Damian Kulash (lead singer and guitarist for the band OKGO) has published his thoughts on the unusual distaste the major music labels have for their customers (and musicians) as represented by their continued unwillingness to adapt to an evolving marketplace:
Today, as the record industry’s revenue model has collapsed with the digitization of its biggest commodities, companies are cutting back spending on all but their biggest stars, and not signing nearly as many new acts. If record companies can’t adapt to this new world, they will die out; and without advances, so will the futures of many talented bands.
In these tight times, it’s no surprise that EMI is trying to wring revenue out of everything we make, including our videos. But it needs to recognize the basic mechanics of the Internet. Curbing the viral spread of videos isn’t benefiting the company’s bottom line, or the music it’s there to support. The sooner record companies realize this, the better though I fear it may already be too late.
…and curbing the spread of viral videos isn’t even the half of it.
Sad to say, this attitude actually makes sense once you consider the source. It’s typical of mega-corporations where the people making the decisions are hopelessly detached from the real world, from the interests of their consumers, and from the artists they’re supposed to be representing in the first place.
It makes sense when you only care about the bottom line, not about the quality of your service or product. It makes sense once you’ve stopped concerning yourself with satisfying your customers, seeking only to please shareholders.
This is hardly original thought on my part, though. People have been pointing out that the major labels are on the verge of collapse for some time now. Every now and then I start to feel like they’re seeing the light (like when they finally shifted away from DRM on digital downloads) but I’m hesitant to even give them points for that — it only solved a problem they were responsible for introducing in the first place.
Following up the message in my last post, J.K. Rowling’s 2008 Harvard commencement speech on finding success (and failure) seemed appropriate to feature here. I first caught it on Mental Floss, then found the transcript at Harvard Magazine. One of my favorite parts comes relatively early:
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.
I’ve found it particularly difficult to write articles intended for public consumption in recent years. (And don’t think the irony is lost on me that my first “meaty” post to the new blog is delayed a few days and focuses on writers block.)
I’ve never been able to fully pinpoint the causes, but reflection has revealed a barrier I regularly run into: an obsession with getting things just right. What’s more, talking through this with others has shown me just how common a feeling this can be.
What is the obsession with perfection all about, though? What is “just right”, and why does everything I want to put out there absolutely need to exceed this ever-shifting standard? That’s a good (and tough) question, worthy of eventual exploration… but for right now? It really doesn’t matter.
It’s all to easy to forget that success in life is driven by seizing opportunity, but you will never see the opportunities if you don’t show up to the party in the first place. You’ll never get the job if you don’t eventually stop toiling over your cover letter. You’ll never launch your revolutionary new web gizmo if you can’t come to terms with its inevitable bugs and just put the damn thing online. (See where I’m going with this? At some point you need to accept that good enough is good enough, and “perfect” exists only in your mind.)
Amber Rae hit the nail on the head with a recent headline: screw self-doubt, embrace inspiration, achieve greatness. We learn by doing, and we’ll improve with time and effort. Our results won’t always be exactly what we hoped for on day one, but that’s not what matters. What matters is the willingness… the effort. (Remember? “Perfect” doesn’t exist.)
To close, another bit of wisdom from Amber’s post:
We define success and what it means to us. I don’t think inspiration is the barrier to reaching greatness. I think self-doubt in our abilities combined with too much care for what other people think is what holds us back.
Let’s all worry less and do more. Life will go on if the first (or second) iteration isn’t just right.
Well, this domain sure has sat idle for while now, hasn’t it? Well, no more! No more weeks (months?) without updates.
Here’s the plan so far:
Over-think less, publish more.
Less talk of doing, more just doing.
Live life a little more transparently.
As for the look-n-feel of this bad boy, I promise this this monochromatic design won’t last too long. I’m starting off with a mostly-vanilla instance of the Thesis WP framework and will be performing a live-redesign as time goes on.
