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.
Oh yes, we all admire the pop-stars of the world for their freedom. They don’t have to adjust to the routines of normal people, we think, they can do whatever they want whenever they wan it. But is this really true? Rihanna tweeted a photo from herself in a train from London to Paris, and the departure time was on the photo. When arriving in Paris, she was welcomed by so many fans, that security and bodyguards had problems with […]
It starts with hot temperatures, followed by summer, sun, great company, music … All the right ingredients are in place for the festival fever. And next Saturday it’s Conincx Pop Festival, the 30th edition of this great free boutique festival, with an alternative program of 9 bands from 7 countries, and a great atmosphere. We do the bookings for the 10th time already. Yes, I’m really looking forward to it. Finally I’ll meet all the artists playing there, that I’ve […]
Last night I was at a very inspiring meeting. One of the present women told her story of success, failure and getting up again. She had a company with dozens of employee’s, a yearly turnover of millions of Euros, and never shortage of new assignments. Everything was perfect, no reason to change anything, or even to think about it. That is how it feels to be successful. She took everything for granted, and than the crisis of 2008 hit her […]
The word ‘sabotage’ has a great history. It comes from the French word ‘sabot’, which means ‘wooden shoe’. During the industrial revolution workers in France put their wooden shoes in the machines, to bring them to a grinding hold, as protest against the work conditions. This act therefore was called sabotage. Success often generates envy, and we use to think that this might be the biggest enemy when successful. Though I think that we have the biggest enemy within us! […]
Brian Hetherman is Manager and President of Cerberus Management and Consulting. He is also the current Co-Chair of the IMMF (International Music Managers Forum, co-chairing with Volker May from Germany). You can find more info about him at http://www.cerberusartists.com As manager you want your artists to become successful, and your own success is often measured on the fame of your artists. What does success mean to you? How do you measure the success of your artists? That is absolutely true, […]
In the last couple of weeks I’ve told more and more people in the music business about my blog. I’m getting great reactions, thanks to all of you! It encouraged me to start interviewing managers and artists for this blog. At Tallinn Music Week in March this year I had a personal conversation with Ed Bicknell, manager of Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, Bryan Ferry and many more. It was a great pleasure to listen to all the great stories he […]
What do you do if you have lots of fans, many people admire you, but you still feel insecure inside? Yes, you start hiding or running away from your fans, but most of all from yourself. This happens to many famous people. I quoted Bob Dylan before: “Being noticed can be a burden. Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed. So I disappear a lot.” That is hiding. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a necessity to all […]
Last week I spoke to a manager about this blog. He sounded very interested. Though his problem was not that his artists are famous and don’t know how to deal with their success, but that they are NOT famous, and don’t know what to do. He thought that this blog would not be interesting for him. Let start from the scratch. What is fame? When I was a little girl I thought, that if everyone in the small village I […]
Many people believe that once you are successful, all problems will be solved. With success, you become attractive, rich and happy. All people will love you and you can get anything you want. Wow, that will really make you happy. The only think you need to do is being succesful. In the music business, these people often also believe, that you will get ‘there’ if you are good. And for being good, you need a bit of talent and a […]
I hate it when I make mistakes. Somehow I expect myself to be perfect! I think that many people share this with me, though maybe not in this extreme form. For me it was so difficult to discover my own mistakes, that I didn’t re-read my work at school. It was better if others would discover them. As soon as the text was ‘out there’, it wasn’t mine anymore. I had enough distance. I see this distance with many people […]
“Being noticed can be a burden. Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed. So I disappear a lot.” (Bob Dylan) When I heard the news last week that Adele was going to disappear for five years to work on her next album, I felt deep respect for her, more than for winning six Grammy Awards (congratulations!). If I would be her agent, I wouldn’t be happy with that decision, and especially not with the timing. So I wanted […]
Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT famous. But you might be, or you might want to be. I’ve seen the change in many artists I’ve worked with, once they got success. Often it is like moving on ice for the first time. They don’t know how to deal with all the expectations: from the audience, fans, promoters, agents, managers, label managers, publishers on one side, and family, friends, neighbors on the other side. “Control your own destiny or someone else […]