Tyler the Creator - Live Performance @ The Grammy Awards

Honestly, it scares me how much I like this performance. Tyler has really pushed the “Rap” envelope .

Once upon a time: All you needed was a record deal

This has got to be one of the most career limiting belief I have seen common with most artists. It is the belief that once they get signed or discovered that their job is done. They can now depend on the record label or publishing house to do all the work for them. Thankful there is a shift away from this sort of thinking but it is still very prevalent. Often when I would hear of artists I knew signing a deal I didn’t know whether to congratulate them or send them my condolences.

Labels and deals have their place, but it is a very broken and shacky system so as with any contracts both parties need to enter into an agreement with eyes wide open.

Here are some of the reasons why you should not enter into a deal:

• Through distribution channels like TuneCore and CD BABY you can now distribute your music worldwide on all the popular platforms and keep 100% of your ownership.
• You have no prior experience in the business and want someone to take care of that for you so you don’t have to think about it.
• You have no industry contacts and will be dependent completely on their resources and connections.
• Access to studios - With the technology available today, Home Studio productions are giving people unbelievable quality at affordable prices. For more on that check out sites like the recordingrevolution.com

Here are some of the reasons you should:

• You have built a strong team or reputation in the industry around your brand and your music so you are bringing something to the table as an equal or as a partner
• You can leverage some of your connections and resources by partnering

As you can see above there are far fewer reasons to sign with a label today then there were in the past. And if you don’t already have momentum and your own team to drive the process (i.e. Management, Lawyer and production team) then you will be on the back foot at the negotiation table and will most likely be taken advantage of.

It's been a minute... Consistent-Key

When you are moving at the speed life it's hard to be consistent. Yet, if you want to build anything of substance, anything worthwhile... Then consistency is key. You can't avoid it. You can't make excuses. It is as simple as that, yet it is as hard as that. It just is what it is.

While doing life... Don’t forget to create the content that can help people and help yourself be better.

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Are you a sellout?

 Selling my music makes me a sellout

To put it simply, nobody and I mean absolutely nobody will care more about your music than you will. So with that said, who do you think would be the best sales person for your music?

If you guessed yourself. Then yes! You are indeed correct and at the same time you are also wrong.

Because nobody can fully comprehend the meaning or the message that you are putting out, you are best placed to craft the positioning and the heart of the music.

There is however also a downside. Because you are so close to the fire so to speak, you are probably also the worst placed to punt your music because you probably cherish it too much and are afraid that someone will reject your little darlings.

The curse of too much knowledge and intimacy. This is why doctors don’t operate on family members.

So what is the answer then? Perspective. You really have to separate yourself from your creation. If you ask me, I think this is also the reason most creatives have a stage name or pen name. It clearly allows you to separate yourself from what you do. A mental game but very effective. You also have to become a student of marketing, to educate yourself on the simple ways you could be missing out on branding your music because it seems trivial or uninteresting to you but may appeal greatly to your audience. For instance, documenting your progress as an artist, or preparing for a show. This ability to peel back the curtain has always been an effective tool to market creative projects.