Source: ezinearticles.com
I recently read an article on billboard.com that said Kanye West is launching an energy drink and a cologne. Hmmm...I wonder if he's just following in the footsteps of 50 Cent and P Diddy?
If he is, more power to him. Even if these ventures aren't successful for Kanye, at least he's smart enough to read the writing on the wall. It says, "Get out of the CD game and get into the personal branding game."
I guess Kanye saw the latest album sale numbers for the week of April 5, 2009. It was the debut week for Prince's "Lotus Flower" album and it sold only 168,000 units. Horrendous. I don't think Prince really cares all that much though. He makes a ton through touring. Besides, he saw this whole Internet thing coming before anyone else and actually adapted to it.
U2's album "A Line On The Horizon" is in its 5th week and has only sold 780,478 total. That kinda sucks for U2 I guess, but they're also going to make a bucketload on the road.
And of course, how can I forget Bruce Springsteen. Ten week out and "Working On A Dream" finally went gold; 501,110 units. But he's going to make a bucket load of money on the road too.
The bottom line is, these numbers don't really mean much anymore. Nobody goes platinum anymore. And Sound Scan is basically irrelevant to the digital age. Kanye definitely sees that.
I think that the fact that Kanye's in hip hop has something to do with his desire to get into other entrepreneurial ventures. I don't think his energy drink idea is going to work because I don't think Kanye is a true entrepreneur at heart. He's more of an entertainer. P Diddy on the other hand is a natural born entrepreneur. He can launch a cologne line and turn it into one of the best selling fragrances in no time. Jay Z is like that too. Their minds are wired to seek opportunity.
One thing I like a lot about hip hop is that the people in it are the most entrepreneurial of all the musical genres. I think part of it has to do with the fact that hip hop has a lower barrier of entry than other musical genres, so you get a lot more people with the hustler mentality. They're usually the types of people who start things. Based on what I've observed, usually the more years someone has spent applying themselves to learning something(especially in school), the less likely they are to take entrepreneurial risks. Most non-hip hop genres require more creative application and more study to master. The only person in Rock who really has the extreme hustler mentality is Gene Simmons. More power to them all.
I think there's something all indie music artists today can learn from the hustler mentality. It's this: always keep your eyes, ears and mind open. Always be on the lookout for opportunities. I believe that a lot of indie music artists are in such an ultra-creative one track mode that they miss so many opportunities to make money out there.
Just because you're a musician doesn't mean that you absolutely have to make money from just your music. Just because you're a musician doesn't mean you can't start some other kind of venture related to music. Look at Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby. He was a musician for years.
He's talked about the years he spent refining his music making before he toured. He was on the indie scene for years. And then he founded CD Baby and made it very successful. Then he got tired of it, sold it off and is now contemplating launching another music related venture. He says on his website, "I like to challenge myself to stay immersed in the unknown."
Just because you're in music doesn't mean that all you have to do is music. There's so many music related opportunities out there right now. You just need to keep your eyes, ears and mind open. Be willing to learn new skills. The sky's the limit.
Mika Schiller is a writer for the Indie music website MADE and he writes about where the music industry's headed and how it relates to the Independent Music artist. He gives irreverent career and personal development advice to the Indie music artist. For more great writing and irresistible advice, along with a free report on effective MySpace music marketing, please visit http://www.letsgetmade.com
