TEM64: Andrew Hitz of Pedal Note Media on leveraging your unfair advantage, using a business model canvas and transitioning from one main gig to doing lots of things

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TEM64: Andrew Hitz of Pedal Note Media on leveraging your unfair advantage, using a business model canvas and transitioning from one main gig to doing lots of things

The tables were turned for this episode of TEM and I was the one interviewed for a change! I thought this would give those in the audience who didn't know my entire backstory the chance to get to know me a little better.

A huge thank you to Lance LaDuke for interviewing me!

Topics Covered:

  • How I got started playing the tuba

  • The moment I realized I wanted to become a professional musician

  • How instrumental my parents were in my success

  • How my lack of being even remotely entrepreneurial while in undergrad lead to me playing only two paid gigs in four years despite receiving a lot of praise

  • At what point in my career I started to veer from focusing primarily on being an orchestral player

  • What my two college teachers instilled in me that "gave me permission" to follow my own path

  • How I got my first big break in the music business and how my training had me prepared for it

  • What led me to start thinking like an entrepreneur after many years in Boston Brass

  • Why my first two ideas for a website were failures

  • How Lance and I used a Business Model Canvas to come up with the idea for Pedal Note Media

  • How we identified our "unfair advantage" to give us a head start

  • How the Band Director's Guide Series came about

  • How and why Hitz Publications has morphed over the last five years from selling through traditional channels to directly selling to customers

  • What's next for Pedal Note Media (Spoiler: It's ecourses)

  • How both Lance and I have gone from doing one thing 100 times a year to doing a whole lot of things a few times a year and how that is a different challenge

Links:

Favorite Quote:

  • "The key to having great ideas is having lots of ideas."

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Joey Santillo

TEM33: Act like you belong (TEM Short)

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TEM33: Act like you belong (TEM Short)

As Sam Pilafian shared in Episode 32, you have to act like you belong no matter who you are talking to in the music business.

Links:

You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

Networking isn't about instant gratification

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"Networking isn't about instant gratification. It is about fostering relationships over a career."

-Jeff Conner of Boston Brass from Episode 7 of The Entrepreneurial Musician

Networking is just like learning a really difficult recital program. It takes a plan and it takes having the discipline to execute that plan over the long haul.

A lot of musicians are good at networking. Not many are great.

That is an easy point of differentiation for anyone in the business who is willing to put in the effort.

TEM17: Lance LaDuke of Pedal Note Media

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TEM17: Lance LaDuke of Pedal Note Media

Lance is not only one of my best friends but one of the sharpest business minds I've ever encountered in the music business.

This guy has quit the US Air Force Band. He has quit the River City Brass Band. He has quit the Boston Brass. Every time he quit was because he figured out he was on what Seth Godin calls a cul de sac and he had the courage to do something about it.

This is a fascinating interview about having the courage to pull the trigger, making things happen rather than sitting back and waiting for it to come to you, and how his family environment growing up led to him being so good on the mic.

This interview is all over the map and yet is completely cohesive. If you don't know Lance you will quickly figure out why I wanted to start a company with him after we both got out of Boston Brass.

Lance's entrepreneurial endeavors have led him to a career in consulting, performance, media, and academia. He does a little of everything and amazingly does it all well.

There is so much actionable advice in this episode you'll want to take notes!

Topics Include:

  • How the point of differentiation that won him the Boston Brass gig was his business expertise and vision and not anything musical

  • The importance of being yourself and speaking your mind in interviews

  • His approach to programming and how every aspect of it is intentional and considers a number of factors

  • How Lance and I used the Business Model Canvas to create Pedal Note Media

Links:

Books Referenced:


You can help offset the ongoing costs of producing the show by making a small donation at http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM8: Thoughts on networking (TEM Short)

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TEM8: Thoughts on networking (TEM Short)

The Entrepreneurial Musician is now posting weekly!

I will still be posting an interview every other week but the following week will now feature a very short episode with me discussing one of the topics the previous guest touched on.

For this week's episode, I am reflecting on Jeff Conner's comments on networking from Episode 7. Many musicians are good are networking but not a lot of them are great at networking so this is an opportunity for any of us to get a leg up on the competition.

Links:

Books:

Want to help "keep the lights on" and make future episodes of TEM possible? Please visit our Patreon page to see how you can help: 

https://www.patreon.com/tempodcast

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass

TEM7: Jeff Conner of Boston Brass

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TEM7: Jeff Conner of Boston Brass

Jeff Conner has performed in over 30 countries on 4 continents with his brass quintet, Boston Brass. Jeff talks about how they went from a college group playing small gigs around the Boston area to an internationally touring, full-time ensemble.

Topics Covered:

  • How he got a powerful Boston businessman to financially support Boston Brass

  • The importance of having mentors that inspire you

  • Perseverance being a key to success

  • Not being afraid of the word no

  • Networking being a longterm process

  • Why developing your own brand is essential

  • The book he wrote with John Laverty, The Porfolio Musician, in which they detail the careers of over 40 different musicians

Links:

Books:

Want to help "keep the lights on" and make future episodes of TEM possible? Please visit our Patreon page to see how you can help: 

https://www.patreon.com/tempodcast

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass