records released in 1999 (Just 15 years ago) and 2014, dissect the sales of each (so we can determine the mechanical royalty income), and create some comparative data.

With this information we can calculate a paycheck on gross mechanical royalties for a songwriter.

In 1999 the mechanical royalty rate was 7.1 cents per song. A “cut” on a record would pay the songwriter 7.1 cents for every record sold.

  • 100,000 Units sold would generate $7,100 in gross revenue
  • 500,000 (Gold) sold would generate $35,500 in gross revenueOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  • 1 Million (Platinum) would generate $71,000 in gross revenue
  • 10 Million (Diamond) would generate $710,000 in gross revenue

These numbers are for ONE song-cut on a record that may or may not be a single. A single, of course, would generate a whole other huge cash register of performance royalties.

Let’s look at a few of the most popular country records released in 1999 and attribute the songwriter revenue to each. NOTE: publishers share of royalties would be 50% and the co-writers would split accordingly; we are just looking at gross revenue.

  • Dixie Chicks “Fly” 12 Million Units sold
    •  1 song cut = $852,000 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    •  #1 Single = $852,000 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Faith Hill “Breathe” 8 Million Units soldSongwriter Faith Hill Breathe image
    •  1 song cut = $568,000 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $568,000 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Tim McGraw “A Place In The Sun” 3 Million Units sold
    • 1 song cut = $213,00 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $213,000 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • LeAnn Rimes “LeAnn Rimes” 1 Million Units sold
    • 1 song cut = $71,000 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $71,000 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Gary Allan, Reba McEntire, Toby Keith, Keith Urban, and Montgomery-Gentry are just a few all the artists that had platinum records in 1999 so everyone was going platinum if you didn’t go platinum you damn sure went gold.

Now let’s look at a few of the top selling records for 2013 (the mechanical royalty rate has risen to 9.1 cents)

  • Luke Bryan “Crash My Party” 1.9 Million Units soldSongwriter Luke Bryan image
    • 1 song cut = $172,900 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $172,900 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Blake Shelton “Based On A True Story” 1 Million Units sold
    • 1 song cut = $91,000 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $91,000 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Keith Urban “Fuse” 354,000 Units sold
    • 1 Song Cut = $32,214 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $32,214 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Kenny Chesney “Life On A Rock” 392,000 Units sold
    • 1 song cut = $35,672 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $35,672 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)
  • Darius Rucker “True Believers” 502,000 Units sold
    • 1 Song cut = $45,682 in gross mechanical royalty revenue
    • #1 Single = $45,682 (gross mechanical royalties) + $1 Million (gross performance royalties)

FYI, I believe these were all #1 records in 2013.

You see the difference? Record labels are releasing fewer records because they are making less money per record and nobody is really buying records anymore. Sheesh!

Just a quick glance at the difference between songwriter revenues in 1999 vs. 2013 shows that without a #1 single, the revenue is around 10%-18% of what it used to be 15 years ago. You used to be able to make a seriously good living with a cut on a record that would never be spun on the radio but that has significantly changed.

The AWESOME performance royalty revenue is on its way out too. As terrestrial radio continues to erode a hit single will definitely dwindle in financial significance.

So what does the future look like for a songwriter?

I think the outlook is good and certainly accommodating to more writers. Before you really had to be “in-crowd” to get a cut, much less a single. Cuts were rare and singles even more rare, but they paid WELL. So we judged our Songwriting Exclusive imagerevenue and/or potential revenue per song or per artist as 1 song had the power to change everything.

The key to success for the songwriter of the future will be volume. The songwriter business model of the future is not really going to have any “home runs” in it, it will be founded on “base hits” instead: lots of base hits.

1 hit song, even right now, has an amazing revenue potential, the kind of financial impact that results in an “Achy Breaky kitchen”, an “Achy Breaky Ferrari”, or an “Achy Breaky west wing of the house”

The future will belong to fragmented, unexciting, financially insignificant revenue streams per song. The “living” we all aspire to make will reside in the aggregate revenue of many songs; many base hits.

Songwriter Moneyball imageThink the true story plot of the baseball movie “Moneyball” and apply it to songwriting. It’s all about base hits now guys.

I see a smart minded songwriter changing his business approach to coupling with as many artists as they can. Maybe between mechanical royalties and performance royalties (from YouTube for instance) a songwriter will make only $2,000-$3,000 per song, per year. However, there is no velvet rope, no terrestrial-radio-log-jam to limit the universe of revenue bearing opportunities, essentially no tyranny of space.

So ideally, a prolific songwriter could place 20-30 songs a year or more into a pipeline that generates revenue. The revenue could also be consistent meaning that if a songwriter placed 20 songs into the pipeline that generated $2,000 per song each per year they would gross $40,000 in revenue; the next year they could add to that.

It’s conceivable that the songwriter could build up his/her book of business over time well into the 6 figure range.

Keep writing. The world is about to change.

 

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6 Music Industry Myths

Myths-Feature-image-2

I was reading a Bob Lefsetz blog post called “Myths“ the other day and it got me thinking (btw, you should subscribe and be reading Lefsetz too) Bob’s a little negative sometimes but there is good, ACCURATE information in there. It’s free, we can never have enough education).

Here are 6 additional myths I thought I would add to the mix with specific regards to the music industry.

Myth #1

Good music will find its own audience. This is categorically untrue.

  • Step 1: make good music!file00041345220
  • Step 2: you have to expose that good music to TONS of people and THEN they will respond to you.
  • In other words YOU have to find your audience.
  • There is a flashpoint somewhere after a massive amount of people are exposed to good music and it takes on a life of its own.
  • It doesn’t happen “magically” on the merits of the music alone, sorry

Myth #2

Your music video will possibly go viral on YouTube.

  • Again, 99.9999% of the time the viral videos are from artists (like Karmin [90 million views now] andNoah Myth Viral Video image[21 million views]) that built up a solid foundation of subscribers through consistent WORK and content before their big video went viral.
  • There are always exceptions to the rule, but if your business model is founded on the success of these very rare occurrences you’re naive; you’re setting yourself up for needless disappointment.
  • FYI, the algorithms change, ranking you higher on YouTube, when a large amount of people view a video within hours of it being posted.
  • The better ranking can post you on the front page of YouTube thus creating a ton of organic traffic.
  • Then it takes on a life of its own when corporate money comes in.

Myth #3

If you make a “demo” of your music then “shop” it to the labels you might get a record deal.

  • Myth Record Labels imageThis procedure was once the normal protocol but that process died 15-20 years ago, seriously. Anybody telling you this is the way to go is out of touch by a decade or two.
  • Of course there are VERY rare exceptions to the rule, but again, if you are basing your future on these exceptions you are betting your entire future on winning the lottery. I mean, it COULD happen, right?
  • Record labels don’t really develop talent like they used to because they can’t afford it anymore.
  • EXAMPLE: In 1978 when Tom Petty released “Damn the Torpedoes” it cost $8.00, that’s the same as $27.14 today.
  • Multiply $27.14 times 500,000, then 1 million, then 10 million. Get it?
  • You are going to have to figure out how to create real momentum on your own.
  • You are going to have to be at least a regional success with a profitable business model before you get your major label deal.
  • FYI, by that time, you probably won’t need the majors anyway. LOL.

Myth #4

Once You get a record deal life will be easier; you’ve made it, you’re finally getting paid. This is so wrong!

  • With the current business model of every record label, once you are signed you now enter into a club where Myth Easy Street imageonly 10% of the artists make money and succeed. The remaining 90% reside in the “artist protection program”; meaning they don’t make money and often can’t get out of their deal.
  • The work STARTS once you get your deal and by that time you better have your team-building, business savvy, and communication skill sets at a very high level or you will be forgotten and put aside; there are just too many people who know how to play the game better than you, that are waiting to take your place.

Myth #5

Artists like Taylor Swift and Trent Reznor made it because they were rich so if you had their money you would make it too. FALSE!

  • Yes, they were rich.
  • Taylor’s father invested GREATLY in her career and Trent is a descendant of the Reznor Air Conditioning Company.file3061238876703
  • Yes, money doesn’t hurt your chances but it isn’t everything.
  • Consider this; there is no shortage of money.
  • If it were just about cash everyone with money who wanted to be a star would be one.
  • It takes WAY more than just money; you have to be the right person in the right place at the right time. (that line is stolen from former Taylor Swift manager Rick Barker)
  • I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone throw PANT-LOADS of money at a career and nothing happens.
  • I’ve seen parents spend over $100,000 on a record for their children with the best producers and nothing happened with it.
  • I’ve seen a father spend $500k to get his daughter on a major tour with a country legend and nothing happened.
  • I’ve seen an artist get an investor with $850K, blow the marketing money on a tour bus (yes, that’s right, a depreciating asset with no tour to use it on because no demand was created, so no revenue stream was produced) and then get an additional $1,000,000.00 and a major label deal (you’ve never heard of this artist, probably never will.)
  • I promise you that Trent Reznor and Taylor Swift have outworked all of you.
  • Trent got a job at a recording studio in Cleveland in the mid-80’s to gain access to the recording equipment late at night where he created the first Nine Inch Nails record, when did he sleep?
  • Taylor had TENS OF THOUSANDS of MySpace fans long before she ever recorded her first song for a record label. She constantly asked the fans what they wanted her to write about; THIS is how she found her audience and connected with them.
  • Think about all work these artists did with little or no immediate return on the time invested.
  • Do you have that kind of resolve about your music?

Myth #6

Writing a hit song happens magically.

  • Look sometimes this does happen but not until the writers understand and honor the fact that songwriting is aMyth Billboard image craft.
  • They KNOW how to toil over the lyrics, melodies, chord changes and work their butts off to do it right.
  • Once you get this concept and put in some serious time, the Gods just might throw a 5-minute hit song in your lap. Yes that song “wrote itself” but it takes a lifetime of work to make it that easy.

 

 

 

 

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