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)
I just read about a research of the McKinsey Institute about making decisions in the world of big business. Many decisions go wrong in that world by two psychological factors: confirmation bias and overconfidence bias. Both can be overcome by asking the right questions. If you take both biases in consideration, it helps you to know when it’s the right time to take a decision. Confirmation bias means, that for all of us it’s much easier to integrate new information […]
Last night I went to the city theater to hear the Dutch comedian Daniel Arends talking about plan A and plan B. Plan A is who you are. You can grow in who you are, but you can’t really change it. Plan B is how you appear to others. You are authentic when you appear as who you are. Often we want to appear different than who we are. Many musicians are shy but want to appear spontaneous and confident. […]
Having the right network is so important. Sometimes I think that the music business is all about networking. Networking is about all connections you have, using social media, meetings, family and friends. Having the right connections makes such a difference; you feel so much stronger if you know that you are not alone. Here a list of 10 people that should be in your network, taken from Forbes: 1. The Mentor: A musician who has achieved what you want to […]
“You can better wait for the right moment.” Does that sound familiar to you? Is it wise or not? What is the right moment? Waiting for the right moment works great when you want to stall something. I love to wait for the right moment when I want to stall a decision or avoid some changes I have to make, like when i wanted to quit smoking while in the middle of writing my master thesis. Not a good moment […]
Some weeks ago I heard a very interesting lecture by John Cleese. Most people know him from his period in Monty Python and the reunion of Monty Python last summer, or from the comedy Fawlty Towers. I still start laughing out loud when I think of the scenes at the Ministry of Silly Walks! Many people don’t know, that he’s given many lectures to business people. He’s earned a fortune with that, to give as alimentary to his divorced wives, […]
Last night I spoke with a friend who’s a production guy, often traveling with big productions crews. Sometimes he and his colleagues might mingle with the backing band, but never with the stars of the show. He was part of the huge production crew of the European tour of Justin Bieber. When he described Justin Bieber as a spoiled prick I wasn’t surprised, it confirmed what I already thought. The friend continued with telling me, that all the people with […]
Excitement Will the Scots vote for independence tomorrow? I don’t know. Though I do know the importance of independence for me personally. The first major step was on the day after starting at university, when I went to the city council of my new home town to officially register there. I felt light as a bird, the world at my feet, all options open. Is Scotland feeling this kind of excitement too? Responsibility Of course there’s a downside of independence. […]
Local initiative Last Friday I was at the opening of COEN, a local initiative with workshops for artists to become more commercial. At the reception a theater maker told me how difficult it is for her to combine commercial thinking with creative action. We had an interesting conversation. Problems as artist ‘They want us artists to become commercial entrepreneurs. But as artist, I want to create without having to think about the commercial value. ‘ ‘I agree, it’s your creativity […]
When I was 11 years old, I survived a heavy car crash. A car, driving 120 km/h, drove on the back of my bicycle. There were rumors that I would have been dead, that one leg was amputated or that I’d been paralyzed in my legs. Fortunately I survived, with a heavy concussion and a flesh-wound on my right leg. After 6 weeks hospital I returned home, after half a year I was sporting again. In hospital at 11 years […]
Are you aware of the power you have when making music? Remember the festival you attended, when you joined the masses in enjoying your favorite band play, the euphoric state they created in the audience, the energy they gave to everyone. Sometimes a show can be nothing less than live-changing. That’s the reaction that Balkan Beat Box got, one of the bands I booked, when they played in Nijmegen. The impact can be huge. The power of music is old, […]
Do you know the situations when you feel a victim? It’s often because the press doesn’t pay attention to your album or performances, because you can’t afford to go to that amazing showcase festival, because a band member doesn’t act like you would want him to, because the world and everyone is plotting against you. Well, I do know that feeling. And sometimes it can even feel good to indulge in the mud-pool of self-pity. And while indulging the mud-pool […]
Have you ever had a mentor or a coach, asking you where you want to be in five or ten or twenty years? I had a coach shortly after I became partner in the company. She asked me that question, and I didn’t know. I do my work, I know what I like and what I’m doing it for, without having a goal or a picture of where I want to be in five years. I felt like I was […]
It’s amazing, how serious we take business. Some like it if you lighten the burden with humor, others don’t. Still, I’m convinced that humor is the best way to lighten up a tense situation, to disarm a conflict and to treat yourself not too seriously. And that being said by someone who grew up in Germany 😉 Today I got a mail from a friend and colleague, he’s a booking agent too. He was offering a combination of three different […]
It could all be so easy, if we had all the information we need, and more. We could anticipate on what’s coming, what will happen now, in a minute, tomorrow, next year. While we don’t have the information, we make it up. We assume certain things to be in a certain way. One fish: How is the water? Other fish: What’s the hack is water? (ofilisketches.com) Do you know what I mean? When I come to the office, I assume […]
Power comes in all shapes and sizes. Here some examples: on the bicycle this morning I saw a crocus with fragile flowers breaking through the dirt, this afternoon the Dutch speed-skaters (10 km) got gold-silver-bronze again at the Olympics , Lemmy and his music at Motorhead. Last night I watched this documentary about Lemmy. It felt like I was on speed during the entire 2 hours! And this morning I still had “Ace of Spades” in my head. Yesterday I […]