After some weeks of gray and rainy weather, the sun is back. I now know again why fall is my favorite season. The yellow-orange-brown leaves in the sunshine give everything a golden line. It’s really beautiful to see, the trees are shining like stars! The beauty outside comes with a melancholic touch. I know hat the golden beauty outside is only temporary. End of November you can count the last leaves on a tree on the fingers of one hand. […]
How more success you have in the music business, how more ‘friends’ you gather. Everyone wants to share in your success. Everyone wants to stand in the limelight with you. And they all start to make great promises. Who can you trust? “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” (Oprah Winfrey) First of all, the music business is […]
As a musician you have a certain image you want to get across. You want others to see certain aspects of yourself, you want them to like you. And if you are ambitious, you put a whole marketing team on the development of that image. The more famous you get, the bigger the gap can grow between how others see you and how you see yourself. Others will see you in the way you present yourself to them. They see […]
As musicians and as person it’s important to know your purpose. Purpose is about your meaning, knowing what motivates you, why you want what you want. Purpose gives you a direction for your career, it helps you to stand out. On the other side the music business is an ever changing business. Look at the last 150 years and how technical developments have pushed creative developments in the music industry to come from operas with 400 visitors to arena shows […]
Everything at Compass for Creatives is about the empowerment of musicians. The importance is so self-evident to me, that I often forget to explain myself to others. I hope that after reading the 4 reasons below it’s evident to you too. 1. Stay motivated even after demotivating comments Using your musical talents brings you lots of fun, as long as everything is going according to plan. You enjoy becoming better and better on your instrument, others enjoy it more and […]
Musicians often feel screwed by their managers, agents, and labels. The publicity that Sinead O’Connor got last week is a good example. People in the music business are not all crooks, for sure. But everyone in the music business has his/her own financial interest in the career of the musician. Independent, non-legal advice for musicians is scarce. The solution Hilde Spille discovered, lies in the empowerment of musicians. On September 15 she starts with a new online workshop. She fills […]
How we see the world around us is for a high degree determined by what we have learned. Sometimes we have to unlearn to be able to give our creativity a boost, to broaden your musical horizons. Looking into the mirror Have you ever seen a baby in front of a mirror? The baby has to learn to recognize the image as belonging to him/her. When we look into a reverse mirror we experience something similar. In a ‘real mirror’ […]
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 […]
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 […]
As artist it’s important to network. Conferences and seminars offer great opportunities, especially if you want to address new countries. You can pick a seminar or conference per country, you’ll have to travel quite a lot. Or you can pick some more international oriented seminars/conferences. I’ve put them in a list for you. At seminars and conferences you can also catch up on new developments regarding technology, music business and music. For the international music business in Europe there are […]
Do you think of holiday too, when hearing the word ‘island’? I often wonder what’s so special about islands. Some people love them, others hate them. Island lovers are often charmed by the limitations an island gives. You are bound to the ferry-times for arrival and departure. The number of inhabitants is limited, same for services. On the small Dutch islands you don’t have a hospital. For romantics, life seems so simple on an island. And you have lots of […]
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 […]
It’s hot today, a humid 37 C in the shadow. It makes me wonder how anyone can focus with these temperatures! For me it’s difficult to focus, even with a fan next to me and a cold damp cloth in my neck. Even my ability of speak seems to have melted away: I’m mumbling unarticulated sounds, assuming that others understand what I’m thinking. Deadlines don’t take care of temperatures, on the contrary. On Saturday it’s Conincx Pop Festival. For more […]
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 […]
It’s a crazy thought, but it works. As adolescent, cleaning my room and having a clear mind always happened simultaneously. Most of the time my room was a mess. And when it was very chaotic in my mind too, it was time to clean up my room. My mind got cleared too. “If you want to improve your life immediately, clean out a closet. Often it’s what we hold onto that is holding us back.” (Cheryl Richardson) I still wonder […]
