Gaping Void writes…
...take two well-known airlines. They both perform a useful service. They both deliver value. They both cost about the same to fly to New York or Hong Kong. Both have nice Boeings and Airbuses. Both serve peanuts and drinks. Both serve “airline food”. Both use the same airports. But one airline has friendly people working for them, the other airline has surly people working for them. One airline has a sense of fun and adventure about it, one has a tired, jaded business-commuter vibe about it. Guess which one takes the human dimension of their business more seriously than the other? Guess which one still will be around in twenty years? Guess which one will lose billions of dollars worth of shareholder value over the next twenty years? What parallels do you see in your own industry? In your own company?
Why haven’t artists figured this out yet? Radio hits, big tours, record label publicists and good hair will only get you so far for so long. So here’s a radical idea: Get human.
Care about the people who buy your music and come to your shows and read your web site enough to:
Add content to your site: Update the thing and do it often.
Answer your own mail: Answer every question. Even if none is asked, hit “reply” and say “thank you.” Treat every fan the way you’d want to be treated if you wrote your favorite artist.
Hang out: Unless it’s absolutely logistically impossible, hang out after your show and - I know this sounds crazy - talk to the people who paid to see you. Sign stuff. Take pictures with them. Ask their names. Listen. Pray. Hang out. Be in the flesh what you are on silicon.
Ditch the set list: Respond like a person when a cell phone rings in your concert or someone shouts a question or comment or request. Engage. You don’t have to follow the plan you have written on that piece of paper by the monitor and bottles of water. You can laugh at your mistakes. You can play “Freebird” when they yell for it. You’re the boss. You’re in charge and you can’t be fired for not following your own rules. Lighten up.
Take off the sun glasses: Seriously. You’re not Bono. And even Bono looks pretty goofy walking around in shades all day. And while you’re at it, ditch the expensive jeans and shoes too. I know it’s marketing - the thought being that you should look like mortals can’t so that mortals will want to be you but settle instead for a piece of you in the form of a CD or t-shirt. That’s bull. What your “image” does is set you apart from the audience to the point that they can’t relate to you. They don’t wear eye liner to the office. They don’t spend $350 on jeans. So stop it. You look silly.
Work: Everyone else does. What makes you so special? Help stack chairs after the show. Carry your own guitar case and luggage and maybe even someone else’s too. Don’t be above the rest of us by being above labor.
Get human.
