In case you missed it, music business analyst / writer Bob Lefsetz sent out and posted this to his website:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/07/01/tiers/
I'm posting it here because if you're embarking on a music industry career, you need to see it. And it's far more comprehensive than I currently have the time to write. Bob's done it for you.
It's going to piss some people off, but his analysis is accurate. There are a couple of artists I might add to the mix, but that's quibbling.
I don't always agree with Bob Lefsetz, but this post is dead on. Even when we don't agree, I love that he tells it like it is and doesn't sugarcoat.
Artists tend to like to have a soft place to fall, so many of them have difficulty hearing the truth. Or sometimes they'll listen, but they want the information you're giving them to be heavily sugarcoated.
This is a tough business. Sugarcoating will kill you.
An eternal optimist myself, as a young artist I had to learn this early on, the hard way. I saw many people fall because people were afraid to tell them the truth.
Sugarcoating leads to things like pushing away people who care
about you in favor of leeches who cajole you into investing in their projects and drain your
money--or perhaps encourage you to donate to their favorite cult--while telling you everything's OK. They get away with this by seeming to protect you by only telling you exactly what you want to hear. (If you're an addict, they'll even keep you high while doing so.)
The person who can listen to information with no sugarcoating always has the upper hand, because they're hard to manipulate.
If you're the type of person who needs to have everything sugarcoated to get through life, start with your business stuff. Force yourself to read the realities of your business so you know what's going on.
You stand a much better chance of winning when you know what you're up against.
I want you to win. Bob Lefsetz wants you to win.
Start now, by learning about your business.
RR
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