The following text has been "sampled" from Pyramind Studios' forthcoming book Cash Flow - Planning for Success to be released, Spring 2010 by Alfred Publishing...

Many people have the delusion that the music business runs on great music—it doesn’t. It runs on people. If great music was the sole benchmark of success, then all of your favorite artists would be household names and their records would be dipped in gold. Clearly, this is not the case. So being good is not enough—you’ve got to be smart and you’ve got to know people.

The social side of the music business is one of the most important components for success. The world is full of talented producers and content creators who can’t hold a simple conversation. Being a talented ‘closet’ producer just doesn’t earn any money without a manager. Most of us can’t afford a manager or simply won’t pay for one so you’d better get good at the ‘gab’!

I recently ran across an audio posting from an old client and talented producer, Count. He recently released a CD, called “INU” and it’s just fantastic. Not only is it great music that’s well produced, he’s got a great sense of the business to begin with. Many of the tracks were give-aways but the record is still doing very well. I suggest that EVERYONE go check out the record, but more importantly, check out what he says about how to grow your production credits and business.

http://www.inumusic.com/

...follow the link on the right to hear his interview.

It reminds me of how I came up in this business, both in NYC as a grad student and budding young professional and in SF as a transplant and relative unknown.... (cont'd)

This Thursday night (January 21st) marks the beginning of a new year & decade for Test Press and the Flux Summit.

Over three years in, the Test Press music review events have become a tradition at Pyramind Studios. The addition of The Flux Summit has upped the ante and made this quarterly event into a gathering that allows for topical discussion around hot-button issues of the day, coupled with a much larger community mixer.

This week's topic will be focused on the issues local live event venues are having with the ABC (The State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control) and their threats to issue massive fines and revoke permits.

The 45 minute rule.

Today, like all days when I write music for hire, I sat down and started writing, with only a couple of buzzwords to follow.

For one level of the game, the buzzword from the audio director was 'fast... like a racing game'

So I sit down and start to write.

I have this thing called the 45 minute rule. After 45 minutes of working, I know whether or not an idea is going to flesh out, or if it's gonna sit there in an 8 bar loop and sneer at me.

After 45 minutes, if there isn't anything of value on the screen, I take a walk and clear my head. Sometimes caffeine  helps.

If you aren't feeling something when you are trying to hit a home run, change your surroundings and revisit the work. 

*bows*

The following is an extract from the soon-to-be-released Pyramind Books, due January 2010 from Alfred Publishing

Planning for Success (Book 2)

"I have often heard it said that it is easier to win the lottery than it is to find financial success in the music industry. Many say that it requires a tremendous amount of luck to succeed in this business and there are others who will tell you there is no such thing as luck.

"I will respond that luck is fifty percent being in the right place at the right time and the other fifty percent is simply being ready for the opportunity when it presents itself – the marriage of opportunity and preparedness. Being 'ready' is never the result of any one action but a culmination of much preparation and determination. Being in the right place at the right time almost always has to do with whom you choose to surround yourself with. Realizing your potential in any endeavor is challenging and at its core is being able to understand the secret of how things really work – and how to work with people as passionate as yourself (whether or not you agree with them!).

'The secret of how things really work, the secret to achieving true and lasting success in our everyday lives and our business endeavors, is something deep, and not easily seen without effort. But it is certainly worth the effort.'

I get asked about balance quite often - and I rarely have the same answer twice.  In the case of music composition or content creation, it has been oddly consistent:

"It's the balanced application of Art and Craft".  

"But Paul, what is the difference?" someone might ask, or "What do you mean, man?  I just flow with it...."  

Art (a catch-all phrase for all disciplines or traditions) can be construed as your personal aesthetic, a culmination of your love, passion, pain - your emotional identity; brought forth into the world - and hopefully shared and pondered.   I often think of art as the act of revealing truth, or capturing the human experience through applied energy or action.  Art can also be "in the service of...", like creating something for a client, a gig, and opportunity.  Art for yourself or for others, it's always a shared experience:  we make it, but others are always listening.

Craft (another catch-all phrase) means tools, fluency, grammar, mastery - what you use to apply energy in order to make art.  Instruments, computers, everything in between.

 "So what is this whole balance thing?  You need tools to create art, right?"

When I was younger, I was obsessed with craft - how to best play, the best technique, the best strings, the best instruments - but as I grew older, craft became more akin to taking a breath or walking, something well learned to the point of being almost automatic.  What emerged was a focus on art: what do I want to express?  and why?  It would seem that focused time leads to conversion to art issues - and being in the service of revealing truth, or describing the human condition

A couple observations:

- I know some really "arty" people who don't have a whole lot of "craft", and while they are exciting people with big ideas - they inevitable fall flat and they get hung up on the inability to function in the service of the idea.

- I know some really "crafty" people who are impressive technicians or button pushers, but they never apply their craft in the service of something bigger than themselves.  They are usually not sure what to say, so they just flash some fast flashy bits and hide behind the blur of it all.  

 - The best artists I know or have experienced have a staggering amount of balance between art and craft, and have the strength and guts to wake up and apply it.  Keith Jarrett.  Michael Jordan.  John Williams.  the list is long and varied.

Pyramind strives to build balance between art and craft - for our clients, for our students, for our community.  If you ever feel a little lopsided, please visit with us - we'll link hands and ponder these things and make a difference.  Promise.

Seriously? Who are your friends?

If you want to be involved in sound design, music composition, producing, or engineering, you must make friends.

Sorry for all of you introverts out there. In order to get somewhere with what you are doing, you must make friends with people that are doing things that are more interesting than what you are doing. I'm not saying give up your drinking buddies. Those are the people you CONFIDE in. I'm simply saying that in order to get anywhere in the biz, you are going to need acquaintances. Lots of them.

For those of you who have the social abilities of a cave newt, here's what I suggest: