Hardly anyone is searching for the term “music entrepreneurship” online. So, why do I continue to talk about it? Does it matter? Is it relevant?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I discuss why music entrepreneurship matters to you.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Why music entrepreneurship is for you

00:36 – Why you should take a different approach

00:46 – How you think determines your career and life

01:19 – Doing the same things expecting different results is insanity

02:59 – You are the culmination of the five people you spend the most time with

03:57 – What have you learned about yourself?

04:08 – Creating new possibilities

Transcription:

In episode 112 of the podcast, I shared a little bit about what music entrepreneurship is.

If you’re fed up with no one listening to your music, not getting the results you want, having to pay your dues, being turned down by industry influencers, then it’s probably for you.

To me, music entrepreneurship is about hacking your way to new horizons not previously available to you.

But why take a different approach? Why think of yourself as a business person when you’re clearly a musician? Or, why engage in what you’re already doing in a different way?

There are a couple of things I want you to think about.

Now, what I’m about to share with you isn’t undisputed truth. I’m constantly sharing new ideas with you on the podcast to help you grow and become everything you want to become. But that doesn’t mean it’s all truth. It’s just a way of thinking about and approaching your career.

So, what we’re talking about is a way of thinking. A mindset.

What I want you to do instead is try this on. Try it on like you would try on a pair of shoes. If it fits, wear it. If not, discard what doesn’t make sense and hold on to what does make sense.

First, I want you to consider that doing the same things expecting different results is insanity.

Look, I understand this sounds like a platitude. But I want you to empty your mind for a second and take a moment to see how this applies to your life.

Are you trying it on?

What are you beginning to discover? Are you seeing areas in your life where you’re doing the same things time and again only to achieve the same results?

Have you been playing to the same audience at the same venues for years on end?

Have you been publishing album after album that no one buys or listens to?

Are you trying to drum up affiliate sales, only to be met with the same results month after month?

Now, first off, I want to acknowledge your persistence. Good job for sticking it out.

But is it possible the reason you’re not seeing breakthroughs in your career is because you haven’t changed a single thing around the way you’re doing things?

Dig deep into your experiences. What do you see?

Now, it’s important to acknowledge that we all do this from time to time. It’s human nature. We do our best to get outside of our comfort zones, only to return to our old habits. We’re like elastic bands – we can stretch to fit the core we’re surrounding, but the moment the core is removed, we snap back to the same size and shape.

Doing something different takes work. It may require more planning, more effort and more energy than you’re giving your career or business right now. It may even require a greater financial commitment.

But if we don’t take risks, we risk not knowing what’s possible. We end up living a reasonable life. Keep in mind that this is not what others consider reasonable. It’s what we think others think is reasonable.

Now, here’s the second thing I want you to consider, and it goes hand in hand with the first.

Consider that you are the culmination of the five people you spend the most time with and the books you read.

Again, this may sound like a platitude. But I want you to dig deep. Try those shoes on. How does it feel?

Are you doing exactly what those five people are doing expecting different results?

Do you take advice from those around you?

Do you generally have the same attitudes they have?

Does your financial outlook look about the same as theirs does?

Of course, it does!

It’s not hard to see into your future – I guarantee it. I don’t have a crystal ball. And, rest assured I don’t have a time machine either.

But if I just looked at somebody who is five to 10 years down the track from where you are, I would know exactly where you’re going to end up. If you follow their formula for success, you will end up exactly where they’ve ended up.

Depending on who you’re hanging around, that’s an encouraging thought. But it can also be a terrifying thought if you know you don’t want to end up like them.

So, what discoveries have you made about yourself by going through these exercises?

If you haven’t learned anything, that’s okay. Just stay with it and see what you come up with.

Now, there’s one more thing you should be aware of.

Before we can do anything about our insanity, first we must acknowledge and recognize it.

It’s impossible to create new possibilities for yourself if you can’t see how you’ve been handling your career to this point.

It’s impossible to create new possibilities for yourself if you can’t see how you’ve been handling your career to this point.Share on X

But a new possibility is exactly what you want to create. And, that possibility may not be comfortable. But it probably isn’t the giant you’ve made it out to be.

Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. That false evidence stops us from taking chances in life. We end up doing what we think is reasonable in every situation. But that’s not taking anyone or anything else into account. We end up being reasonable on our own behalf.

You could be making bigger asks. You could be negotiating better deals. You could be finding new ways to share your art or business with the world and be making massive progress.

The question is – will you?

If you’re ready to create new possibilities, then I want to invite you to check out The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship at: https://www.davidandrewwiebe.com/essential

And, I look forward to answering your comments in the show notes.

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“Influencer marketing” is a bit of a buzzword these days. But how does it apply to the music industry? Can a musician take advantage of influencer marketing to grow awareness for their music?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I chat with Johnny Vieira, CEO & Founder of TribeFluence, and he explains why influencer marketing represents a significant opportunity for musicians.

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Get in Touch with Johnny:

Johnny has graciously offered to speak with anyone who’s interested in taking advantage of influencer marketer to grow their career. You can get in touch with him at:

[email protected]

(310) 691-4487

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Introductions

00:22 – How did you come to launch a tech company?

02:07 – What are some of the most challenging aspects of building a music career in the digital age?

03:16 – How does TribeFluence help musicians?

05:16 – How did the idea for TribeFluence come about?

09:10 – How do you define influencer marketing?

11:12 – How has influencer marketing evolved over time?

13:11 – Why should musicians focus on working with microinfluencers?

15:29 – Are there certain products that benefit more from influencer marketing?

17:30 – What are the best platforms for influencer marketing?

19:15 – What makes TribeFluence stand out from other tools?

20:57 – What’s the best advice you’d give to a musician utilizing your platform?

22:32 – What’s the biggest challenge you’ve experienced as an entrepreneur?

24:32 – What are the greatest victories you’ve experienced as an entrepreneur?

25:50 – Are there any books that have impacted you on your journey?

28:22 – Closing remarks

Transcription:

Coming soon.

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You’ve heard me talk about it before. It forms the foundation of everything I do online and offline.

What am I talking about? Music entrepreneurship, of course.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I offer a brief explanation of what music entrepreneurship is, and resources you can tap into to learn more about it.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – What is music entrepreneurship?

00:20 – Launching The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship

00:31 – Music entrepreneurship: an uncommon term?

00:53 – Ideas about music entrepreneurship

01:09 – An emerging way of approaching your music career or business

01:22 – An entrepreneur is someone who put forth an extraordinary effort

01:36 – The mindset of an entrepreneur

01:42 – Bonus content

Transcription:

And in this video, I wanted to answer the question, “what is music entrepreneurship?”

As you know, I recently launched The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship. And, this is my latest mini book, detailing what it means to be a music entrepreneur.

But I had a question from an artist – a friend of mine – and he asked, “what is music entrepreneurship? It seems like a term that’s not commonly used in the music industry.”

And, he is partially correct. There isn’t necessarily a lot of people calling themselves musicpreneurs or music entrepreneurs, although I would argue that is beginning to change.

So, you might be saying to yourself, music entrepreneurship… that’s somebody who has a business in the music industry, right? Or, you might be saying to yourself, that’s a musician who’s approaching their career like a business, right?

And the answer is… both!

I actually look at it as an emerging and new way of approaching a music career or business that allows you to create the types of results that entrepreneurs have.

Music entrepreneurship is a new way of approaching your music career or business that allows you to create the types of results entrepreneurs have. Share on X

Because, as you know, there are many entrepreneurs out there. And, it’s not necessarily that they’re extraordinary people. They just put forth an extraordinary effort. And that’s how they got an extraordinary result. And you and I can do that too.

So, I wanted to share with you what the mindset of an entrepreneur is, and that’s what my mini book gets into.

Now, you can also find all the bonus content I created for this – the action sheet, the audiobook and the video training, if you go to davidandrewwiebe.com/essential. So, I hope that answers your question.

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If you’re in your 20s or 30s now, project yourself ahead 50 to 60 years. Where would you be? What would you be doing? How will your life have turned out?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I have a chat with musician, conductor, life coach and author Dobbs Franks, who shares about the wonderful journey of life, and the advice he wants to pass on to the younger generation.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Introductions

00:40 – Tell us about yourself

11:14 – Tell us about your book, So, You Want to be a Musician…

20:30 – As a musician, you could spend your entire life in relative anonymity

24:25 – Your personal relationships will have to write their own rules

27:23 – What’s the number one thing you see getting in the way of people living a happy and fulfilling life?

35:04 – The traditional model of success

36:27 – If there was one piece of advice you could pass onto young people, what would it be?

40:54 – There’s no instruction manual to life

42:30 – The moment you take complete responsibility for your life

43:23 – Are there any books that have helped you on your journey?

45:43 – Is there anything else I should have asked?

Transcription:

Coming soon.

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Many people will cross your path. Some will want to work with you. Others will offer you valuable opportunities. What do you do when you’re confronted with a new possibility? Do you jump on the chance and hope it works out? Do you weigh your options carefully before moving forward with it?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share some thoughts on who to align yourself with.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Choosing who to work with

00:42 – Thinking like an entrepreneur

00:55 – Who to align yourself with

01:40 – #1: Working with people because it will make you look good

02:45 – #2: Working with people who share the same values

04:06 – #3: Working with people you’ve worked with before

05:08 – #4: Working with people you trust

06:05 – There’s no perfect way to choose who to align yourself with

Transcription:

As your career or business advances, you’re going to have the opportunity to partner, collaborate and work with a variety of people.

What’s surprising to me is how some people make decisions. I’ve seen some artists turn down offers from well-intentioned, well-meaning people who would have fairly compensated them for their work. But because of some underlying emotional baggage or stress in their daily lives, they made the rather unlikely choice of staying put instead of moving forward with their creativity and passion.

Now, I’m an entrepreneur. So, if I was in their position, I would have jumped at the opportunity. But not everyone thinks like an entrepreneur, and not everyone is comfortable taking a chance upfront and problem solving along the way.

This is what got me thinking about this topic of who to align yourself with. Sometimes, no matter how influential or highly regarded someone is, associating with them can bring you down. At other times, you might be surprised by how the most unlikely people come to your aid or rescue at just the right time.

Regardless, you become like those you spend time with, so as you continue to build your career or business, it’s going to become increasingly important to be more selective in who you associate with. You’re going to want to build your support group or inner circle, because you’re going to come to depend on those people, especially when the going gets tough.

Who you align yourself with is critical to your success. Here are several methods people use to decide who to work with, and the upsides and downsides of each.

1. I Choose Who to Work with Based on How I’ll Look

This is one of the worst criteria for choosing who to align yourself with.

Now, given, there may be some people you don’t want to be associated with, such as extremists, controversial figures, criminals and so on.

I’m not saying there aren’t reasons why you might associate with people like that anyway, but you must consider your reputation as well as the long-term consequences of associating with someone, no matter who you’re choosing to be involved with.

So, to make all decisions based on how you’ll look is the most superficial way to decide who to work with. If this is how you make decisions, more than likely, you’ll make some poor choices and miss opportunities to work with some great people.

We as people are much too concerned with appearances. Just look at all the ways people look for validation on social media. My coach, James Schramko, once described seeking validation on social media as a mental disorder, and I don’t think he’s too far off.

If you’re only concerned with looking good, then you’re not making a balanced decision. And, odds are you aren’t living authentically either.

2. I Work with People with Whom My Values are Aligned

The best way to decide who to work with is to choose people with whom you have shared values.

The best way to decide who to work with is to choose people with whom you have shared values.Share on X

Honestly, virtually every relationship works better when the people involved have shared values. This goes just as much for romantic relationships as it does for business relationships.

In a romantic relationship, your intense feelings of attraction can subside after a few years. But if you have shared interests and values, the relationship can continue to flourish long after those emotions have started waning.

This isn’t to say there aren’t ways of stoking those fires again. But generally, the relationship has a much better chance at surviving if both people involved value the same things.

In a business arrangement, if the people you’re working with are convicted about the same things you are, they are less likely to make decisions that go against your conscience. So, they are more likely to make decisions that are congruent with your big picture objectives.

In a business partnership, if one values money and the other values adding value to people, priorities can quickly get out of order. If they can find a way to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they still have a chance at success. But if both people keep pushing for what they want, the partnership will not last.

This is a rather crude example, but I think you get the point.

So, if you think there’s long-term potential, you should work with people that stand for the same things you do.

If you think there’s long-term potential, you should work with people that stand for the same things you do.Share on X

3. I Work with People with Whom I Have an Established Track Record

Now, there can be both good and bad track records.

But if you have a good track record with someone, you should certainly consider working with them again.

Let’s say you once collaborated on an EP with a friend of yours, and your fans ended up loving it. Why wouldn’t you try that again? If you’ve uncovered a winning formula, you should keep using it.

There are certain people I continue to work with because I’ve been able to achieve more with their help. We work well together, and because they bring valuable resources to the table, it makes it easier for me to do the work I need to do to develop the project.

This doesn’t mean that bad partnerships can’t turn into good ones, and good partnerships can’t turn sour either.

But for the most part, I’ve found that if I have an established track record with someone, I can expect the same level of support and interest in a new undertaking.

This isn’t the only signal to keep an eye out for, as shared values are just as important, but evaluating another’s track record can certainly give you an idea as to whether you can trust them.

That brings us to…

4. I Work with People I Trust

I find it’s generally a good idea to work with people you trust. But trust must be earned. So, you still need to ask yourself what others have done to earn your trust. Trust is not easily quantifiable and not always reliable.

This is because it’s easy to demonstrate commitment when everything is going well. But will those same people come through for you when the poop hits the fan?

As I shared in episode 99 of the podcast with Jason Davis, you often don’t know who your friends are until you get into business.

That might sound negative, but the reality is that not everyone is going to support you. If you’re just getting started in your business or career and everything seems to be going great, be forewarned – many people who said they would buy your product won’t when you finally launch it.

Again, it’s a good idea to work with people you trust. But this isn’t a foolproof method for choosing who to align yourself with. There are plenty of charismatic people who might charm you upfront but do you a disservice on the backend.

Final Thoughts

There’s no perfect way to choose who to align yourself with.

But as you continue to develop a relationship with those around you, you’ll get a better sense of who you can count on, who you can trust and whose values you resonate with.

Apart from that, we tend to make decisions superficially, which often doesn’t work out. Either that, or we end up relying on pure instinct, which can work out, but we can just as easily make an emotional decision and justify it with logic later. Then, we end up missing important signs that it’s not going to work out.

So long as you’re on this path, you’re going to be working with others. So, it’s a good idea to determine how you’re going to decide who to work with. Early on, the consequences of failure may be minimal. But as the steaks get higher, it becomes increasingly important that you make good decisions. Choosing badly could mean risking your reputation, your livelihood, your business, or – not to be dramatic – but even your life.

So, in closing, I’d like to ask you a few questions:

Who are you aligning yourself with right now?

What values do you share with them?

Do you have an established track record with them?

Do you trust them?

Have you noticed any flaws in your decision-making process?

What have been the consequences of aligning yourself with who you’ve chosen to associate with?

How are you going to decide who to align yourself with moving forward?

I look forward to seeing your comments in the show notes.

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In April, I released my first mini-book, The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship.

To my delight, it has been well-received by musicians and music business owners alike.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on several pieces of bonus content that perfectly complement this resource and will help you get more out of it.

So, in this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share about The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship Pro Pack and what you can expect to find inside.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Bonus content for The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship

00:32 – The three Pro Packs

01:07 – This offer will expire

01:50 – Special bonus

02:10 – Reading from The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship

Transcription:

I’m excited. Would you like to know why?

Well, you might recall that I shared about my new mini-book, The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship in episode 87 of the podcast.

So, what’s this got to do with that? Well, I recently finished working on all the bonus content. You may have heard me mention it on other podcasts or masterclasses.

Regardless, here’s what you need to know:

For a limited time, I’m making it all available for a nominal cost.

And, I’ve prepared three different packages depending on your needs.

The first package includes just the paperback and eBook version of the book.

For those who already bought the book, the second package is ideal, as it includes just the bonus content and not the book.

And, there’s a third package for those who want it all. It includes a signed copy of the paperback, the eBook, the audiobook, the action sheet and the video training.

At any time, you can go to davidandrewwiebe.com/essential to learn about this offer.

But as of January 1, 2019, this offer will no longer be available. You’ll still be able to buy the book at any time, but the additional content will be going away and finding a new home after that.

If you order now, you will get instant access to everything except the hardcopy of the book, which I will be sending manually. If you happen to get the third package, then I will be signing the book and then sending it over to you.

But you will get access to all the digital content the moment you purchase one of the The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship pro packs.

So, again, you can go to davidandrewwiebe.com/essential to learn more about this limited time offer. You’ll even see a counter there, which is counting down to the last day you’ll be able to take advantage of one of the pro packs.

Now, as a bonus, I’m going to share with you a segment from the audiobook. I’ve already read you the introduction in an earlier episode, so this will be from a different section. The audiobook isn’t available anywhere else, so if you’d like to get hold of it, don’t let this offer pass you by.

Now here’s me reading a segment from The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship.

[Audio excerpt from The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship audiobook]

Get The Essential Guide to Music Entrepreneurship.

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What is your purpose? What were you meant to accomplish in your lifetime? Are you living life to your fullest?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I interview Jules Schroeder of Unconventional Life. She shares how she came to understand her purpose in this world, how she encourages others to live a life of passion, what we can do to find a platform for our message, and much more.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Introductions

00:25 – How would you describe what you do?

02:08 – Multipotentialites and the traditional model of success

04:10 – Creating a connection through passion

06:16 – Near death experience

10:24 – Spiritual experiences and living life to the fullest

15:05 – What does music entrepreneurship mean to you?

20:04 – Being unreasonable

21:46 – The unconventional life is becoming the conventional life

26:37 – What is your number one tip for building a podcast audience?

30:28 – How do you find a platform for your message?

35:43 – Are there any books you recommend?

37:11 – Closing thoughts

Transcription:

The following transcript was generated using Descript.

David Andrew: Today I'm chatting with the founder of Unconventional Life, Jules Schroeder. How are you today, Jules?

Jules: I'm doing wonderful. Good to be here. How are you doing?

David Andrew: I'm doing great. Thank you for asking. So you're an entrepreneur, musician, speaker, and podcaster. I'm sure there are other things you do and other titles you have, but just so we can create a bit of a context for my listeners, how would you describe what you do?

Jules: Yeah. Um, well at times, uh, people have come to my website and said, it's a little ADD. It's kind of sporadic. Like, who are you? Cause you'll see stuff like, On my Instagram, you'll see travel photos. You'll see me leading workshops. You'll see me in the recording studio performances. You'll see me snowboarding.

I was a sponsored snowboarder for a while. And I think at the essence of [00:01:00] it, I'm a very multi passionate. And for so long, I used to think that was a problem that, you know, like I like doing all these different things and that I didn't have much focus. And what I actually realized is that as I've learned to own all of the different areas of self expression, Literally created my company unconventional life almost as a, a home to embody the non traditional it's allowed me to, uh, not only create more impact in the world, but also just have a lot of more fun in the process.

And so, you know, for me, I'm someone that really believes that this conventional frame we've been inherited, you know, that I inherited, which was, you know, go to school. Get good grades, get into a good college, get a good job and then get a better job and then eventually die, um, is outdated and there's a million and one ways to make money in this world and to create a life that you love in this world and I love storytelling and I love giving people permission using my own self as an example so that more of us can do what we want, um, with our lives and ultimately take these gifts that we have inside of us and really create structures and, uh, ways to, to play, um, so that we have more fulfillment and more fun.

David Andrew: Mm-Hmm. And by way of a couple of comments. You know, I think that movement is beginning to grow. The whole thing about Multipotentialite, I think Emily Watnick at uh, putty like.com, that was one of the first times I'd heard it's okay to be, you know, involved in whole variety of different things and.

And pursue what it is that you want to do and enjoy every aspect of that, which is really cool. And then the other thing that you touched on was that traditional model of success that so many people still subscribe to. It's actually incredible to me, but my first exposure to something outside of that was network marketing.

And I've talked to others who share that experience and some people have had it. you know, huge success in network marketing. I never did. I would love to say that I exceeded in every area of life. And that hasn't necessarily been the case. I felt like I felt more so that everything that I was involved in pushed me to what I'm doing today.

Push me closer and closer and closer towards the music entrepreneur HQ and being engaged in that side of things. So everybody's story is unique in that regard, but it's, it's cool to hear that. I think a lot of people do need to hear that and just to wake up to that reality.

Jules: Absolutely. And especially like as creatives, you know, I find that part of being the artist is one that allows emotions or forms of expression or gifts to flow through them.

And often I've felt misunderstood. In my life many times, uh, just because of how I interacted with the world and how I create in the world, it's just different. Um, and being that artist side and even how do I make money and how do I deal with the practicality of life and how do I deal with those conversations?

I find, um, there could be a lot of misunderstoodness and I think that's part of the beauty of your podcast and conversations like this, that we're not alone. Even if you felt like the lone wolf or the odd one out, definitely another narrative that I really related to in my life. You know, it's people like us coming together and saying, yeah, we're different.

We, we process things differently, but in so many ways, we're kind of like, it's our, our superpower. It's our advantage that we get to feel and create, um, in these capacities. At least that's been true for me. So

David Andrew: It's so true. And in some ways it's actually really hard to avoid like I've put together videos before for patreon another thing that I never did very well at I might try it again, but Uh, they would just say like, Oh, you're kind of sabotaging yourself in this video.

Like, why are you putting yourself down? And I said, I don't understand what you're, there's no part of my language that I use where I'm putting myself down. But you're right. It's like, you really do have to think about how you're coming across to, to others, but as you begin to find what it is that you're doing, I think it becomes easier that.

Passion just begins to show through.

Jules: Absolutely. And I find too, am I like, I have a slogan that's like, word creates our world. It is through what we say and how we share that our world and our opportunities and things get created. And, uh, you know, I find so often it's like, I'm not having the success that I want to have used to be a conversation that I'd have, or I'm not getting the results that I want to have.

And I find most of the time, if you're hearing this and that is something, you know, a narrative for you too, is that most of the time people just don't know who they can count on you for. What you're actually doing and how to support you. And I find that in your sharing, in your willingness to expose yourself and be vulnerable and put yourself out there and actually tell people what you're up to in the world.

It gives that invitation and opportunity for people to actually show up. And so often, you know, I talk to friends and Like I won't make more money or I don't have enough money. And I'm like, well, how many ways or invitations do you have for people to pay you? And they're just like, you know, Oh, well, okay.

I could actually have, you know, um, explicit ways for people to contribute. So definitely another area that I like as well.

David Andrew: Totally. And I've shared about that on the podcast before, just saying like, there probably are people. Willing to spend two, 300 with you at a time just for some kind of packaged up deal of all of your catalog, or maybe even a thousand dollars if you offered like a package of performances for them.

You know, it's, it's pretty incredible when you begin to think about it. It's just, you have to put that offer out there or else nobody can buy it.

That's what exists. So many great rabbit trails we could go down, but, uh, I wanted to touch on this for sure.

Your bio mentions a near death experience that caused you to identify what you were meant to do. So talk about that experience.

Jules: Yeah. So that happened three years ago, straight up, like had a near death experience. experience and launch this next phase of my life. That was, uh, that happened. It was, uh, about three years ago as a wakeboarding accident.

And, uh, I was out in Colorado and full on, um, just remember coming out of the MRI and the hospital and was approached by this white figure and six black shadow council member. And we had this conversation and it was Jules, you have more work to do in the world. Do you want to do it? And at the time they thought I might have been paralyzed.

I thought my neck might've been broken. And I just remember saying, yes, as long as I don't come back as a vegetable. And literally in that next moment, got zap back into my body. I felt this energy forge my neck back together and shoot down my spine. And the moment that I woke up, I feel like everything altered.

And, uh, it was very much before it was like life before. It felt like it was being created by me in life. Since feels like it's been coming through me. And, uh, you know what I mean by that specifically is that it's like allowing myself to be an instrument for life and allowing things to come through rather than being this person who I was for so many years before I had success at a young age, ran my first six figure company at 18 and seven figure company at 22, had a business puzzle.

Partner embezzled a bunch of money at 24, went to 200, 000 worth of debt. Like I was very much on a mission of one success peak to another success peak before, and I could never actually appreciate the success I had. And I always felt like I had something to prove, like no matter what I did, it never felt like it was enough.

No matter what I was creating,

There is so much change going on around us, whether it’s technology, search engine algorithm updates or the needs of our target customers.

It isn’t necessary to keep up with everything, but there are some things that can have a major impact on our careers or businesses if we aren’t prepared for them.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I talk out lout about some of the recent changes that have impacted my business and what I’m thinking about doing moving forward.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – A different kind of podcast episode

00:35 – The challenge I’m facing

01:22 – Mitigating risk and building more traffic sources

01:45 – How to manage my time

02:29 – Time to hire?

02:51 – A month creation and a month of curation

03:51 – Redesigning a website

04:18 – Increasing engagement

05:09 – Creating more videos

05:39 – Adapting

06:20 – Final thoughts

Transcription:

Whenever I record a podcast episode, I like to prepare some thoughts and ideas that will benefit you in some way. I don’t think today’s show will be any exception, but unlike previous episodes, this is going to be one where I’ll be thinking out loud a little bit because I don’t have a concrete action plan for how I’m going to move forward just yet. You might benefit from hearing me think out loud too.

So, here’s the situation:

Since about August 13, which was my birthday, I’ve been seeing a marked decline in traffic to the website.

Up until that point, I certainly saw some fluctuation, but overall it was on an upward trend. But recently, the traffic essentially halved.

I know that Google is constantly updating their algorithm, so I’m sure that plays a part in this decline. I’m also aware that my website has certain issues that could affect its rankings.

So, that’s one of the things I’m beginning to think about tackling in the coming months.

A decrease in traffic isn’t necessarily something to be alarmed about, and there can also be other factors, such as the fact that it’s still summer. But I want to continue to get my message out there to as many people as possible and don’t like sacrificing in that regard.

Building More Traffic Sources

Now, I’ve shared before that I like to mitigate risk and build more than one traffic source. This might be an opportunity to explore that idea a little further as well. I could better utilize platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to connect with my audience. My website is my home base and that’s what I care about most, but these platforms can certainly support my efforts to share my message. I could also advertise on these platforms.

Dividing My Time Between Creation & Curation

Something else that’s been floating around in the back of my mind is how to manage my time. As you probably know, I spend a lot of my time creating content. And, when I have a product to share with you, generally it’s a course or a book or an eBook, unless it’s an affiliate offer.

I like spending my time creating content, as I think it’s more effective than sharing my ideas with one person at a time. When I publish a post, it reaches many people.

But because of how I’ve structured my life, most of my time ends up being spent in the business instead of on the business. This isn’t to suggest I don’t want to create more content. The reality is that I have more ideas than I can realistically keep pace with. I have so much more to share with you. That’s a good problem to have, and I’m sure some content marketers wish they had that problem!

This is where you say I should begin hiring and bringing people on to handle some of the workload, and you wouldn’t be wrong in saying that. Personally, I would like to see some of my revenue streams build a little more before I look at hiring, as I tend to be conservative with spending. But it might just be a matter of overcoming that mental hurdle. And, don’t kid yourself – we all have mental hurdles to overcome.

We all have mental hurdles to overcome.Share on X

But back to what I was saying about how I use my time. One thought I had recently was alternating months between creation and curation. So, I would spend one month just flat out creating content and the next month marketing, organizing and repurposing that content.

I think this would be a good way to get more leverage out of the content I’m creating, and it would also allow me to spend more time on the business instead of just in it. It would allow me to work on bigger picture things like SEO as well.

I’m not sure how this would affect the production of content. In some ways, it might make me more prolific. At the same time, if continually producing and publishing more content doesn’t boost numbers, then it’s not benefiting me. Slowing down and resetting might be a good idea.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Would it be okay if I cut down on the amount of content I publish for a while? Would it affect your overall experience of The Music Entrepreneur HQ?

Either way, I think it might be helpful for me to slow down and reset. Take a close look at everything, reaffirm the vision and mission of the business and determine the best course of action.

Redesigning the Website

Another thought that has crossed my mind is that perhaps it’s time to redesign the website. I wouldn’t necessarily do a complete overhaul, as I’m relatively happy with how things are set up. These days, it’s quite common for developers and companies to take a more continual and iterative approach to design, changing bits and pieces as best practices and trends change.

I don’t think there are any major issues with my website speed, but I know for sure more could be done in terms of conversion.

Engagement

Now, I will say that traffic isn’t everything. I have no data to back up the idea that I’m converting a higher number of sales because I get more traffic. I’ve seen some of my affiliate income go up, but overall there hasn’t been a huge change.

That’s another issue I’m working to solve. Engagement hasn’t been where I’d like it to be. I’ve taken some steps to improve that, but I would love to see more interaction. I would love to see more comments and emails. I would love for you to tell me what you’d like to see more of on the website, because I can easily get lost in my own thoughts about what I should be creating. I want to be making a difference.

If I’m not connecting with you, I’m not doing my job. There are a lot of ways I can help – such as with websites, graphic design, music distribution, self-publishing, finding revenue streams, and so on – but this is more about what you need as opposed to what I think you need.

Making More Videos

So, another thought I’ve had is to create more videos. There are a few people that have pointed out the lack of video content on the site, and to be fair, I’ve put far more energy into blog posts and podcast episodes through the years.

Fundamentally, I want to create a personal connection with you and add value to you. It’s not hard for me to create talking head style videos, though it does require more of my time and effort. Mind you, if you think it would benefit you, I don’t mind putting more energy into it. If there are other styles of videos you would enjoy, you can certainly let me know.

So, those are some of the thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind.

Growing, Adapting and Thriving

As always, I don’t know what’s going to work. The only thing I can do is to see this as an opportunity to tighten up what I’m doing and make it into something better.

The key lesson here is that if we don’t adapt, we’ll be forced to adapt. It’s the same thing I shared in my first book, The New Music Industry: Adapting, Growing and Thriving in The Information Age. Now I get to eat my own words.

But again, I think this is a positive thing. It’s causing me to reevaluate what I’m doing, and course correct. Instead of just plowing ahead as I always have, I’m zooming out to see the bigger picture.

All of this must be examined alongside my vision, which needs to be more clearly defined.

So, you might be seeing some changes around here as I put together a plan and execute against it.

I’m excited for what’s to come, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well.

What would you like to see most on the website, and on a grader scheme, how can The Music Entrepreneur HQ benefit you? How can I help you get the most out of your involvement with music?

I look forward to seeing your comments in the show notes.

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Are you thinking about going to a music industry conference? Have you thought about staring your own music conference?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I chat with Kevin Breuner of CD Baby who shares about the forthcoming DIY Musician Conference.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Introductions

00:30 – What is the DIY Musician Conference?

01:34 – Education for independent artists

03:10 – Developing focus as a musician

04:43 – Why should people attend the DIY Musician Conference?

07:35 – What are some things musicians typically walk away with after attending the conference?

10:09 – Live music production

10:42 – What are some of the most common questions musicians come to you with at the conference?

12:31 – Is there anything musicians put too much focus on?

14:52 – What are some questions you wish musicians would ask more?

19:34 – Unsolicited emails and press releases

20:09 – Is the DIY Musician Conference profitable?

22:13 – How much time and effort does it take to put on a conference?

23:51 – Do you have any tips for those looking to start their own conference?

25:07 – What the market will bear

26:37 – How a conference deepens the relationship with your customers

28:29 – The best time in history to get your music out there

Transcription:

Coming soon.

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If you want to keep your business over the long haul, you can’t leave it all to chance. Legal troubles can ensue, and it may have nothing to do with anything you’ve done wrong.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I interview Scott Smith of Royal Legal Solutions who shares not only about how to protect your business but also the steps we need to take to scale our businesses.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Introductions

00:26 – How can we legally protect our companies?

02:09 – Do online businesses get sued too?

03:47 – What steps do people need to take to fully protect their company?

06:27 – GDPR and compliance

10:53 – How can you invest tax free to increase returns by 20% automatically?

13:21 – Are there any advantages to being set up as a self-employed or entrepreneur from a tax perspective?

15:09 – How do attorneys think about startups?

16:50 – What sort of missteps do people make when scaling their business, and how do we avoid them?

18:53 – Why jumping on the latest technology might not be helping you grow your business

22:29 – Selling your personality as a product?

26:10 – What social media is for

28:56 – The basics of music copyright and analysis paralysis

37:45 – The downside of attaching meaning to every event

39:43 – Burnout and the benefits of meditation

41:16 – Working excessively

43:57 – The high costs of burnout

46:07 – What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve experienced on your journey?

48:30 – What are some of the biggest victories you’ve experienced on your journey?

52:39 – Balance and sustainability

56:03 – Are there any books that have helped you on your journey?

57:59 – Is there anything else I should have asked?

Transcription:

David Andrew Wiebe: Today I’m joined by Royal Legal Solutions’ Scott Smith. How are you today, Scott?

Scott Smith: I’m having a great day today man. How’s it been going with you?

David Andrew: Not bad at all. It's been a crazy day but I’m looking forward to this conversation.

So, today we're going to be looking at something that has yet to be discussed in the podcast but could be one of the most important aspects of running and growing a rock-solid business, which is the legality of running a business.

Now, some of you might be starting to tune out already but maybe when you hear this stat you'll begin to pay more attention.

“Over 90% of corporations will be sued in the US.”

So, Scott, please elaborate on this. How can we protect our companies fully?

Scott: Yeah. Well, you just got to know that if you're in an active business that you should anticipate a lawsuit. The reason why is not because most people are shystey or anything like that.

If you're in an active business, you should anticipate a lawsuit.Share on X

It really has to do with its people having disagreements about what they think they agreed to and then whatever's on the piece of paper. Right? And then now you have a lawsuit because people get angry.

So, to really think that you're never going to be sued is really to say like everybody I do business with for forever is always going to love me no matter what. I'm never going to be angry with them. That’s silly.

We, at Royal Legal Solutions, we principally are working with a lot with real estate investors because those have huge amounts of capital tied up into assets and what they need to be doing with their portfolios of assets in combination with litigation protection.

But for everybody in your audience, you really got to think about what are the really simple things that you could be doing immediately to just take you from having zero protection into having some protection.

The best way to do that would just be like… I don’t know. Just like a simple even one to two LLCs would take you from having nothing into having a very high level of protection if you use them correctly.

David Andrew: Now, this is something I’m sure people are wondering a bit but does this is applied to online business just as much as a brick and mortar business?

Scott: Oh yeah, for sure. Right? Websites get sued just like anything else. Right? You can get sued for all types of compliance issues like the people's credit cards, note that you put up, like music that will have copyrights attached to it and now people want to sue you over it.

We live in the most litigious lawsuit happy country in the world. Really, the right way to do it no matter if it’s with a brick and mortar or whether it's online – Royal Legal Solutions is online. It's a huge online law firm. We help people all across the country no matter where they live.

That was one of the things that we looked at initially too was our own asset protection, which was we compartmentalize everything that we have that's worth anything – all the IP, domains, graphics. Everything all belongs to a separate asset holding company.

Royal Legal Solutions is really an operating company. It doesn't own anything but it conducts all of the business. It signs all the contracts and does all the customer interface. So, if anybody ever decides to sue us, it's Royal Legal Solutions is the one that did business with them, right. Well, that's the one that doesn't own anything, so we're happy for them to sue it all day long and all the assets of the company are protected in a separate company as a holding company.

That's why I recommend every business owner to do is you need to separate all of your assets into one company – a company that owns everything but manages nothing and they need a completely separate company that manages everything but owns nothing.

David Andrew: Okay. So, you kind of hinted at it. Would you be able to sort of paint us a picture of the specific steps it would take to fully protect your company?

Scott: Yeah. I mean it's really simple, right? It's really just you spin it up two LLCs. You can form those up any way you want to, right. I mean if you can't afford to hire an attorney, go to LegalZoom. That's better. Maybe it'll work, right, if you can’t afford it. But it’s better than just than the absolute “I'm not going to try anything at all.”

David Andrew: Better than nothing. Right.

Scott: Yeah. Right. Because maybe it will work. You’ll never know, right.

And then what you do is then you take all of your personal wealth and your rights to any of the intellectual property you have or whatever and you're going to hold that in asset holding company A. Right? The asset holding company A is just a normal LLC.

And then you'll have… The second LLC that you're going to spin up is what's going to be called an operating company and that's a shell company so it’s not going to own anything but that's where you're going to sign all your contracts with. If you hire people for any reason to help you with anything you always conduct it through that other shell company.

It becomes really simple because all you're doing any time you are interacting with anybody in the world is like “Oh, I use my LLC for that to sign contracts or do anything with it.” Right?

Any time you're having stuff that you make money or that you buy assets or whatever that's all just going to be held inside of your other asset holding company that you never do business out of. It will just hold it in for you. So, it's really simple in a way you actually set that up.

Navigating though, like how to do that is something that a company like myself can help you from the ground up on how do you actually do that if you don't want to try to do it on your own. But more power to you if you want to do in your own, right.

I don't think there's anything necessarily “special or magical” about attorneys in any way. But really, it's just kind of like one of those deals like do you want somebody else to turn the wrench for you because we've done it a few times and so we can make sure it's done right. But I think anybody really, like realistically - you can learn anything you want to in the internet age, right, if you just spend the time to do it.

David Andrew: Yeah. True enough. It's just about making the time.

I sometimes get questions that I think are a little bit ridiculous because they could be easily Googled but maybe that's the value I'm presenting. I’m not too sure.

I guess if it's a question I feel like I can answer in a good way then I'm happy to do it that way but I definitely know what you mean.

Scott: Yeah, for sure.

David Andrew: This is something I'm wondering if you've dealt with. Maybe you've had a few questions people asking about this. I'm not sure how much you've dealt with it yourself if your clients are mostly in the US, but what about this whole thing about GDPR, general data protection regulation, which came in effect May 25th?

Scott: Yeah. I mean it's one of those things that… We're really focused on just the domestic as a protection piece for people are doing right and so we really limit the scope of what we're doing in terms of what's actually practicalities of lawsuits. Right? And how do the litigation game get played out from attorneys and then how do we make sure that attorneys have no incentive to sue us because they can't find out what we  own and then we don't actually own any thing so they can't get anything from us because everything we own is owned by another company. That's really the scope of what we're looking at.

David Andrew: Gotcha. I just thought I would ask because I'm sure it's maybe fresh in people's memory, especially if they have an online business and they've had to deal with the fact that "oh yes, I do have data from people in Europe and now I have to figure out how I'm going to properly protect it and implement it" and all that kind of stuff but…

Scott: It's a whole other rat's nest in what you need to do with that.