Derek Sivers on DIY Music

The opening keynote at the DIY Music Convention I attended in Los Angeles last weekend was delivered by Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby (where my CD's for sale, along with those of countless other musicians), musician and self-taught software guy (he has a column on O'Reilly.com). Here's some of what he had to say:

1. Be different. "There's so much music out there today. You have to stand out with your music, not just with your marketing." He recommended a book by marketer Seth Godin entitled "The Purple Cow". This next bit was relevant to me, given my recent exit from a career with a major trade publisher: "Advertising is getting almost no results," he said, pointing out that even Rolling Stone no longer carries ads for record releases--most of them are for cars, watches or tech toys (similarly, MTV no longer runs music videos). "If your music was playing in a restaurant, would people stop chewing and look at the speakers? Lots of musicians feel creative in the studio, and then they throw away all their creativity the moment they start promoting." Sivers is fond of repeating a quote from Brian Eno: "Art doesn't end at the edge of the canvas." Sivers expanded on that point, saying "How you present it to the world is part of the experience, a continuation of the art. Be a niche. Be sharply defined. 'I am this one thing.' People think that means they have to define themselves, and they don't want to be pinned down. But think of each album as a project."

2. Do cover songs. Now, this is not a stretch for most jazz musicians, but I did get a distinct impression at this particular conference that there was a focus on pop and alt rock where such advice is often rejected. In the jazz world, of course, we all know the standards. "Do a twisted cover version of a familiar song that hasn't been done to death. Search in iTunes. Fans need a familiar song." His reasoning? Much of online sales is now via song-based searches, hence the value of offering a new version of a classic song.

3. Read "The Long Tail," an article published in Wired magazine by its editor, Chris Anderson. The gist of this piece is that Amazon and NetFlix are examples of companies with extensive catalogs; over half of their profit comes from unknown things rather than mega hits. "All of these businesses want all the 'content' they can get. You are precious and everybody wants you. Apple iTunes, Napster--they need more content. They're not going to care what it is or judge it, they just want it. This is the new age of distribution."

4. Assemble a great team. According to Sivers, electronica musician Moby was once asked, "'Why are you more famous than all your peers?' 'I'll tell you exactly why: All my friends did everything themselves: Booking, hanging flyers, etc. While my friends were spending months at a time hanging flyers, I approached people who were the best at what they did. At the end of nine months, I had this team of six people/companies.' He treated it like a job. Ramp up your approach to meeting people." Sivers recommended the obnoxious-sounding book "Power Schmoozing" as indispensable. "The key to networking is to discover what you can do for people. Follow up. If you're that 1 out of 100 who follows up, you'll stand out."

5. Read. Go for the 20-year-old books in your industry. Check Amazon's list mania to find the ones everyone recommends.

6. Do something about what you learn. Get over the hump. "Start doing things as opposed to just thinking about doing them."

7. Beware the Van Gogh effect. "Plenty of rich guys would love to own a Van Gogh, but how many would invite the crazy old guy over for dinner?" There's a split of music vs. musicians that we should be aware of. Business people are scared of the musicians themselves, what with their reputation as being sensitive, emotional and tempestuous. Hmmmm. I've noticed that suits are scared of creative or technical people in general. Sivers' solution is to find a middle man or take yourself out of the equation when pitching to these types (say THE music, not MY music).

8. "Do what excites you, not what drains you." He told a cautionary tale of starting a record label on the advice of an industry executive who told him he should put his tremendous marketing and networking skills to good use beyond promoting his own band. "I felt like I'd been given a death sentence. I left the meeting and called my dad. 'Well, you should probably do it. This guy knows what he's talking about.'" Sivers invested time and energy into creating a record label with an artist roster as he'd been told to do, only to see it fail. By contrast, his efforts at CD Baby all grew organically, somehow springing from his abilities without a sense of forcing or obligation. The point: One person's path in the music business need not be someone else's.