September Loft Series: Derek Sivers- founder of CDBaby, plain awesome guy.

If you missed the last Loft, check out Derek’s main points below. He really took time to lay out specific things you should know about the music business and what it takes to really pursue your dream. It was an amazing night!

Part 1: PEOPLE

· Everything great starts with someone you know
· Don’t discount the roommate who wraps cables at a local studio…or the professor you once did a favor for. You could end up touring the world like Derek. You never know what person sitting next to you today will be the perfect position to help you tomorrow.
· It’s who you know…so…know more people!
· You can’t just be a mosquito. Stop sucking the life out of the people around you and invest in their careers too! What goes around truly does come around.
· Don’t forget how to be a real person – the key to being interesting is being interested. Be a good conversationalist. Be humble. Be considerate.
· Read “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It’s dated, but one of the best books ever written.
· Stay in touch with people you initiate networking with. It’s about more than the initial meeting.
· Don’t just ask people what they do and shove your crap in their face before they can finish a sentence. It’s just annoying. And it won’t get you anywhere.
· Proximity effect: Be in the forefront of a contact’s mind by keeping in touch.

Part 2: WORDS

· Words matter more than ever. Your music can’t speak for itself.
· Words describing your music need to attract.
· You need to be able to tell them what you do/what kind of music you play. Imagine if a businessman described his business as “a place where people do a little of this and little of that”, gave you his card and asked you drive an hour to check his company out next Thursday from 10-11pm. You wouldn’t go. Don’t expect more of the listening public.
· A good descriptor is “a cross between (y) and (z)” – especially an odd coupling.
· Does your music defy traditional labels? Come up with something unique or even silly to describe it – something that will stick in people’s minds. Derek used “Hillbilly Flamenco” and his fan base grew like crazy! Find good words to describe your music.

Part 3: STRATEGY

· GET SPECIFIC!
· Looking for a booking agent? Look up 3 great artists you think are the next step up from where you are and contact their booking agents. It takes 5 minutes of online research.
· Don’t just sit at home with some “I gotta get out there man” longing. Do your research…do SOMETHING.
· Practice BEFORE relaxing. Too many artists feel they have to unwind from their loathsome day jobs by parking themselves in front of the tv with a beer before moving to the music. That’s backwards.
· One of Derek’s favorite quotes: “Inspiration never comes all the way to you. It only comes half way.”
· Working toward quantity is sometimes better than being a perfectionist. Keep writing…no matter how many of those songs you hate…and in the end your songs will be better.
· You can’t just tell people to want something. Today, marketing has to be built into the product. Your songs/recordings/shows have to be so remarkable that marketing is under your control. This trend is actually good – marketing becomes a creative rather than a financial problem. Artists are good at being creative.
· Keep practicing until you get that “OMG” moment from listeners, THEN spend money on marketing.
· Be resourceful. No one will be impressed with your spending $60k on an album when some other guy made one for $1k that was almost as good.
· There is money out there to be gotten – ask favors, network, ask for support from fans/family/friends.

Last Thoughts:

There’s a compass in your gut. You know what excites you and what drains you. If something excites or scares you – DO IT. Stop doing what drains you – someone out there actually loves doing that very thing, so find them and let THEM do it.
If you’re looking for places to get your music “out there”, surf the web from a fan’s perspective. Find sites that fans in your niche use for finding new artists. Approach them first.

For more on Derek Sivers, visit sivers.org!