success / fame

In this category you find posts related to success and fame, how they are related or not, and how to deal with it. They also tell you how to deal with failure.

5 golden rules how (not) to treat famous musicians

1. Praise them for everything they do. They are quite vulnerable. And if you want something different, present it as supplement or improvement to their great plan. You can also make the musicians believe that your idea was actually their idea. See it as exercise in seeing the best in everyone. 2. Don’t confront them with open criticism in front of others, ever. You can do it backstage, and even than it’s best to be as cautious as possible, so […]

The context of fame

Context is everything! If you need an example, look at the picture above. Looking at the cylinder it depends on the context, on the perspective if you see a square or a circle, Context is important in everyday life too. Some years ago a right-wing Dutch politician asked during a speech if the audience would prefer more or less foreigners, and they all shouted “less, less, less”. But if you ask the same question to employers who are desperate to […]

Can you accept ‘no’, even when you are famous?

What happens to people when they become famous? First they loose their privacy. I’ve seen it in an interview with the Greek president Tsipras the other day. He’s in politics since he’s a teenager. When asked what the biggest change was in his life when becoming president, the first thing he mentioned was the lack of privacy. There’s more though. While Tsipras still lives in a middle-class apartment, most famous (and rich) people move to a gigantic villa, surrounded by […]

New workshop starting on Sep. 15

On September 15 I start with a new edition of the workshop “5 empowerment tools for musicians – online workshop to learn in 6 weeks how to move from despair to an upward spiral towards success”. I’m now halfway of the first edition. It’s great to see how the idea works in action. After only 6 weeks: – you will have the right network to support your musical career – you will know your purpose, the flame that keeps you […]

The scary part of creativity is vulnerability

When I saw an old high-school friend last month, he told me about his new job in city planning and about his creative new boss. The boss loves to come with new plans and to draw them. “I hope that you don’t expect it from me, I have no inch of creativity in me,” my friend warned him, “my mom is creative, I can judge your drawings and give you my opinion, but don’t expect me to be creative too.” […]

Two trends spotted at the Grammy’s

A week ago was the big media spectacle of the Grammy’s. I didn’t watch it and honestly, I’m not at all interested. Still, here two remarkable trends I spotted when viewing all the comments afterwards last week: Women and aging Two strong women showed us that aging is not an issue anymore, both in her own way. Madonna still knows how to look young and provocative, all fitting with her American electro-pop theme. The British Anni Lennox has become a […]

7 criteria to choose a manager 2

Sometimes you only realize what you know, if someone asks the right question. It happened to me last week, when one of the participants of my workshop D.I.Y. mentality asked me how to select the right manager. He’s made serious progress with his band after the workshop and is recently approached  by various managers. Within a split second I mentioned 6 criteria, and thought of the last one (number 2 in the list) after consulting with my partner. I like […]

Christmas – a migration story

Last Saturday I was at a great show of Wendy McNeill. Her new album is full of migration stories: Sicilians coming to New Jersey, English orphanages coming to Canada, Curds running fro the poison gas attack. It kept me busy. And this morning I realized, that Christmas is about migration too! Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem to get registered. They were not welcome, no one wanted to help them. One guy offered them a shed, used for […]

Justin, dare to be challenged!

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 […]

Stretching your boundaries 1

When stretching your boundaries, you are also changing your perspective on things, often unnoticed by yourself. After the change, others might feel a distance to you, which makes you feel lonely. It’s up to you how far you want to change, how big the distance should grow, how to deal with it. If you put effort into a good relationship to your dear ones, it can bridge the distance. Feeling stiff Two months ago I started to workout again, my […]

Like a diva …

Last night I felt like a diva, sitting with sunglasses at the terrace of a nice restaurant, the sun shining right into my face, a glass of wine on the table, great food, accompanied by three nice men. What is a diva like? Often people (women) are called a diva, if they are very picky and have unrealistic specific demands, like eating the yellow M&M’s only. The picky attitude is associated with a nagging voice, portrayed as  childish behavior. At […]

Celebrate!

Today I saw that the book of a friend is sold out, and that she will start to re-write it this summer for the second edition. When I asked her if she would celebrate it, she told me that she would wait for the second edition to be published. Grown up on a small farm I learned, that every reason is a good one to celebrate! We celebrated both, birthdays and (catholic) name-days, Saint Nicolas and Christmas, anniversaries, holidays, the […]

Perspective and fame

Square or circle? If you look at a cylinder it  depends on the perspective, on the context, as illustrated so clear in the picture. A friend posted it yesterday at Facebook. Context is important in everyday life too. Like the right-wing Dutch politician who asked his voters yesterday if they would prefer more or less foreigners, and the all shouted “less, less, less”. If you ask the same question to employers who are looking for a work force, they would […]

Important things in life 1

This week I saw an interview with Angelo Kelly, the youngest guy from the Kelly Family. He was famous already when he was a child and got used to everything that goes with it. It was surprising to hear, that he and his wife choose to live in a caravan and to travel for several years. He avoided Germany, too many people would recognize him there, and performed as street musician for two or three days a week. That brought […]

Footsteps

Next week the first big event in European music business starts, Eurosonic in Groningen in the Netherlands. It’s a showcase event with seminars and workshops. During the last couple of years more and more showcase events pop up, all with similar outlines: festival at night, often at various locations, seminar/trade fair during daytime. You could have a full-time job all year though you wanted to visit them all, and still would have to miss some! All the events work with […]