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Everywhere you look, there are incredibly talented YouTubers. Is everyone a virtuoso? It’s sure starting to look that way. Not to mention – they look and sound great. How is one even supposed to compete?
Well, here’s the funny thing. There are a couple of things most artists – and not just artists but even digital marketers and SEO agencies – aren’t very good at. Care to find out what those things are, so you have a chance even in an increasingly noisy world?
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares how you can stand out from the crowd.
Podcast Highlights:
- 01:00 – Is the bar higher than ever?
- 01:49 – Two things most artists aren’t that great at
- 03:27 – The secret to pitching
- 04:18 – Closing thoughts
Sponsors:
- The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official, definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.
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Transcription:
Hey, it’s David Andrew Wiebe. Today I wanted to let you know about another really great podcast called The Unstarving Musician. This show is hosted by Robonzo, and it was created as a way to help other independent musicians better understand the marketing, business, and creative processes that empower us to make music and make a living doing it.
Episodes feature insights from Robonzo and a wide array of guests. Topics covered on The Unstarving Musician includes songwriting, recording, release strategy, building an audience, musical licensing, and more. Hear it at Unstarving Musician .com or wherever you get your audio. I also did a couple of interviews with The Unstarving Musician, and you’ll be able to hear me over there as well.
With that, let’s get into today’s episode.
And today I wanted to talk about separating yourself from the pack. A lot of people tend to think this is harder than it’s ever been. Like how do you stand out? How do you cut through the noise? How can you be so unique, so different, so compelling, so noteworthy, so interesting that people are just naturally and automatically and magnetically drawn to you.
And the reality is, sure the bar is pretty high in terms of production. Even independent records nowadays tend to sound pretty amazing with all the technology and knowledge that’s out there. I’ve found some incredible guides on mixing online that have made a huge difference to my own mixes.
And sure, the bar might be high in terms of artistry and musicianship and craftsmanship. You can find some incredible players out there, whether it’s Tosin Abasi, or Steve Vai, or Joe Bonamassa.
But you know where the bar isn’t very high, is in pitching. A lot of musicians are unskilled when it comes to pitching. Now I get it. There’s actually a lot of discomfort around the subject matter. Any time I post something about networking or growing your network or finding more people or creating connections, I often see responses from other people, artists, my social media followers, or otherwise saying, “well, I’m an introvert.”
And you know, being an introvert doesn’t exclude you from getting to know people. They say even people who live in a cave will probably impact 10,000 people in their lifetime. So being an introvert has nothing to do with it. That is as much a label as anything else, so we don’t want to use that as an excuse for not connecting.
But I think people misinterpret it too, as in, “okay, I need to go to these networking events and hand out business cards and run off.” It’s like, no, don’t do the hit and run. A lot of people do that and they’re terribly ineffective at networking. They’re really just trying to work through their own discomfort. If you watch them closely, that’s what’s actually going on there.
What I’m saying is smile, extend your hand, make some friends, go to the open mic, and get to know the host and get to know the people performing that night. Anybody can do this.
Now I know it might make you a little nervous. I know it might be a little bit confronting, but at the end of the day, we can all do this. I was in network marketing for about four or five years and at first, I made it my goal to say “hi” to one person today. And before I knew it, I was having real conversations with five people a day. And some people may have said I was shy at one point too.
But when it comes to pitching, it isn’t necessarily just meeting people in person. Oftentimes it’s done by email nowadays, and there’s a right way of approaching people and another way that tends not to work. And if I was to make this high level.
It’s basically when you approach people and you have a value proposition and it benefits the other person… in other words, you’re crafting a win-win sort of pitch, and you actually are aware and conscious of the other person that you’re talking to on the other end of that email address, then you’ll do well.
But if all you’re doing is pitching to get something for yourself, oftentimes it doesn’t work because it’s not coming across as an opportunity to the person you’re talking to. So really the key to hammering good pitches is to make sure that your pitches are coming across as an opportunity to the person you are sending them to.
So, what I just shared with you, you can also find in my book, The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide. Believe it or not, I’m giving it away for free for a limited time. You can go to MusicEntrepreneurHQ.com/FreeBook to claim your own.
This has been episode 289 of The New Music Industry podcast. I’m David Andrew Wiebe and I look forward to seeing you on the stages of the world.
- 303 – Podcast Update for October 2023 - October 13, 2023
- 302 – How to Overcome Analysis Paralysis - August 11, 2023
- 301 – Investing in Music – with Justin Longo - July 28, 2023
