The Baseball Analogy
The Baseball Analogy
Keith, from Indieheaven/Indie University and I had a great meeting with Tom Jackson recently. For those that don't know of Tom, he is the premiere performance coach in the CCM industry. He's got a great head on his shoulders and understands the industry inside and out. From our conversation yesterday, I came to the following conclussion: The Music Industry can be likened to Baseball How so you ask? Well, this is where the story gets long....
Let me first say that I apologize for making a sports analogy, I know there are some of you (my wife would be one) that don't care enough about pro sports to understand the intricacies of the system, so if I lose you, I apologize, but hopefully I've kept this broad enough to be understood.
In baseball, there are various levels: Little League (everyone can play little league). There's the minors (only those who have proven themselves good enough get here). And there's Major League Baseball.
In the music industry, there are three general artist camps "Label Artists", "Indies trying to become label artists" and "True Indie Artists". Within the two "Indie Camps" there are also three levels of artists "Professionals" (those that do their craft full time), "Semi-Pros" (those who do their craft part-time and are trying to get to full-time or are content doing the weekend gig), Beginners (those that do occasional shows.
Before you go any further, determine which camp you are in In baseball, each league has it's own "rules" of play.
In Little League, everyone is allowed to be on the team. The coach's job is to "train" the players to be the best they can be. Some of the Little League players will rise to the top and be "stars" some will drop-out with lack of interest or because they aren't "good enough" and many will remain in Little League as long as they can because they enjoy it, but they aren't good enough to move on to the "next level".
In the Minor's ... the best players of Little League are allowed to play. Some of these players are simply on a "layover" on their way to the Major's, but most of these players are thrilled to have the opportunity to play full-time and get paid for it. At this level are also players who were in the Majors but got cut and still want to play ball as long as they can.
The major leagues are the top of the pyramid ... of the hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of players in the Little Leagues, only about 600 actually get to play in this league! That's it ... it's a tiny percentage, but that's what everyone aspires toward.
In music, the Labels are obviously the Major League. Only a small fraction of all of the artists in existence ever get a record deal. A statistic was thrown out that in the last year 300,000 CDs were recorded, of those less than 3,000 sold more than 1,000 copies. of that 3,000 less than 30 sold more than 100,000 copies.
Now, there are the Minor Leagues ... in Music, this is the "Indie" scene which is split into two camps "Those who want to remain Independent" and "Those who really want to get a Label deal". The Minor League, as far as music, is the place I would classify artists who have been able to make a career of music or are on the verge of making a career out of music.
The Little League ... well, suffice it to say, this is where most of us "play" the Little League is a great place. Some will "win the championship" every year, others will drop out after a year. There is a diversity of players, there are the Beginners (those who just got their first band together, those that have been playing in their basement for 10 years but never played live) there are the "semi-pros" who play out a bit, but don't play out a lot ... you could call them the weekend warriors as well.
Please understand, there is nothing wrong with playing in ANY of these leagues, but each league has it's own "rules".
I think for a while people have felt that if you're not "signed to a label" you're not worth much as a musician, tell that to Ani DiFranco. The real key is to learn the "rules" and "skills" of the league that you're playing in so that you can excel in your particular league.
The goal of INDIEHEAVEN is to help artists understand the rules of the League they're playing in. The first step is to admit, which league you're playing in. Then you need to learn the skills and rules of that league. Keith and I will be helping you discover those rules and skills as you go along the way, but you can't be a star at any level without putting in the effort to learn the basics then hone your skills.
So, What are the rules?
Ah, if it were that easy I'd be a millionaire. There are some basic principles regardless of which league you're in...
1. Know which league you're in. If you don't know which league you're in, you don't have any hope because you don't know which rulebook to use.
2. Accept the league that you're in. Pretending you are in a different league won't change the rules for the league you're in.
3. Be willing to LEARN. If you think you know it all you can't grow.
4. Never Burn Your Bridges.
5. Be EXCELLENT at what you do. If you aren't, work at it. Practice, Prepare, Practice, Prepare, Practice, Practice.
6. Relationships are key. Whether it means getting a gig at a venue or getting your van fixed in the middle of North Dakota, relationships will make or break you.
Here's some additional rules for the "little league" of music...
1. Live Performance is the core of what you do.
You can have the coolest T-Shirts, the best CD, and songbooks galore, but if you aren't playing out no one will hear your music. Focus your efforts on putting together a GREAT live show, make it something people will remember, that they will want to come back to. As you can afford it and as the demand is there, add the "trinkets".
2. Don't invest more money than you have.
Putting yourself in debt for the sake of ministry is STUPID. That's not to say if you've got 1000 people saying "we want your CD" that you wouldn't extend some credit to cover pressing 1000 CDs, but don't think because you invest $10k in a CD, 1000 people will come out of the woodwork to buy it.
3. Network.
You can't do this on your own. You've got to have others around you that help you. A Network is a two-way street, you can't just take, take, take, you have to be willing to give as well. If another artist shares 25 venue leads with you, you have an obligation to pay that forward and share those leads with other artists.
4. START LOCAL.
There's no point in living in Seattle and booking a gig in Orlando if you aren't on a Nationwide Tour. The expense of getting there will kill you (or the promoter) and the odds of you building support in that area are minimal. If you live in Seattle, book shows in Seattle, then expand to Yakima and Portland, Oregon ... then go from there.
5. Don't pass up an opportunity to promote what you do.
Carry Business Cards with you EVERYWHERE you go. You'd be surprised when you're at the local diner and you overhere someone saying "Man, we need an artist to come and play for our youth group" ... now, this isn't to say, force your business card on everyone you meet, but if an opportunity presents itself you don't want to scramble to get your information in people's hands.
6. Your live show is your vehicle. (did I already say this)
This is the most important thing you can do. No matter what level you're at, YOUR LIVE SHOW IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU DO in marketing your music to people.
Keith, from Indieheaven/Indie University and I had a great meeting with Tom Jackson recently. For those that don't know of Tom, he is the premiere performance coach in the CCM industry. He's got a great head on his shoulders and understands the industry inside and out. From our conversation yesterday, I came to the following conclussion: The Music Industry can be likened to Baseball How so you ask? Well, this is where the story gets long....
Let me first say that I apologize for making a sports analogy, I know there are some of you (my wife would be one) that don't care enough about pro sports to understand the intricacies of the system, so if I lose you, I apologize, but hopefully I've kept this broad enough to be understood.
In baseball, there are various levels: Little League (everyone can play little league). There's the minors (only those who have proven themselves good enough get here). And there's Major League Baseball.
In the music industry, there are three general artist camps "Label Artists", "Indies trying to become label artists" and "True Indie Artists". Within the two "Indie Camps" there are also three levels of artists "Professionals" (those that do their craft full time), "Semi-Pros" (those who do their craft part-time and are trying to get to full-time or are content doing the weekend gig), Beginners (those that do occasional shows.
Before you go any further, determine which camp you are in In baseball, each league has it's own "rules" of play.
In Little League, everyone is allowed to be on the team. The coach's job is to "train" the players to be the best they can be. Some of the Little League players will rise to the top and be "stars" some will drop-out with lack of interest or because they aren't "good enough" and many will remain in Little League as long as they can because they enjoy it, but they aren't good enough to move on to the "next level".
In the Minor's ... the best players of Little League are allowed to play. Some of these players are simply on a "layover" on their way to the Major's, but most of these players are thrilled to have the opportunity to play full-time and get paid for it. At this level are also players who were in the Majors but got cut and still want to play ball as long as they can.
The major leagues are the top of the pyramid ... of the hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of players in the Little Leagues, only about 600 actually get to play in this league! That's it ... it's a tiny percentage, but that's what everyone aspires toward.
In music, the Labels are obviously the Major League. Only a small fraction of all of the artists in existence ever get a record deal. A statistic was thrown out that in the last year 300,000 CDs were recorded, of those less than 3,000 sold more than 1,000 copies. of that 3,000 less than 30 sold more than 100,000 copies.
Now, there are the Minor Leagues ... in Music, this is the "Indie" scene which is split into two camps "Those who want to remain Independent" and "Those who really want to get a Label deal". The Minor League, as far as music, is the place I would classify artists who have been able to make a career of music or are on the verge of making a career out of music.
The Little League ... well, suffice it to say, this is where most of us "play" the Little League is a great place. Some will "win the championship" every year, others will drop out after a year. There is a diversity of players, there are the Beginners (those who just got their first band together, those that have been playing in their basement for 10 years but never played live) there are the "semi-pros" who play out a bit, but don't play out a lot ... you could call them the weekend warriors as well.
Please understand, there is nothing wrong with playing in ANY of these leagues, but each league has it's own "rules".
I think for a while people have felt that if you're not "signed to a label" you're not worth much as a musician, tell that to Ani DiFranco. The real key is to learn the "rules" and "skills" of the league that you're playing in so that you can excel in your particular league.
The goal of INDIEHEAVEN is to help artists understand the rules of the League they're playing in. The first step is to admit, which league you're playing in. Then you need to learn the skills and rules of that league. Keith and I will be helping you discover those rules and skills as you go along the way, but you can't be a star at any level without putting in the effort to learn the basics then hone your skills.
So, What are the rules?
Ah, if it were that easy I'd be a millionaire. There are some basic principles regardless of which league you're in...
1. Know which league you're in. If you don't know which league you're in, you don't have any hope because you don't know which rulebook to use.
2. Accept the league that you're in. Pretending you are in a different league won't change the rules for the league you're in.
3. Be willing to LEARN. If you think you know it all you can't grow.
4. Never Burn Your Bridges.
5. Be EXCELLENT at what you do. If you aren't, work at it. Practice, Prepare, Practice, Prepare, Practice, Practice.
6. Relationships are key. Whether it means getting a gig at a venue or getting your van fixed in the middle of North Dakota, relationships will make or break you.
Here's some additional rules for the "little league" of music...
1. Live Performance is the core of what you do.
You can have the coolest T-Shirts, the best CD, and songbooks galore, but if you aren't playing out no one will hear your music. Focus your efforts on putting together a GREAT live show, make it something people will remember, that they will want to come back to. As you can afford it and as the demand is there, add the "trinkets".
2. Don't invest more money than you have.
Putting yourself in debt for the sake of ministry is STUPID. That's not to say if you've got 1000 people saying "we want your CD" that you wouldn't extend some credit to cover pressing 1000 CDs, but don't think because you invest $10k in a CD, 1000 people will come out of the woodwork to buy it.
3. Network.
You can't do this on your own. You've got to have others around you that help you. A Network is a two-way street, you can't just take, take, take, you have to be willing to give as well. If another artist shares 25 venue leads with you, you have an obligation to pay that forward and share those leads with other artists.
4. START LOCAL.
There's no point in living in Seattle and booking a gig in Orlando if you aren't on a Nationwide Tour. The expense of getting there will kill you (or the promoter) and the odds of you building support in that area are minimal. If you live in Seattle, book shows in Seattle, then expand to Yakima and Portland, Oregon ... then go from there.
5. Don't pass up an opportunity to promote what you do.
Carry Business Cards with you EVERYWHERE you go. You'd be surprised when you're at the local diner and you overhere someone saying "Man, we need an artist to come and play for our youth group" ... now, this isn't to say, force your business card on everyone you meet, but if an opportunity presents itself you don't want to scramble to get your information in people's hands.
6. Your live show is your vehicle. (did I already say this)
This is the most important thing you can do. No matter what level you're at, YOUR LIVE SHOW IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU DO in marketing your music to people.
posted by Martin Johnson @ 2:20 AM
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