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Are record stores worth saving? More thoughts...
Interesting in hearing what you think. How do you purchase music? Are you still making physical albums or are you releasing everything digitally? Let me know below...
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The idea that you can “do it all” is a myth. Trying to “do it all” usually ends in doing many things poorly or few things with loss of interest. Time management was never designed as a method to get you to work beyond your endurance to exhaustion.
Many people do and call it success. Others end their work years early with heart attacks, strokes, frustration and burnout. They got more than they bargained for but they didn’t get it all.
Before any time management system can be helpful in your work, you have to admit that you can’t do it all. This system won’t expand time, it merely helps you to track, plan and evaluate time use. Get out of your mind the notion that you even need to “do it all”. You’ll live longer if you do.
Set reasonable goals that can be accomplished in a reasonable amount of time. You may want to earn a master’s in business administration in two years but you can only attend night classes and you have young children at home.
Even if the grandparents are willing to baby-sit while you are in class, how many hours a day can you go full speed? You have work hours, transportation times, class hours, homework and spending some time with your children. Before long, you are barely surviving on coffee, energy drinks and four hours sleep. That’s abusing time, not managing time.
Granted in some early career paths and with some companies, you are expected to be a slave to their every whim. If you are willing to sacrifice years of your life, miss your children’s growing up years and risk your health for a promotion that may or may not happen, then go ahead. Just remember the old saying, “time waits for no one.” You don’t get a second chance to use that time so think long about how you want to invest your time; in jobs or in people.
Yes, when you are new in a career or get a promotion, you can expect to give additional effort. You are trading irreplaceable time of your life for a job that could vanish tomorrow when the company goes bankrupt, outsources your task to less expensive labor or moves across the country with little warning.
When you develop time management strategies that help you be a dedicated, not obsessive worker then you are building skills that will be valuable to another employer too.
You can find another workplace that gives opportunities for advancement yet recognizes that you have a right to your personal time and family time. In fact, smart companies want the well-rounded person who has a life outside the cubicle.
Don’t sell out early and use time management to chain yourself to a company that wants to use your time. Find a company that values your time and encourages you to “do enough, then do for yourself too.”
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Just received a short video reading from numerologist Melani Ward with her thoughts on me, based on my name and date of birth. If you're interested, here it is...
Those of you who have really studied music theory have surely noticed the ways everything about music fits into a nice box. What we call "music" is totally based on math and numbers. Because of this, numerology was a pretty easy buy-in for me.
Whether you believe in numerology or not, people do judge us and react to us based on our names. Several studies, such as this one, have been done on the subject. Companies spend big money coming up with the perfect name for their products.
I could write a book on the importance of naming your band. If you want to hear the subject discussed with major players in the industry, check out some of the "Demo Derby" segments during episodes of Music Business Radio.
Your name sets the stage for things. A name like "Kill the Unborn" pretty much sets the expectation for the kind of music you perform, so don't try and be cute by playing something soft and sweet. A good name should have convergence with everything else about you.
Can it work the other way around? Is there more to this than meets the eye? You tell me. Also, if you've had some band names that didn't work, I want to know that too!
Leave your thoughts below...
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A few days ago, I posted an interview with music publicist Jim Della Croce. In it, he made a few comments about electronic press kits, which I felt would make a good discussion here.
Listen to Jim's comments here...
My question...
Do you use electronic press kits? If so, what have your experiences with them been?
If you're not using them, I'd like to know why also.
Post thoughts below...
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Do you think that the idea of time management is so that you can cram more work into fewer hours? That’s what many people think but it’s not the correct answer. Time management allows you to make the most of your work hours while still having a life outside of work. Now that’s a concept too many people miss.
Does it matter to you to have leisure time or time with your family? Some people have missed out on this for so long that they don’t miss it anymore. They have given up the idea of having time for themselves.
That’s really unfortunate and unnecessary. It’s like the old saying, “Some people trade time for money while other people trade money for time.” Then there are those entrepreneurial types who insist that you can have both time and money if you plan effectively.
If you could find the time to do what really matters to you, what would be included in that time? Make a list and be specific. Don’t just say, “travel” - put down your real dream.
Maybe you have dreamed of taking a month off and backpacking around Europe or camping at several national parks on a drive across America. Those dreams take more than money, they take time off. If you only have a week or two of vacation, how would you get the time needed?
Or would you like to go back and finish a college degree or earn an advanced degree? When you work during the day, you have a limited amount of time at night for classes. That might mean you work full time and take longer to complete the degree.
Another option is to reduce your lifestyle expenses, cut back to part time at work and free more hours to complete your degree faster. What really matters to you? How can you balance time and money to make these dreams become reality?
Whatever your dream, you can begin to align your time toward achieving that dream. It may mean that you work overtime to save money or take a second job for a year. Or you may have to extend the time to reach your dream to accrue enough vacation time to make the time off possible. It’s all about planning your time as well as your money.
Time management is so often thought of as a way to do more work in a given day. It’s also your ally in arranging your life and work so that you can fulfill your dreams. If only you could see this positive aspect of time management, then you might stop looking at it as if it’s another burden. Hours tick by whether or not you plan them. Hours become days to months and years while many people only talk about the dreams that they “don’t have time” to enjoy.
If you wait for extra time to magically appear in your life, you’ll wait forever and nothing changes. By using time management to support your dreams, then every day you get closer to what really matters to you.
To start, you can look at the calendar three to five years from today. Make the time you would like to leave for your extended vacation or the semester you want to enroll in college. Then count backwards for the number of days (months). As you divide that time into blocks of smaller preparation tasks, you begin to prepare to make the dream possible.
Even while waiting, you have the satisfaction of doing something regularly, investing time in planning and taking action toward your goals. When you identify what really matters in the big picture, then you find it easier to use time wisely today to set up your future goal.
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And speaking of copyright violation, the founders of the Pirate Bay, well-known torrent site, were recently fined and sentenced to jail.
Interesting quotes from the comments section...
"Everyone who thinks that file sharing music is not theft has never had to pay money to record their songs, pay money to have them mixed and mastered so they meet professional standards, pay money to have their CD designed (artwork, etc) and then pay money to have them manufactured for sale…and I am just scratching the surface (Oh and let’s not forget a lifetime and perfecting your craft as a musician and songwriter)….Only to have all your work and investment file shared for nothing."
"I don’t see how it’s fair to prosecute these people for creating a website that merely provides a place for people around the world to share music. Yeah it’s illegal to steal others property, but let’s be honest we live in a society full of lazy people who have less money everyday. I don’t take issue with the downloading itself because those artists are living lives of extreme wealth and make profits so many other ways you cannot begin to name them all."
"Hopefully, sites like the pirate bay will get musicians back into clubs to make money–they won’t be able to live their easy cushy lives, but the consumers, their fans, will get more than one performance in their area a year, and maybe a little goddamn improv once in a while. Is that so much to ask?"
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Adbusters has some interesting thoughts on online piracy and the future of the Internet.
It's an interesting article and I certainly have thoughts on it... Before I post anything though, I'd like to hear what you think.
Check it out at the link above and post comments below...
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One of the coolest things about hip-hop music is the speed at which things get done.
Like this song by Jump Smokers, for example...
And not only is this a great use of SPEED, which is something major labels can't compete with, it's also a great job of leveraging current events to get publicity.
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As a musician, songwriter, and artist, much of your income if based on your copyrights and trademarks. Yet, the subject is one that many people, even those making a living from these things, don't understand well.
That's not to say anybody really understands copyright... With technology moving as quickly as it is, there are some things that copyright law hasn't kept up with. With that said, you should still be aware of these 10 Big Myths About Copyright.
Feel free to post any copyright-related comments below. For example, your feelings on sampling, cover songs, band name trademark issues, or music licensing...
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