What the hell does 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, a marshmallow and a Kindergartener have to do with your artist career?
Answer: Everything.
These were the raw materials presented to several different 4-person groups with a specific challenge.
The Challenge: Each group has 18 minutes to build the tallest freestanding structure they could with the given materials but the marshmallow has to be on top.
In Tom Wujec’s captivating TED Talk, he explains that this task seems simple enough, but it’s actually pretty hard because it forces people to collaborate quickly. Wujec mentions that there is something about this exercise that reveals deep lessons about the nature of collaboration and I would add, the nature of creativity.
Creativity in creating art.
Creativity in marketing art.
Typically, each team spends the first minutes of their precious time orienting themselves to the task. They talk about how the structure will look. They also jockey for position and rank amongst the team (I always say in any band, somebody has to be John, somebody has to be Paul, somebody has to be George, and somebody has to be Ringo…but I digress).
Then the group begins planning, organizing, and they lay out the spaghetti.
Next, the group will spend the majority of their time assembling the sticks into ever-growing structures and finally, as the clock is winding down, somebody grabs the marshmallow and gingerly puts it on top; Ta-Da!
Gasp!
Then they stand back and admire their work, but what mostly happens is the “Ta-Da†moment turns into an “Uh-Oh†as the weight of the marshmallow buckles the poorly designed structure and it collapses.
They could try to do it again, but they’re out of time.
What’s interesting is that the same groups have more “Uh-Oh†moments than others.
The group that consistently performs the worst are recent graduates of business school.
The group that consistently has more “Ta-Da†moments during these experiments are recent graduates of Kindergarten.
Even more compelling is not only do these 5-year-olds constantly produce the tallest reliable structures, they also produce the most creatively interesting structures.
Whoa! You must be asking yourself, why?
There are a few reasons. The first is that none of the 5-year-olds spend any time trying to be CEO of Spaghetti Inc., they don’t jockey for power and prestige amongst the group.
That’s a gripping statistic all by itself. The Kindergarteners don’t overthink the project or the social structure within the group, they just get down the business of making cool stuff!
What’s more enthralling is that business students are trained to find the single right plan and then they execute on it. Therefore, they put the marshmallow on the top at the end. Then it fails but they’re out of time so it becomes a CRISIS!
What the Kindergarteners do differently is they start with the marshmallow. They are always putting the marshmallow on top, failing, then tweaking the prototype and attempting again. So, their “uneducated†process is to prototype-refine, prototype-refine, and so on until they run out of time. But by then they’ve figured out a couple ways NOT to do it and stumbled onto a successful design.
The Kindergartener’s process supplies instant feedback about what works and what doesn’t work and they adjust accordingly.
They learn from the previous failures.
Kindergarteners regularly outperformed groups of business school graduates, lawyers, and CEO’s of fortune 50 companies. The only group that habitually beat the kids were architects and engineers.
Even more interesting is that the CEO’s performance was greatly improved if an executive administrator was added into the mix. This was because the Executive admins have special skills of facilitation. They manage the process.
Fascinating, right?
Ask yourself how educated and how effective you are on managing different processes in your career. If you’re lacking GET HELP.
I think some of you behave like business school graduates with regards to creating your art. You’ve been taught to do that, so you must unlearn it. JUST DO IT. Just keep writing and tinkering until you start to create something that works. This approach will also help you with the occasional bouts of apathy or writer’s block as well. Set aside some time to be creative and then…create!
Not for nothing, this is how John Lennon and Paul McCartney honed their songwriting skills. Admittedly, their first 50-150 songs (depending on the interview you read) were complete rubbish.
Most of you behave like business school graduates when it comes to marketing your music. In this case, society and the inaccurate little stories you tell yourselves about marketing are the “education†that is crippling your performances.
Because your (understandable) negative feelings and reactions to poor marketing or the idea of marketing are so strong, you choose not to learn about marketing. It’s easier to tell yourself that someone will discover you and they’ll take care of necessary “finding your audience†part of the equation.
I wanted to share this TED Talk with you because marketing for each artist is always unique. Fans often react to attributes we weren’t thinking about when we market our artists here at Daredevil Production.
Thus, with your marketing, you should expect a boatload of failure just like the Kindergarteners.
Refine your failed approach, try something new, and repeat.
This is the formula for success with marketing your music which allows you to connect with your audience.
Do you see how it’s just like writing a song? “Well, that didn’t work, would it be better if we did this?â€
The market reality is that MOST artists either choose not to market or they market their music poorly.
We don’t see, hear, or talk anything about the artists who choose not to market, do we?
Read that one more time and let it sink in.
What’s more concerning is that, as humans, we predictably react depressingly to the artist that have crappy marketing techniques.
Again, MOST artists (and labels) don’t know what they’re doing online so it’s freaking EVERYWHERE we turn!
This barrage of noise and negative anti-marketing-matter creep into our psyches and we subconsciously develop an aversion towards marketing.
Marketing makes us sick.
But the secret lies in the fact that the artists who can identify this dynamic within themselves and begin to shamelessly prototype different marketing approaches will TOWER over their competition. They’ll dominate quickly as well.
It’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn’t rocket science either. It’s just work.
You’ll figure it out if you just have the courage and scientific approach of a Kindergartener.
This isn’t the old record business where a failure would ruin your career (Think Billy Squier’s “Rock Me Tonight†video) because it was broadcast to a huge audience.
No, this is the new music business. A failure means NOBODY SAW IT so you’re right where you started; undiscoverable. No blood no foul.
Now, the question is, are you smarter than a Kindergartener?
Stay
In
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Many of you have now become aware of different indie artist self-help gurus and they have one common message; collect contact data.
The old methodology to break an artist was blasting the message about the artist via many different mass media channels. As tens of millions of people are exposed to the artist’s work via radio, TV, print mediums, and live shows, we would get a small percentage of new fans to become aware of that artist or song. Once a single person has been exposed to the artist via mass media at least 7 or 8 times (which requires massive frequency in the message) the more we will begin to convert those new fans into paying customers.
He said something like this, “Johnny, I cut my teeth on multiple MTV shows where I was the host. I’m currently signed with Disney as I am a cast member on a new ABC reality show. I just dropped a single featuring Snoop Dog, we’re shooting the video next week. I parlayed all that heat into a new reality show on Bravo (which isn’t in production yet). I sold out 5,000 tickets for a show last New Year’s Eve. Oh, and I’ll know in the next 2 weeks if I get the lead role in a feature film for a major franchise (because it’s between me and one other guy). So, tell me, how would your marketing approach apply to me?â€
you feel like following somebody first is smart or do you feel following somebody first will undermine your fame?) we go out and follow them all. Then, to the ones who follow us back, we offer a free song download or something valuable to them. Now we own the information. If we did that for both MTV shows, the new ABC show, collected information during your sold-out NYE show, and the Bravo show how many contacts would we have? Oh, let’s not forget the Snoop Dog single! If you’re in the video with him, that’s instant credibility for you. Snoop’s social media wells are the gift that will keep on giving. After all that, could we maybe have 1 million emails? NOW, apply that power to the conversations you’re having with the huge feature film franchise. If it’s between you and one other guy, it’s safe to say that they like your acting chops, they like your look, but the only thing they need to figure out is who is going to fit better. What if you had 1 million contacts who are rabidly awaiting your next message that would directly receive the trailer and some BTS access during shooting? THAT’s TICKET SALES. THAT’S MONEY! THAT’S POWER!â€
Envision the record labels coming to you because you have an audience, you can quantify that audience, and you can contact them directly.
Most great indie artists have incredible art but experience challenges connecting to new fans because their marketing approach needs tweaking.
Third, how about your live shows?
You’d have to sell the rest of the record company on the idea of YOU. One champion, even if they had signing power wasn’t enough to move a record label to perform for you. You need everyone on board. But that required selling. There are plenty of artists who were signed by the owner of the label but they’re sitting on a shelf because the staff doesn’t get it.
Would you prefer to control your destiny or let someone you don’t know control it for you?
The first Dan Reed Network record suffered a painful, slow death because of abandonment.
Somewhere along the line, the band apprehensively switched management companies to Q-Prime with Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein. Q-Prime ironically started with and were still managing Def Leppard (along with Metallica, Queensryche, AC/DC, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and some other huge acts).
Why would you want to be signed before you crafted some leverage to apply to the deal?
Bring them an audience and you’ll get what you want.
I’ve grown Daredevil Production the same way. I find the audience first. It’s so easy (and FUN) to make relationships with important managers, producers, label executives, booking agents, etc. by bringing them business as opposed to asking for a favor.
right now in your career.
Roger Bannister proved it was possible and provided a cure for an “ailment†that was considered incurable.
Your “ailmentâ€, your “myth†is that indie artists feel it’s too difficult to become successful these days and/or they need a label to do it.
If you’re an artist with a ton of talent, but no audience, my biggest fear for you is what if the label says “YES�
Most of you would say Superman because that identity was kept secret, duh.
You can be blessed and grateful, but shrewd at the same time.
It’s a false reality.
Ask 1,000 people if they need new music and they’ll tell you they’re all set up.
You must continue to build the buzz until you reach a certain “critical mass†and then the brand takes on a life of its own.
By the time you hopped on board with most music/artist brands, critical mass was already achieved. Therefore, your experience was that once you were turned onto the artist, you became excited and told a friend or two. Then they might have experienced a little excitement from you but they heard about it again and again on the radio, TV, or from other friends.
Get it?