MGT76: Marketing Lessons From The NYC Subway – Josh Urban

"As an artist, I don't need to reinvent the music industry. I need to reinvent how people consume MY music." That is just one of the many insights you're about to discover on today's show, with our long-term friend Josh Urban – a musician, entertainer, and a pseudo political candidate from the DC area.

Josh plays a home-built broom guitar, DJs on the street and at hospitals, and goes on a railroad tour across the East Coast every year. He's in the middle of one such tour, called "Join the Dance Party!", at the time this podcast is being released. One of the goals of the tour is to make a music video with the world, "dancing away our fears and division."

Everyone who aren't in the area to take a selfie with Josh is invited to record themselves dancing, preferably to the official tour song, and tag it with #JURT (Josh Urban Rail Tour) on social media. To fit the theme, people are writing a fear on a piece of paper, dancing with it, then crumpling the paper and throwing it out of view. If you want to take part, send your video to [email protected]; Josh says he's a terrible dancer, so don’t feel pressure.

In this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode Josh talked about street music marketing, creating "alternative tours" and social experiments, traveling by train, building cigar box guitars, hosting Facebook Live events, and finding ways to engage people with different personalities.

Listen to the show to hear what it's like to play at a psychiatric ward, and to learn Josh's secret "look at the clock" approach to building a sustainable career as a professional musician.

Go to http://wespin.co/wsr76/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to support the podcast and get a free WeSpin postcard.