In this category you find texts that help artists to take the lead. “Artists lead, they don’t follow. They’re not beholden to their audience, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!” (Bob Lefsetz)
For many years I’m writing about the mental challenges in the music business. I also give coaching and guest lectures. Lectures though are too long to summarize in a blog post, and coaching sessions are confidential, so I don’t write about it. When a musician was very positive recently over the tools I use in coaching, I suddenly realized, that I can share my toolbox with you, Spille’s Toolbox for a Healthy Mind in the Music Business. Many musicians and […]
Since the murder of George Floyd, no one can deny systemic racism in society anymore. But the music business is different, I still hear some white people say. They believe that in the music business it’s-all-about-music, no matter what skin-color you have. Still, various initiatives show that in the music business we have to fight systemic racism as well. What is systemic racism? Racism is dividing society for centuries. We white folks made a division between white and not-white. We […]
None of us was prepared for something like Covid-19. The essence of the live music business is to bring people together to enjoy music. Now we can’t bring people together anymore, the heart of the business is hit. First out, last in. No wonder that I see people around me becoming very impatient. We all want to be able to enjoy live shows again, hug each other, sing along with the band. Impatience is a huge force, a huge power. […]
This trilogy is about the live music business and corona. In part I you can read about 6 reasons why people in the live music business have been hit extra hard by all corona measurements. Part II was about how to get through the crisis. Part III will be about how to prepare for after-lock-down. Here again I make a difference between business in general, your own finances, and your mental condition. Business will be different than we are used […]
In my previous post I mentioned 6 reasons why people in the live music business have been hit extra hard by all corona measurements. Now I tell how to get through this crisis. The next post will be about how to prepare for after the crisis. The 6 reasons can be categorized in three categories: business, finances and mental condition. BusinessWith first in last out and by no alternative (see previous post), all concerts have been cancelled and there is […]
The live music business was the first business that was hit by the measurements to control the corona pandemic. The immediate stop of all live shows is a global situation we have to deal with. It has of course a huge financial impact too. Next to the global situation and the financial impact, there is also a mental impact with anxiety. This is extra strong for people in the live music business, as you can read below. first in, last […]
Begin of this year, very surprisingly, I was nominated as Best Power Woman of 2019. What an honor! That was my first thought. But what is a Power Woman? Why that category? The same award organization had another category: Biggest Music Man. Only after protests, more than a week later, the organizers decided to create the category Best Power Woman. In my eyes, all nominees did deserve the title of Best Power Woman. Only for myself I wasn’t that sure. […]
We all want to belong, we all want to be accepted in a group of peers. Humans are herd-animals, we depend on each other. So no wonder that we seek the acceptance of a group. That’s what makes us so strong. We can diversify and delegate our work, we can specialize in a certain thing, like music. Group pressure though can be pretty strong and rigid, excluding everyone who is different, everyone who does not want to adapt. That’s how […]
It’s spring, so I’m writing about eggs 😉 Just kidding. The egg is a great symbol. The shell is strong and vulnerable at the same time, just as we are. Music is liberating, music helps you to face difficult situations. Though if you work with live music, if live music becomes your work, the situation turns around. Look at the egg. As long as there are no cracks in the egg shell, you can put a huge amount of pressure […]
Have you ever been ashamed? Ashamed that you are not famous yet? Ashamed for being famous, but not enjoying it as much as you thought you would be? Ashamed that you didn’t reach your 5-year goals? Ashamed for not being as cool as the all think you are? Ashamed for who you are, not worth to belong to the great people around you? Shame makes you feel lonely, because it affects you as a person. If you feel guilty, it […]
My diary helps me to sort out stuff that’s going on in my mind. I not only write, I also add pictures that reflect the mood I am in. Cutting the the pictures from magazines, they usually show nature, flowers or interiors, no people. For this picture I made an exception. Years ago I found this picture, but it never fitted to my mood, until last week. The two ladies suddenly seemed to speak to me, how they are walking […]
In recent months, I often wonder what kind of personality fits best for musicians. I don’t know of any research in that matter. The Dutch book “Een kwestie van persoonlijkheid” by Jolet Plomp was very inspiring in this matter. According to Plomp, there is a core in your personality that is pretty stable. Part of your personality comes from your genes, another part is formed by your experiences and by you reaction to them. The 5 major personality dimensions that […]
The season of the music conferences has started again. Right now it’s Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, next month Womex, Amsterdam Dance Event and many more will follow. Most of them have several keynote speakers, highly successful and established people from within the music business to share their story and hopefully their secrets. Often you can hear really entertaining stories about the life of those successful people. Still, when talking about business, many of them try to convince you that […]
Finally it’s holiday again and we can step out of the daily rat-race and relax. We don’t have to pretend anymore, simply ‘being’ is enough. Finally we have time for our loved one(s), time to read, time for ‘la dolce far niente’. Sounds easy, but I often get stressed if I only think of holiday and getting ready to travel. I want everything at work to be ready, everything at home to be clean. I want to leave everything in […]
When you look at animals, the success of a species is measured by its ability of reproduction. There are different strategies. Frogs produce thousands of offspring, but most of them got killed by predators (fishes) or by a harsh environment (drought). Elephants only have one calf and it takes almost 2 years before it’s born. Here the reproduction strategy is not quantity but care and longevity. The creative process of producing art is the reproduction that artists use. Different musicians […]
