One very strong and passionate advocator of generations of club music is current leading national touring DJ JIMMYZ. From an impressive resume programming some of Australia's leading stations (Wild FM, Nova Radio Network, TV channel Club [V] on Foxtel/Austar), Jimmy has inspired generations with great club music, always breaking new ground and creating new trends, there is one connection that ties everything he does -
"One aspect that has always drawn me to clubbing is the ability to create unique environment, and excitement within people inside a given space", says Jimmy.
"Since I was young, I have always been drawn to building sets and spaces for people to enjoy themselves immensely. I see my next new, exciting phase for clubbing going beyond just the traditional 'hiring of a guest DJ' to putting on a real travelling show for people to walk away from saying 'that was amazing!'."
And he's not wrong, judging by an impressive line-up of gigs and now-turned residencies that have become '4Play Events' for which venues are now booking up to 6 months in advance, lately his hobby has turned to nightclubs - "Whether it be filling a nightclub with 25,000 litres of snow, or turning a dancefloor into a jungle for a whole night, these are the '4Play Events', a new addition to leading Australian dance label '4PLAY' - they pack out and are simply incredible to play at," says Jimmy.
"If the DJ isn't doing it, look outside the square", says Jimmy. "I love playing sets of music that crowds really want to hear, I love creating a fantastic environment in a club - That's what the 4PLAY brand is all about, and continuing to build with a rapid success."
"But then, what is the point in opening a club unless you have a great DJ?"
--------- JimmyZ is currently touring his latest CD compilation 4PLAY VOLUME 08 in stores now from August - December 2008 for the National Glowstick Party Tour.
Appreciation
Monday, September 1, 2008
Where are all the Gigs?
There have been many poignant changes across the entertainment industry over the past decade, many of which have been to the detriment of the working musician. Contractually enforceable volume restrictions, no-smoking laws and the recent alcohol tax have combined to create a less exciting atmosphere within which to perform. It can be frustrating having to perform very quietly in a near empty room, while 30 punters drinking at the public bar that evening are all sitting outside having a smoke. I often find myself wondering how long entertainment can continue to be regarded as a viable expense to the pubs across SE QLD. But challenges have always faced the industry, the introduction of pokies to pubs apparently were a major factor in reducing options for professional musicians in the day.
That said, there are hurdles that need to be overcome in any given industry at various times. I work a day job as a mortgage broker, the recent US sub prime crisis has played merry havoc within that industry. However, it continues to be a highly profitable line of employment to professionals who have been able to diversify and / or create other networking opportunities while the housing market has been slow. With interest rates set to fall again shortly, these businesses will profit from both the increase in their core business as investors come back into the market, plus the new opportunities they have created.
Likewise, as musicians we need to look at either creating new opportunities for ourselves, or consider a career change. We cannot expect the market to always feed us in a streamlined constant format. Given the fluid nature of policies affecting our industry (let’s face it, we are paid by alcohol sales, and by its very nature that will incur a heavy regulatory focus), we also need to be ready to change and adapt to maintain levels of employment. I saw writing on the wall with the introduction of volume restrictions, quit the band I was in and enjoyed several years in successful duos. There has been plenty of work available at good money in that format. More recently I have taken notice of some bands that used to perform regular pub gigs, now performing club and corporate function shows for relatively large sums of money. So I’ve added a bass player and a singing Brisbane Broncos cheerleader to my outfit with the intention of breaking into that market, and I’m very much looking forward to the new challenge.
There are always problems. There is also always opportunity. It really is just a matter of perspective and motivation, but there certainly remains plenty of room for musicians with drive and ambition to enjoy a profitable career in entertainment. Those who are positive and proactive, and ready to adapt will no doubt flourish in the times ahead.
Good luck - Andrew Lunt - Queensland Musician/Agent/Finance Service
That said, there are hurdles that need to be overcome in any given industry at various times. I work a day job as a mortgage broker, the recent US sub prime crisis has played merry havoc within that industry. However, it continues to be a highly profitable line of employment to professionals who have been able to diversify and / or create other networking opportunities while the housing market has been slow. With interest rates set to fall again shortly, these businesses will profit from both the increase in their core business as investors come back into the market, plus the new opportunities they have created.
Likewise, as musicians we need to look at either creating new opportunities for ourselves, or consider a career change. We cannot expect the market to always feed us in a streamlined constant format. Given the fluid nature of policies affecting our industry (let’s face it, we are paid by alcohol sales, and by its very nature that will incur a heavy regulatory focus), we also need to be ready to change and adapt to maintain levels of employment. I saw writing on the wall with the introduction of volume restrictions, quit the band I was in and enjoyed several years in successful duos. There has been plenty of work available at good money in that format. More recently I have taken notice of some bands that used to perform regular pub gigs, now performing club and corporate function shows for relatively large sums of money. So I’ve added a bass player and a singing Brisbane Broncos cheerleader to my outfit with the intention of breaking into that market, and I’m very much looking forward to the new challenge.
There are always problems. There is also always opportunity. It really is just a matter of perspective and motivation, but there certainly remains plenty of room for musicians with drive and ambition to enjoy a profitable career in entertainment. Those who are positive and proactive, and ready to adapt will no doubt flourish in the times ahead.
Good luck - Andrew Lunt - Queensland Musician/Agent/Finance Service
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Creative Balance
Most of us who have worked as Muso's have lived in the cycle of creativity and destruction – in essence quite a cause and effect pattern – perfectly balanced and a real pain in the butt at face value.
This is the “I really want to do this but I don’t want to fail” cycle.
“I’ll give it a go but if it doesn’t work, I will beat myself or anyone else up.”
This leads to the “Something is wrong with me, I can’t make it work I'm so uninspired about this now”. Phase.
This loops to the “I’ll give it another go but don’t want anyone to know about my failure. I’m not good enough. I need help. I have to change.”
Sound familiar?
I work in two industries – music and business training and had considered these industries to be worlds apart, however, in recent months, I have gleaned a greater appreciation of how life as a musician really provides a beautiful template for education in the art and business of life.
There are times on stage when you make a huge mistake while playing your instrument and usually no one notices, if they do, you can call it jazz and laugh about it or this mistake can take you to a whole other musical realm where you get to build on the mistake to bring yourself back to the original key after having fun going off on a musical tangent.
As a Demartini teacher, I hear the words love and inspiration consistently. Now I’m not diminishing their value or importance at all. However just recanting the standard phrases and using the “right” language (throwing in a universal law or creator force or higher self sprinkled through your conversation) simply doesn’t cut it without appreciating yourself for who you are exactly as you are right now.
Nor does it eliminate the system and structure of practice and pattern of behavior that sits behind inspiration.
Everyone around you, in business or life, can feel your congruency regardless of your language or actions. So before you begin any sort of creative project – whether it’s a new business enterprise, choosing a relationship, upgrading your health and fitness, increasing wealth, building networks or expanding your education, do an inventory of YOU in your current form and value it. This establishes your foundation of creation.
Twyla Tharp said, "Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.That's it in a nutshell."
When I was studying piano, I would practice for two hours before going to school and then two hours when I got home. At the conservatorium, the rehearsal rooms were the biggest ticket item in town as all the students simply practiced every hour that they could possibly squeeze in. Practice makes perfect when you are a performer. Repetitive work habits and daily exercise routines become rituals – they become automatic – you habitualise certain patterns and simply repeat until you can sing that high F sharp in the Mozart opera or you can perfect that jazz lick or master that Bach Fugue on the piano.
Music is the ultimate decisive pattern and when you apply strict practice habits at the beginning of the creative process to minimise the chance of turning back or giving up. This is about making a commitment motivated by you desire to achieve.This principle is well known for performers and artists.
The creative process is not a product of inspiration; rather it is a product of what we might call a creative state of being. Inspiration usually occurs in two ways. BEFORE a project – creating the seed for the idea and for many performers AFTER the habits have been established and the steps or notes have been mastered so that an almost automatic performance can further inspire the soul to take flight without attachment to the process. (Like the mistake I mentioned earlier!) So many times I’ve woken up in the middle of singing a song and not known what I am singing. It’s only then that I forget the words. If I don’t question it, I can simply open my mouth and become part of the music.
To truly create, you really need to establish the habit of creating on days you don't feel like it, creating when the circumstances are not quite right, creating no matter what else is going on in your life. A true artist, author, musician or performer will therefore be able to rehearse, write, paint or photograph regardless of whether the air conditioning breaks down or your partner is upsetting you or the pipes burst or your day job is boring or an election is looming or your bank balance is low or your child is ill or your parent has died. In fact, let’s extend this to every human being in every circumstance.
There will always be a problem to solve however this really is YOUR choice to either solve it (delete it) or to create. This becomes a way of life. Creation leads to more creation.
There is the story of Robert DeNiro giving advice to a wannabe young actor. DeNiro said, "You’ve got to practice. When I play the part of, say, a cop, I practice being that cop from the time I get up in the morning to when I go to bed at night." I think this is the same for anything that you choose to create. Simply live it. Perhaps this is where that saying “Fake it until you make it” comes from. Just do it until it becomes second nature so that when things DO f**k up, you can more easily wing it and have fun while enjoying the creative process.
When I recruit people to work in my business, I usually like to start them in accounts data entry. This role is rather basic; you follow the system, fill in the dots and work to a process. We have a three-month trial agreement and it usually takes about two months before this person starts getting it – either complaining about the job OR becoming innovative to make it more interesting. This is where I make my decision about retaining them for a full time position or letting them go. The thing I love about this position is that it provides the perfect filter to identify a fresh mind that is open to new ideas without attachment to fixed beliefs, dogma and thinking that there is a "right way to be".
These concepts limit creativity and challenge a healthy development of a creative habit. It is the difference between being a victim and having a boss to blame for a crappy job or being an innovator who is willing to turn the job into any possibility. This is the difference between a reactive and a creative orientation.
As an employer, I’m interested in employees who get excited about trying new things, failing, using this as feedback and trying again while enjoying being creative and finding the fun in their job. This is exactly the process that a musician and performer will use – develop ideas, make a wrong move, f**k up, back track and learn from it, try another angle and keep going. This process develops the skills to close the gap between what you see in your head and what you get on stage, put on the canvas, see in the lens, record in the studio or manifest in the office.
The most powerful and successful process for accomplishment in history, would without a doubt be this creative process. Paradoxically this process would also be the most misunderstood. How many parents agonize over their children’s career choices and harass them to get a “real job”? To create art in life, we must live and think in the creative process. You can revolve your life around problems or you can revolve your life around outcomes. You can allow circumstances to drive your decisions and actions, or you can appreciate the circumstances and use them to propel you towards your creations.
Robert Fritz would say that being creative is being in a state of structural tension, focused on a vision of the outcome you are creating, while truthfully observing the current situations you face. This is in effect a learning mode, where you are ready to take failure and success as experiments to use as the foundation for future creating.
Ok that sounds nice but how can you actually DO this? Submerge yourself in all details of the work. Pledge yourself to mastering every aspect. Then balance this with a detachment to the work. Give yourself time and space to step back and critically assess from a new audience perspective. The creative process requires both sides – Involvement and Detachment. Focus on the creation itself – focus on the outcome. Detach yourself from the creator – this is not about you – this is about the creation.
So balance everything you do - create and destroy - involve and detach - feel inspired and habitualise the process.
And most importantly have fun!
This is the “I really want to do this but I don’t want to fail” cycle.
“I’ll give it a go but if it doesn’t work, I will beat myself or anyone else up.”
This leads to the “Something is wrong with me, I can’t make it work I'm so uninspired about this now”. Phase.
This loops to the “I’ll give it another go but don’t want anyone to know about my failure. I’m not good enough. I need help. I have to change.”
Sound familiar?
I work in two industries – music and business training and had considered these industries to be worlds apart, however, in recent months, I have gleaned a greater appreciation of how life as a musician really provides a beautiful template for education in the art and business of life.
There are times on stage when you make a huge mistake while playing your instrument and usually no one notices, if they do, you can call it jazz and laugh about it or this mistake can take you to a whole other musical realm where you get to build on the mistake to bring yourself back to the original key after having fun going off on a musical tangent.
As a Demartini teacher, I hear the words love and inspiration consistently. Now I’m not diminishing their value or importance at all. However just recanting the standard phrases and using the “right” language (throwing in a universal law or creator force or higher self sprinkled through your conversation) simply doesn’t cut it without appreciating yourself for who you are exactly as you are right now.
Nor does it eliminate the system and structure of practice and pattern of behavior that sits behind inspiration.
Everyone around you, in business or life, can feel your congruency regardless of your language or actions. So before you begin any sort of creative project – whether it’s a new business enterprise, choosing a relationship, upgrading your health and fitness, increasing wealth, building networks or expanding your education, do an inventory of YOU in your current form and value it. This establishes your foundation of creation.
Twyla Tharp said, "Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.That's it in a nutshell."
When I was studying piano, I would practice for two hours before going to school and then two hours when I got home. At the conservatorium, the rehearsal rooms were the biggest ticket item in town as all the students simply practiced every hour that they could possibly squeeze in. Practice makes perfect when you are a performer. Repetitive work habits and daily exercise routines become rituals – they become automatic – you habitualise certain patterns and simply repeat until you can sing that high F sharp in the Mozart opera or you can perfect that jazz lick or master that Bach Fugue on the piano.
Music is the ultimate decisive pattern and when you apply strict practice habits at the beginning of the creative process to minimise the chance of turning back or giving up. This is about making a commitment motivated by you desire to achieve.This principle is well known for performers and artists.
The creative process is not a product of inspiration; rather it is a product of what we might call a creative state of being. Inspiration usually occurs in two ways. BEFORE a project – creating the seed for the idea and for many performers AFTER the habits have been established and the steps or notes have been mastered so that an almost automatic performance can further inspire the soul to take flight without attachment to the process. (Like the mistake I mentioned earlier!) So many times I’ve woken up in the middle of singing a song and not known what I am singing. It’s only then that I forget the words. If I don’t question it, I can simply open my mouth and become part of the music.
To truly create, you really need to establish the habit of creating on days you don't feel like it, creating when the circumstances are not quite right, creating no matter what else is going on in your life. A true artist, author, musician or performer will therefore be able to rehearse, write, paint or photograph regardless of whether the air conditioning breaks down or your partner is upsetting you or the pipes burst or your day job is boring or an election is looming or your bank balance is low or your child is ill or your parent has died. In fact, let’s extend this to every human being in every circumstance.
There will always be a problem to solve however this really is YOUR choice to either solve it (delete it) or to create. This becomes a way of life. Creation leads to more creation.
There is the story of Robert DeNiro giving advice to a wannabe young actor. DeNiro said, "You’ve got to practice. When I play the part of, say, a cop, I practice being that cop from the time I get up in the morning to when I go to bed at night." I think this is the same for anything that you choose to create. Simply live it. Perhaps this is where that saying “Fake it until you make it” comes from. Just do it until it becomes second nature so that when things DO f**k up, you can more easily wing it and have fun while enjoying the creative process.
When I recruit people to work in my business, I usually like to start them in accounts data entry. This role is rather basic; you follow the system, fill in the dots and work to a process. We have a three-month trial agreement and it usually takes about two months before this person starts getting it – either complaining about the job OR becoming innovative to make it more interesting. This is where I make my decision about retaining them for a full time position or letting them go. The thing I love about this position is that it provides the perfect filter to identify a fresh mind that is open to new ideas without attachment to fixed beliefs, dogma and thinking that there is a "right way to be".
These concepts limit creativity and challenge a healthy development of a creative habit. It is the difference between being a victim and having a boss to blame for a crappy job or being an innovator who is willing to turn the job into any possibility. This is the difference between a reactive and a creative orientation.
As an employer, I’m interested in employees who get excited about trying new things, failing, using this as feedback and trying again while enjoying being creative and finding the fun in their job. This is exactly the process that a musician and performer will use – develop ideas, make a wrong move, f**k up, back track and learn from it, try another angle and keep going. This process develops the skills to close the gap between what you see in your head and what you get on stage, put on the canvas, see in the lens, record in the studio or manifest in the office.
The most powerful and successful process for accomplishment in history, would without a doubt be this creative process. Paradoxically this process would also be the most misunderstood. How many parents agonize over their children’s career choices and harass them to get a “real job”? To create art in life, we must live and think in the creative process. You can revolve your life around problems or you can revolve your life around outcomes. You can allow circumstances to drive your decisions and actions, or you can appreciate the circumstances and use them to propel you towards your creations.
Robert Fritz would say that being creative is being in a state of structural tension, focused on a vision of the outcome you are creating, while truthfully observing the current situations you face. This is in effect a learning mode, where you are ready to take failure and success as experiments to use as the foundation for future creating.
Ok that sounds nice but how can you actually DO this? Submerge yourself in all details of the work. Pledge yourself to mastering every aspect. Then balance this with a detachment to the work. Give yourself time and space to step back and critically assess from a new audience perspective. The creative process requires both sides – Involvement and Detachment. Focus on the creation itself – focus on the outcome. Detach yourself from the creator – this is not about you – this is about the creation.
So balance everything you do - create and destroy - involve and detach - feel inspired and habitualise the process.
And most importantly have fun!
Time for GREAT CHANGE
The media coverage has freaked everyone out into not spending, going direct, undercutting and cutting costs. This is already impacting on the business of every Venue and Musician in this country.
Remember the natural law – there is never a loss without a gain. When the sun is setting in Italy it is rising in Australia. There will ALWAYS be financial growth in another form in our market.
Just when we begin to spend money to save the planet with sustainable business practices, we get hit with a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE. Massive Debt without Savings has created an illusion of an economic boom. Why have food prices increased? In the past six months, they've risen at a 13 percent annual rate. We may be seeing the first adverse effects of the ethanol boom. Corn is a main feed grain for poultry, cattle and hogs. Corn is also the main raw material for ethanol, an alternate fuel for gasoline. Competition for grain has pushed up corn prices.
So we save the planet without saving our own money and look what happens!
Basically there is no fairy tale that all growth is good and TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE is bad.
What we are experiencing now is part of a natural cycle of business and finance.
Finance has never really been a major factor in the life of a musician however now more than ever, some truly basic financial principles could seriously assist your business. The rising cost of fuel makes getting to the gig almost a luxury!
Let's look at the four basic fundamentals for Financial Management to start with:
· Save
· Create a Cushion to manage market volatility
· Earn the Right to Invest
· Earn the Right to Speculate
These rules apply to every person – business owner, promoter, label, publicist, manager, producer, venue, artist and employee.
Manage your life within these principles.
In agriculture, farmers know that the land needs a period of time to rest in order to be most productive. Letting fields lie fallow and crop rotation are techniques that farmers have practiced since time immemorial.
This is a cycle of naturally occurring economic slowdown.
The four basic fundamentals for being effective in your role in the Entertainment Industry are:
· Save your costs, time and energy
· Create a Cushion to manage your market volatility
· Earn the Right to Invest Your Time in a Recording Project
· Earn the Right to Speculate Your Time in a Recording Project
Economies are the means by which successful entities function. Living affluent lives should not be a goal to life as it has become for many, and an economic downturn can serve to challenge this as both a personal and national philosophy. A TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE is an opportunity for intelligent leadership in your life and in you business.
Consider that time is like money. It is important to know how to SAVE it as well as how to SPEND it. For those willing to use sound financial and business analysis, a recession can bring a wealth of opportunities and provide the necessary timing to enter a number of markets.
Doing Covers Gigs - more often than not, will pay for your Recording habit. It pays for Guitar Strings, Gaff, Fuel, CDs and all the costs of running a busy working band.
Real wealth only comes from real savings and investment in projects that produce profits. This is a great time for established and emerging enterprise to set up a business structure that will be long term profitable by applying the four fundamental principles. Being accountable and balancing books by saving, cushioning, investing for profit and speculating once you earn the right is the only way to survive in business.
To value your team - your band - manager - crew - agent - publicist etc, we recommend you know the value and cost of every single role within your business.
If you are feeling negative about the current gigging or touring marketplace, consider a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE as a time where almost everything goes on sale because this outlines the number of opportunities that are available to the everyday person or investor. Pushworth began 18 years ago in the middle of a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE and flourished because it focused on the basic economic principles and saw opportunities where everyone else saw doom and gloom. Each day the TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE continues, business must look harder at its policies, products, production, and—most of all—the talent of its team. In a boom, when the everyone looks good because the business flows. But in a recession, when the going gets tough, the tough get going and the truly able team begin to shine. Careful pruning in the right places does not damage overall efficiency and this is what many people will HAVE to do in order to survive.
In your personal lifestyle and wealth, a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE is a great opportunity to have a good think about your finances, cut your unnecessary spending in certain areas and think about investment in a number of underpriced goods. In biology, there is long-term harm to species from the burden of accumulated harmful mutations during times of decreased selection pressure. Long booms allow inefficiencies to develop that decrease the long-term health of businesses and economies.
Consider the following things that happen in a long boom:
Companies get away with poor innovation practices, as consumers will "upgrade" things that merely have an extra button, have a few square centimeters more living space, or a new range of fashion colors, but provide no great advances in functionality or efficiency.
Capital resources become poorly allocated:
Many mug punters start playing the market, and with asymmetrical knowledge, become "investment fashion victims", with their funds not necessarily flowing where it will do the most good.
Speculation becomes rife, another form of the victory of fashion over practicality.
Sloppy management is not punished, decreasing business efficiency.
For every company that slims down its operation, another discovers new ways of doing things that should have been in effect for years but were overlooked during the boom. This is an opportunity for everyone to survive with the talent in all the right places. Focus on the positive aspects of this TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE and appreciate the benefits for YOUR business:
Revised Budgets
Re-education in Money Management and living and operating within your means.
Opportunity to become more creative with your Business Strategies and Find Ways to improve Business Operations.
Reduced Entertainment Budgets open the market to greater competition
Looking for extra income paves the way for INNOVATION
The media coverage has freaked everyone out into not spending, going direct, undercutting and cutting costs. This is already impacting on the business of Pushworth and every Venue and Musician in this country.
Remember the natural law – there is never a loss without a gain. When the sun is setting in Italy it is rising in Australia. There will ALWAYS be financial growth in another form in our market.
Let’s consider that a recession basically is a respite from economic growth. It is a time when a hiccup in the economy creates a slowdown associated with a chain of events that is generally recognized to be a "market correction". Where segments of the economy have become over-heated, a recession provides a cooling-off period for saner perspectives to prevail.
Let‘s consider that this time in our business and market cycle is a major opportunity for this industry - for YOU.
In fact from this point, we will reframe the word RECESSION and call it THE TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE.
Consider this a Great Opportunity!
Remember the natural law – there is never a loss without a gain. When the sun is setting in Italy it is rising in Australia. There will ALWAYS be financial growth in another form in our market.
Just when we begin to spend money to save the planet with sustainable business practices, we get hit with a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE. Massive Debt without Savings has created an illusion of an economic boom. Why have food prices increased? In the past six months, they've risen at a 13 percent annual rate. We may be seeing the first adverse effects of the ethanol boom. Corn is a main feed grain for poultry, cattle and hogs. Corn is also the main raw material for ethanol, an alternate fuel for gasoline. Competition for grain has pushed up corn prices.
So we save the planet without saving our own money and look what happens!
Basically there is no fairy tale that all growth is good and TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE is bad.
What we are experiencing now is part of a natural cycle of business and finance.
Finance has never really been a major factor in the life of a musician however now more than ever, some truly basic financial principles could seriously assist your business. The rising cost of fuel makes getting to the gig almost a luxury!
Let's look at the four basic fundamentals for Financial Management to start with:
· Save
· Create a Cushion to manage market volatility
· Earn the Right to Invest
· Earn the Right to Speculate
These rules apply to every person – business owner, promoter, label, publicist, manager, producer, venue, artist and employee.
Manage your life within these principles.
In agriculture, farmers know that the land needs a period of time to rest in order to be most productive. Letting fields lie fallow and crop rotation are techniques that farmers have practiced since time immemorial.
This is a cycle of naturally occurring economic slowdown.
The four basic fundamentals for being effective in your role in the Entertainment Industry are:
· Save your costs, time and energy
· Create a Cushion to manage your market volatility
· Earn the Right to Invest Your Time in a Recording Project
· Earn the Right to Speculate Your Time in a Recording Project
Economies are the means by which successful entities function. Living affluent lives should not be a goal to life as it has become for many, and an economic downturn can serve to challenge this as both a personal and national philosophy. A TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE is an opportunity for intelligent leadership in your life and in you business.
Consider that time is like money. It is important to know how to SAVE it as well as how to SPEND it. For those willing to use sound financial and business analysis, a recession can bring a wealth of opportunities and provide the necessary timing to enter a number of markets.
Doing Covers Gigs - more often than not, will pay for your Recording habit. It pays for Guitar Strings, Gaff, Fuel, CDs and all the costs of running a busy working band.
Real wealth only comes from real savings and investment in projects that produce profits. This is a great time for established and emerging enterprise to set up a business structure that will be long term profitable by applying the four fundamental principles. Being accountable and balancing books by saving, cushioning, investing for profit and speculating once you earn the right is the only way to survive in business.
To value your team - your band - manager - crew - agent - publicist etc, we recommend you know the value and cost of every single role within your business.
If you are feeling negative about the current gigging or touring marketplace, consider a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE as a time where almost everything goes on sale because this outlines the number of opportunities that are available to the everyday person or investor. Pushworth began 18 years ago in the middle of a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE and flourished because it focused on the basic economic principles and saw opportunities where everyone else saw doom and gloom. Each day the TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE continues, business must look harder at its policies, products, production, and—most of all—the talent of its team. In a boom, when the everyone looks good because the business flows. But in a recession, when the going gets tough, the tough get going and the truly able team begin to shine. Careful pruning in the right places does not damage overall efficiency and this is what many people will HAVE to do in order to survive.
In your personal lifestyle and wealth, a TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE is a great opportunity to have a good think about your finances, cut your unnecessary spending in certain areas and think about investment in a number of underpriced goods. In biology, there is long-term harm to species from the burden of accumulated harmful mutations during times of decreased selection pressure. Long booms allow inefficiencies to develop that decrease the long-term health of businesses and economies.
Consider the following things that happen in a long boom:
Companies get away with poor innovation practices, as consumers will "upgrade" things that merely have an extra button, have a few square centimeters more living space, or a new range of fashion colors, but provide no great advances in functionality or efficiency.
Capital resources become poorly allocated:
Many mug punters start playing the market, and with asymmetrical knowledge, become "investment fashion victims", with their funds not necessarily flowing where it will do the most good.
Speculation becomes rife, another form of the victory of fashion over practicality.
Sloppy management is not punished, decreasing business efficiency.
For every company that slims down its operation, another discovers new ways of doing things that should have been in effect for years but were overlooked during the boom. This is an opportunity for everyone to survive with the talent in all the right places. Focus on the positive aspects of this TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE and appreciate the benefits for YOUR business:
Revised Budgets
Re-education in Money Management and living and operating within your means.
Opportunity to become more creative with your Business Strategies and Find Ways to improve Business Operations.
Reduced Entertainment Budgets open the market to greater competition
Looking for extra income paves the way for INNOVATION
The media coverage has freaked everyone out into not spending, going direct, undercutting and cutting costs. This is already impacting on the business of Pushworth and every Venue and Musician in this country.
Remember the natural law – there is never a loss without a gain. When the sun is setting in Italy it is rising in Australia. There will ALWAYS be financial growth in another form in our market.
Let’s consider that a recession basically is a respite from economic growth. It is a time when a hiccup in the economy creates a slowdown associated with a chain of events that is generally recognized to be a "market correction". Where segments of the economy have become over-heated, a recession provides a cooling-off period for saner perspectives to prevail.
Let‘s consider that this time in our business and market cycle is a major opportunity for this industry - for YOU.
In fact from this point, we will reframe the word RECESSION and call it THE TIME FOR GREAT CHANGE.
Consider this a Great Opportunity!
A Real Job
The performing bug stretched its little wings early for me. My parents were horrified that I would never get a REAL job. They did not value the creative expression of a musician as a career option and saw no possible reward in financial fair exchange. Stubborn Capricorn ignored their wishes as usual and now this genealogy is well reflected in the voices of millions of musicians and performers around the globe.
How many people in this industry have felt creatively stifled in their quest for legitimization of their choice to conduct an enterprise in this fashion?
Writing and performing music is a creative outlet and a channel for personal development. If you want to be paid for it, then it becomes a business. I love taking photographs and spend hours on the weekends locating the perfect shot and then fidgeting with Photoshop. It’s a hobby – a creative outlet and a channel for personal development. If I want to be paid for it, then I need to do a whole lot of other activities to transform my hobby into a business.
So why become a professional musician?
The responses to this survey have been varied – Being cool, A strong need for self expression, need for privacy (own time, space, pace and inner world), being able to dive deeply into the sounds of someone else and regurgitate it through your own, the tribal power in mesmerizing an audience with sounds and rhythms, expanding closer to the boundaries of the universe via musical expression and experiencing the addictive high – the change in your physical vibrations when you feel like you are a part of something bigger. It’s almost like a religion!
No one said sex, drugs, rock and roll, fame or money? Oh Ok Manny did! That’s one!
A perception of Cool seems to be very important in this industry and this is reflected in CD sales, Gigs and our obsession with Celebrity.
What IS cool anyway? How do you define an aesthetic of manner, conduct, vibe, look, form or style? Such a subjective little word with an enormous power in perception! There is actually no meaning only association which is deemed by some external authority. Traditional associations with cooldom may be freedom, creativity, not conforming and thumbing one’s nose at so called normalcy. In short, cool, like most other Urban Legends, is bullshit – not real – simply made up.
So being the creative little geniuses that musicians are, cool is whatever they choose it to be! A desire for cool is probably closer to a desire for love and acceptance. Notice how individuals who have created a mythology of rejection as a barrier of protection traditionally seek acceptance in an alternative form?
Artists and Musicians and Entertainers seek audiences and markets who desire to purchase their products. They seek acceptance of their creative expression. Love my art love me!
In this current ecosystem, we choose how we wish to run our business in the Music Industry. Challenges are only symptoms of the expansion of the business and the opportunity to create whatever you choose. Creativity promotes innovation.
We used to work in an industry where supply of product (CDs, Merchandise etc) were limited due to shelf space, shipping, storage etc. Now our market has an unlimited choice of what to buy and where to buy from. Product, thanks to living on line, can have a global impact instead of a local one. Anyone can set up a website, register a domain name, register any free social networking or blogging site, create an on line shop, set up a shopping cart and Paypal platform and create an On Line presence.
We live in a digital world. More devices, ever faster broadband, more channels, more platforms, faster processors, endless storage, better search engines. We live in our URLs, our MY SPACE, our FACEBOOKS, our BLOGSPOTS and haggle on E BAY, purchase our movie tickets, flights, concert tickets and sporting events on line, download our Music and Movies, order Office Supplies, Groceries, Gifts on line – let’s face it – we LIVE here! And more importantly our CUSTOMERS live here!
And just by running your music business on line, you create stockpiles of user data, product feedback, and marketing information, and this in turn generates new advertising opportunities for you. We have created a new ecosystem for ourselves.
“It is not the strongest or most intelligent that survives, but the ones most adaptive to change.” Darwin
Look at how our global humanity network is developing.
On line communities such as My Space and Facebook are replacing traditional social networks and establishing greater communication and interaction opportunities like never before. The rapid expansion of the internet caught traditional music business companies with their collective pants down and they are still fighting to catch up with licensing downloads and working out Digital Rights Management issues.
Is this a problem or an opportunity?
Problem solving is the opposite of creativity. When you are problem solving you are seeking to delete something you wish to avoid – a challenge or a conflict. In the creative process, you consciously take action to birth something new. Traditionally Business identifies a need, a void, a gap and fills it with a product or a service. A problem is found and a solution is offered for sale.
What about the entertainment industry (movies, music, theatre, opera, dance)? What solutions does this industry offer?
On the surface, none, however indirectly it functions to keep people entertained and distracted FROM their problems - therefore forming the basis of a temporary remedy – a panacea. Our values (which are the beliefs that we align ourselves with) are driven by our voids – that which we think is missing in our lives. An outward expression of art is one form of seeking love, recognition and acceptance. What greater way to feel loved, recognized or accepted than selling CDs Concert Tickets and Merchandise?
Creating product and gigging live only happens in a business with an effective resource management system in place. Customers everywhere demand faster service. The beauty is that we live in an age where we can EASILY serve customers and run business in a more cost effective manner.
You have everything you need right here right now. You are only limited by your imagination.
Imagination is what inspired you to become a musician in the first place.
How many people in this industry have felt creatively stifled in their quest for legitimization of their choice to conduct an enterprise in this fashion?
Writing and performing music is a creative outlet and a channel for personal development. If you want to be paid for it, then it becomes a business. I love taking photographs and spend hours on the weekends locating the perfect shot and then fidgeting with Photoshop. It’s a hobby – a creative outlet and a channel for personal development. If I want to be paid for it, then I need to do a whole lot of other activities to transform my hobby into a business.
So why become a professional musician?
The responses to this survey have been varied – Being cool, A strong need for self expression, need for privacy (own time, space, pace and inner world), being able to dive deeply into the sounds of someone else and regurgitate it through your own, the tribal power in mesmerizing an audience with sounds and rhythms, expanding closer to the boundaries of the universe via musical expression and experiencing the addictive high – the change in your physical vibrations when you feel like you are a part of something bigger. It’s almost like a religion!
No one said sex, drugs, rock and roll, fame or money? Oh Ok Manny did! That’s one!
A perception of Cool seems to be very important in this industry and this is reflected in CD sales, Gigs and our obsession with Celebrity.
What IS cool anyway? How do you define an aesthetic of manner, conduct, vibe, look, form or style? Such a subjective little word with an enormous power in perception! There is actually no meaning only association which is deemed by some external authority. Traditional associations with cooldom may be freedom, creativity, not conforming and thumbing one’s nose at so called normalcy. In short, cool, like most other Urban Legends, is bullshit – not real – simply made up.
So being the creative little geniuses that musicians are, cool is whatever they choose it to be! A desire for cool is probably closer to a desire for love and acceptance. Notice how individuals who have created a mythology of rejection as a barrier of protection traditionally seek acceptance in an alternative form?
Artists and Musicians and Entertainers seek audiences and markets who desire to purchase their products. They seek acceptance of their creative expression. Love my art love me!
In this current ecosystem, we choose how we wish to run our business in the Music Industry. Challenges are only symptoms of the expansion of the business and the opportunity to create whatever you choose. Creativity promotes innovation.
We used to work in an industry where supply of product (CDs, Merchandise etc) were limited due to shelf space, shipping, storage etc. Now our market has an unlimited choice of what to buy and where to buy from. Product, thanks to living on line, can have a global impact instead of a local one. Anyone can set up a website, register a domain name, register any free social networking or blogging site, create an on line shop, set up a shopping cart and Paypal platform and create an On Line presence.
We live in a digital world. More devices, ever faster broadband, more channels, more platforms, faster processors, endless storage, better search engines. We live in our URLs, our MY SPACE, our FACEBOOKS, our BLOGSPOTS and haggle on E BAY, purchase our movie tickets, flights, concert tickets and sporting events on line, download our Music and Movies, order Office Supplies, Groceries, Gifts on line – let’s face it – we LIVE here! And more importantly our CUSTOMERS live here!
And just by running your music business on line, you create stockpiles of user data, product feedback, and marketing information, and this in turn generates new advertising opportunities for you. We have created a new ecosystem for ourselves.
“It is not the strongest or most intelligent that survives, but the ones most adaptive to change.” Darwin
Look at how our global humanity network is developing.
On line communities such as My Space and Facebook are replacing traditional social networks and establishing greater communication and interaction opportunities like never before. The rapid expansion of the internet caught traditional music business companies with their collective pants down and they are still fighting to catch up with licensing downloads and working out Digital Rights Management issues.
Is this a problem or an opportunity?
Problem solving is the opposite of creativity. When you are problem solving you are seeking to delete something you wish to avoid – a challenge or a conflict. In the creative process, you consciously take action to birth something new. Traditionally Business identifies a need, a void, a gap and fills it with a product or a service. A problem is found and a solution is offered for sale.
What about the entertainment industry (movies, music, theatre, opera, dance)? What solutions does this industry offer?
On the surface, none, however indirectly it functions to keep people entertained and distracted FROM their problems - therefore forming the basis of a temporary remedy – a panacea. Our values (which are the beliefs that we align ourselves with) are driven by our voids – that which we think is missing in our lives. An outward expression of art is one form of seeking love, recognition and acceptance. What greater way to feel loved, recognized or accepted than selling CDs Concert Tickets and Merchandise?
Creating product and gigging live only happens in a business with an effective resource management system in place. Customers everywhere demand faster service. The beauty is that we live in an age where we can EASILY serve customers and run business in a more cost effective manner.
You have everything you need right here right now. You are only limited by your imagination.
Imagination is what inspired you to become a musician in the first place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
