Making your way as the "conductor" of your success

conduct Today as I read my daily liturgy of various blogs and blog posts I stumbled upon a short statement brought forth on Hypebot.

"Raise Your Baton" was the title of this post.  This struck me on a number of levels as both a musician, lover of classical music, business person, and last but not least... the son of a conductor (not train, but music).

In this short post he spoke of the vast amount of resources available and the ease at which one can enter the business community these days whether it be as a record label, publisher, artist, or tech startup.  He goes on to surmise that trying to do it all yourself will drive you nuts and the smartest of entrepreneurs should surround themselves with capable people who can help achieve and accomplish the task at hand.  The smartest entrepreneur will raise their baton and become the conductor of the project.

This analogy is really great.  Some of the people I respect most in this world were the ones willing to admit they didn't know how to do everything.  One such person always used to say- "I don't know how to do everything... that's why I surround myself with experts like youself (moi?)... who do."  Until now I always took this sentiment to be nothing more than a nice statement.. but in fact he is right.  He IS the conductor.  You see, as Bruce Houghton points out- the conductor doesn't know how to play every instrument in the orchestra... but he(she) does know how to  read music and he knows what the symphony should sound like.  The source of my admiration IS the conductor of his business and it's success.

So how do you become the conductor?  Bruce accurately puts it as this... " Start by learning your business.  Assemble the players.  Then raise your baton."  How simple... and perfect!  Music to my ears.

New Developments

It has been a busy summer!  I have enjoyed my fair share of boating trips, business travel and just plain summer fun.  While I have been hard at work and play, I have also been working on a few things in the interwebs. ClassicalCues.Blogspot.com

So for my 9-5  (more like 6:30am - 11:00pm)  I have been tossing around the idea of starting a licensing-centric blog.  DUH- I already have one of those- but this would be a more refined, professional concoction of randomness than the fine blog you are currently reading.  This would be a kinder, gentler blog. (well, right now- it's more like a blog-ette)  This blog would be centered on the licensing of music... specifically Classical music, but not confined to the genre specifically.  There will ultimately be a great deal of cross-posting as many of the topics I cover there will be of interest to Is This Binding.  Plus I have high hopes that having another presence in the blogosphere will help drive traffic to my other muse, NaxosLicensing.com .  that site is still under construction- but will ultimately be a one-stop destination for licensing Classical, World and Jazz music for film, TV, advertising, etc.

Naxos Music Library

I am also quite proud to say that the Naxos Music Library- the product for which I was originally hired at Naxos has now officially come of age.  In just 5 years it now features more than 500,000 tracks (that's a HALF MILLION- people!!!) of Classical, Jazz, Folk, World, Jazz, and Rock music...  a virtual college music library/public library music collection!  In that time- we have also managed to make sure that this service has matriculated to the very top research institutions in the world!  Basically every major University you can name is a subscriber and a great deal of public libraries are as well.  It is now utilized in more than 28 different countries! <proud papa moment>  If you havent ever checked it out- be sure to go take a look... there is free trial access available... take it for a test-drive.

Ok- that's all for now...  Til next time

Yo Ho, Yo Ho a Pirate's Life for me (not really)

AAARGH! So just in case you have been under a rock for the last 5 days, the ruling is in... the founders of Pirate Bay have been found guilty in a Swedish court of law.  They have all been sentenced to one year in prison and will have to pay approximately $3 Million in damages (after the appeals process- if the ruling stands).

So what now?

The facilitators have been stopped, but what does that mean for all of the users (Pirates) populating Pirate Bay?  What does this mean for the bay?  Will it suddenly dry up?  No.  In a word... No.  This really means nothing.  The Swedish courts have placed their finger in the dyke... they have stopped the spillage for a moment, but the flood waters will remain.  The Pirate Bay remains active... servers housed safely outside of Sweden... and the pirates sail on.

There is a lot of debate going on over whether the founders of TPB were injustly convicted... whether the ISPs should be held responsible as well.  I think there are a lot of people at fault here including all named previously and in some way, I would love to see them held responsible.  However, I am a realist.  I understand that the times are changing and our industry needs to find better ways of making a living (outside of suing).  Ultimately,  the results of the pending appeals will leave a legacy of rulings that will affect the way our courts view file sharing for years to come.  The next few years will no doubt be an interesting lot...  time will tell.

As a sideline to this story, there has been a recent study stating that "pirates" are 10 times more likely to buy online music than law-abiding non-pirates.  The number of participants in the study was rather small (less than2000), but I find it quite interesting and wonder if this is in fact the way it is... according to the comments below the story- the pirates doubt it as well.

Top 10 best ideas in Classical Music- a review

Sorry for the feast and famine blog posts, but I am especially motivated this week. I was delighted when a colleague sent me a link to a new classical music blog (well at least new to me). This blog, "The Dutch Perspective" written by Marc Van Bree is a refreshing take on cultural affairs and PR from the perspective of a non-profit PR and social media specialist. Not only did the title of his latest blog post excite me, but the content was quite exciting as well. The title, "The ten best ideas in classical music online" says it all, but as I read his David Letterman top 10 list, I realized that I (moreover Naxos) have much to do with several of the initiatives mentioned in the list.

If you are curious about the whole list, please feel free to read it and Marc's other posts here.

I will spare you the details and go into the movements and initiatives that I/we had something to do with. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra gives away memberships to Naxos Music Library with subscriptions to the new season

"The BSO enthusiastically proclaims “Imagine leaving a concert and wanting to go right home and hear your favorite parts of the music again and again…Well now you can!” on its Web site. And rightly so. This is a perfect example of a smart collaboration that adds value to the orchestra experience." ## That's right folks. We did it! We are partnering with not only the BSO, but a slew of other great Symphonies to offer the highly acclaimed Naxos Music Library as a value-add to season tickets purchases. The opportunity to work with these great orchestras offering this value for their subscribers has been a wonderful experience. Hopefully more will jump on board for next season!

Keeping Score / Beyond the Score

"Although they have distinct differences, I would put the San Francisco Symphony’s Keeping Score programs and the Chicago Symphony’s Beyond the Score programs in the same category of innovation. If it wasn’t for the negative connotations, I would be tempted to use the term “infotainment” to describe the presentations. Check them out and see how you would describe them." ## While I have nothing to do with the beyond the score project (which I think is a phenomenal endeavor), I have worked with the good folks at the San Francisco Symphony on their initiative for a few years now providing licensed music for their educational CDs and am glad that their series is garnering recognition. Classical music on Twitter (Toronto Symphony, Aspen Music Festival, London Symphony, Atlanta Symphony)

## Along with these great Symphonies, Naxos also has several Twitter accounts. We have found that these are a great way to connect with our customer base. In case you were wondering, you can follow the official Naxos Twitter account, Naxos Direct, Naxos Music Library account, or my personal account.

I think it's pretty exciting that we are involved with 3 out of 10 of these initiatives. I enjoy being a part of a forward-thinking leader in the Classical Music World. That's all for now.