TEM65: Impact people around you and your phone will ring a lot (TEM Short)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM65: Impact people around you and your phone will ring a lot (TEM Short)

This TEM Short features thoughts about being interviewed by my Pedal Note Media colleague, Lance LaDuke, in TEM64.

Links:

Lance LaDuke: Episode 17
A Conversation with Lance LaDuke on Marketing: Episode 34
Andrew Hitz of Pedal Note Media: Episode 64

It would mean the world to me if you felt like making a small donation to support what I'm doing with TEM. You can find out more at:

https://www.patreon.com/tempodcast

Produced by Joey Santillo

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

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

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

TEM63: The number one trap for artists (TEM Short)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM63: The number one trap for artists (TEM Short)

This TEM Short features thoughts about my conversation with Jason Heath, bass player, podcaster and entrepreneur in TEM62.

Links:

Jason Heath: Episode 62
Seth Godin Blog Post: "The Paradox of the Flawless Record"
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

It would mean the world to me if you felt like making a small donation to support what I'm doing with TEM. You can find out more at:

https://www.patreon.com/tempodcast

Produced by Joey Santillo

TEM62: Jason Heath of the Contrabass Conversations Podcast on finding your voice, executing on a great idea and his advice on starting a podcast

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM62: Jason Heath of the Contrabass Conversations Podcast on finding your voice, executing on a great idea and his advice on starting a podcast

Jason Heath is a professional bass player, a very successful podcaster, one of the most read bloggers in the classical music world and teacher.

Topics Covered:

  • How he had a rather sudden realization when he was a graduate student that he needed to figure out how to make money and what actions he took to make that happen

  • How he was able to find his voice and exact target audience when he first started blogging

  • The combination of finding a good idea and then doing the work over an extended period of time

  • How Jason no longer caring what people thought led to him creating more personal content which made his blog really take off

  • Why the notion that you must have a very specific voice in order for a blog to be successful may not be true all of the time

  • How Jason's reach through the blog and podcast led to 56 bass players auditioning at DePaul his first year of teaching there

  • His advice about starting a podcast

  • How having an interview-based podcast has many benefits including making you a better listener and networking

  • How hosting a podcast in the arts is still a blue ocean

  • How to repurpose your content for new content

  • How long it takes for Jason to fully produce a one-hour episode of Contrabass Conversations

  • Why regularity of content is so important for a podcast but how you have multiple options for when to schedule episodes

  • The equipment Jason uses to produce his podcast

Links:

Favorite Quotes:

  • "In your 20's and 30's you obsess about what everyone thinks about you. In your 40's and 50's you realize they aren't thinking about you as much as you think they are. In your 60's and 70's you figure out they were never thinking about you in the first place."

  • "The best possible time to start a podcast is five years ago. The second best time is right now."

  • "Done is better than good."

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

TEM61: 1,000 True Fans

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM61: 1,000 True Fans

This episode of TEM features my thoughts on the famous "1,000 True Fans" concept by Kevin Kelly. Be sure to read the blog post at the top of the links below!

Topics Covered:

  • Why you only need "1,000 true fans" to make a good living as an artist

  • Why the easiest way to get a fan to give you $100 each year is to produce a lot of different content

  • How the key to cultivating true fans is direct contact with them

  • If you gain one true fan a day for three years you will end up with 1,000

  • Stop procrastinating and regularly ship the art you are working on

Links:

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

You can also help other people find the show by leaving a rating and a review over on iTunes.

The Entrepreneurial Musician is produced by Joey Santillo.

Must Hear: Derek Sivers on The James Altucher Show

I am going to start a new series of posts here at the TEM blog called "What I'm Listening To".

I listen to a whole lot of podcasts. I listen to a podcast every day. I also host two of them with a third on the way. I can't get enough of them as an incredible source of completely free information.

I recently stumbled upon The James Altucher Show. He is an incredible interviewer and thinker. He always asks the question you want him to ask next which is the biggest compliment I can give to an interviewer.

Episode 159 features a discussion with Derek Sivers, one of my favorites. I will be shocked if this interview doesn't get you fired up to create what you were meant to create. Can't recommend this interview enough.

(Side note: This interview contains the best quote about goal-setting I've ever heard. He absolutely nails the you know what out of it.)

 

James Altucher Show Episode 149: Derek Sivers

(Another side note: The blog post that James put together at the above link about the interview is worth the click even if you don't plan on listening to the interview. Good stuff.)

TEM60: Where the world is headed (TEM Short)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM60: Where the world is headed (TEM Short)

This TEM Short features thoughts about my conversation with Garrett Hope, composer and host of The Portfolio Composer, in Episode 59.

Links:

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 of FredBrass

TEM59: Garrett Hope of the Portfolio Composer Podcast on the skills needed in the freelance economy, thinking about art as a business and the power of outsourcing

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM59: Garrett Hope of the Portfolio Composer Podcast on the skills needed in the freelance economy, thinking about art as a business and the power of outsourcing

Garrett Hope is the host of The Portfolio Composer Podcast, a composer, a bass player, owns a piano tuning company and is a consultant.

Note: Since we recorded this interview, Garrett has rebranded his podcast, Composer On Fire, as The Portfolio Composer Podcast.

Topics Covered:

  • How entrepreneurial thinking led him to ultimately choose bass over guitar as his primary instrument

  • The factors that led to him getting turned off by academia which led him to becoming an entrepreneur

  • How starting a piano tuning business made him realize he needed to apply the same entrepreneurial principles to his music career

  • The skills musicians need as the world moves more and more towards a freelance economy (and they don't teach them in music school)

  • The challenge of thinking about art as a business

  • Why it's imperative to identify exactly who your audience is

  • The importance of having a rich network to utilize when trying to serve a specific niche

  • How Garrett came to have world-renowned thought leader Seth Godin as a "guest" on his podcast

  • The audacity of asking

  • The power of asking "And then what?" to get to the bottom of fear

  • The Brand Fascination Assessment Test

  • The power of outsourcing (even though it can be scary to spend money on things)

  • Understanding cash flow as a small business owner and the importance of keeping good records

  • Why we've all networked already on some level

  • How networking is the bread and butter of a musician's life

  • How to create a spreadsheet to get organized about your networking

Links:

Books:

Favorite Quote:

"In 10 years, more than 50% of the workforce will be freelancers. That's where we're heading and musicians need to be prepared for that."

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 of FredBrass

TEM58: Are you willing to change course? (TEM Short)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM58: Are you willing to change course? (TEM Short)

This TEM Short features thoughts about my conversation with Lauren Pierce, bass player, teacher and entrepreneur, in TEM57.

Links:

Lauren Pierce - Episode 57

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 of FredBrass

Say yes

"I'm no longer sure what the question is. But I do know the answer is yes."

—Leonard Bernstein

I love this quote.

The more I pay attention to the people already doing what I want to be doing more of in the music business, the more variations of "saying yes" I hear.

Whether it is this guy or this guy, there are examples everywhere of people who have said yes only then to have figured out how the hell to pull off what they just agreed to do.

I know I need reminding of this from time to time.

Why self-awareness is everything

"Ideas are worthless without execution. Execution is pointless without the ideas."

—Gary Vaynerchuck from "#AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness"

There aren't too many people in the world who are really great at both ideas and execution. There are some, but there aren't many.

If you are reading this right now, there is a very good chance you are great at one of these and only good at the other. Or great at one and average at the other.

This is why partnering with the right person (or people) is so imperative for anyone looking to be an entrepreneur. Find someone who compliments your strengths and weaknesses well and move forward with them. (That's why I partnered with this knucklehead to form Pedal Note Media.)

If you don't want to partner with anyone, outsource whatever it is you aren't great at. Even if you had the time to get great at everything (and if you're a human, you don't), I argue you shouldn't be wasting your time learning how to do these other things at the expense of spending more time doing the work you think will change the world.

And the key to all of this is self-awareness. If you are brutally honest with yourself about what you can and can't do, it informs who you partner with and even what you attempt to bring to the world in the first place.

Self-awareness informs the ideas and the execution. So the question is what can you do today to get a little more honest with yourself?

TEM57: Lauren Pierce on building a popular YouTube channel, knowing when to quit and teaching herself how to code

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM57: Lauren Pierce on building a popular YouTube channel, knowing when to quit and teaching herself how to code

Lauren Pierce is a professional bass player, teacher and entrepreneur.

Topics Covered:

  • How she went from only being accepted to one music school to being a professional bass player

  • Why she changed course multiple times before she even finished school

  • How isolation after school and a lack of anyone to perform for inspired her to start her incredibly popular YouTube Channel

  • How she always jumps in head first whenever she tackles any new project

  • What she learned by having a less-than-ideal first video shoot

  • How she went from being terrified of video editing to loving it

  • How you don't know what you don't know when you are first embarking on a new task

  • How her online content directly led to her getting an agent

  • How she built her Skype lesson studio

  • What went into deciding to go with a membership-based model for online lessons

  • Why she joined Codecademy and learned how to code

  • Being willing to email Wordpress support 10x a day until she understood everything

  • How all failures are a learning opportunity

  • When to quit and when not to quit

  • How she prioritizes things

Links:

Favorite Quote:

"The work never stops. You just get better at opening those doors."

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 of FredBrass

TEM56: Finding your blue ocean

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM56: Finding your blue ocean

A short episode about the importance of finding a blue ocean to present to the world.

Links:

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 of FredBrass

TEM55: 10x faster than you think (TEM Short)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM55: 10x faster than you think (TEM Short)

This TEM Short features thoughts about my conversation with pianist, teacher and entrepreneur Hugh Sung in TEM54.

Links:

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 of FredBrass

TEM54: Hugh Sung of the A Musical Life Podcast on aggressive timetables, avoiding the trap of trying to be perfect and taking the initiative

Hugh Sung is the host of the incredibly popular A Musical Life Podcast. He has had a tremendous amount of success not only as a podcast host but as a performer, teacher and as an entrepreneur. He shares a ton of what he has learned along the way in this episode.

Read More

TEM53: Driving without a map (TEM Short)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM53: Driving without a map (TEM Short)

This TEM Short features thoughts about part two of my conversation with Sam Pilafian, tuba player for Boston Brass, in TEM52.

Links:

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 of FredBrass

TEM52: Sam Pilafian of Boston Brass on the legacy of Prince, developing your voice on stage and becoming an "overnight success" after 20 years of work (Part 2)

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM52: Sam Pilafian of Boston Brass on the legacy of Prince, developing your voice on stage and becoming an "overnight success" after 20 years of work (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 of my incredible conversation with Sam Pilafian of Boston Brass.

Topics Covered:

  • Sam's thoughts on the passing of Prince and the hilarious story of when Empire Brass ran into him while waiting for an elevator

  • How Prince was able to surround himself with the best musicians in the business

  • How preparing to become the first brass quintet to ever win the Naumberg chamber competition helped to shape empire brass

  • The importance of developing your voice (either as a group or an individual) on stage

  • How winning the 1976 Naumberg Chamber Music Award led to a contract with Columbia Artist Management, which in turn led to some of the members quitting gigs like the Boston Symphony to go all in

  • How good the powers that be at Columbia Artist Management were at "creating careers" and how they helped to steer the Empire Brass brand and sound

  • The connection that's made with an audience when every member of a chamber group is individually developed and the audience gets to know them

  • How some groups become "overnight successes" after 20 years of work

  • How great a group plays live after they make a recording

  • How valuable having string playing coaches was for the group

  • How they modeled their sound after the Borodin Quartet

  • How a banjo player he played with over a decade earlier in Your Father's Mustache led to him playing on Pink Floyd's The Wall

  • How the Empire Brass Seminar at Tanglewood enabled them to network with the next generation of great brass players

  • The importance of developing your own repertoire

  • How Empire Brass became so popular in Japan

  • How he has found himself in a number of "second careers" like developing The Breathing Gym and producing

  • The brand new Boston Brass album, Reminiscing, which was inspired by the late, great Rolf Smedvig

Links:

Favorite Quote:

  • "If you work that hard, you can come up with (Pink Floyd's The Wall). That was good math. I needed to see that. No corner-cutting. No gifts. These guys did it uphill the whole freaking way until they were happy with it. And no settling."

  • "We used to have a saying that 'every night's Yankees Stadium.' We'd be in Devils Lake, North Dakota having a big fight about how something should release after the concert. That was always a good sign to tell you the truth."

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 of FredBrass

TEM51: Are you just checking the boxes?

Listen via:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
SoundCloud

Stitcher

TEM51: Are you just checking the boxes?

These are my thoughts on making sure we are not just checking the boxes.

Show notes for all episodes of TEM including links to all books and websites referenced can be found at:

http://www.andrewhitz.com/shownotes

Links:

TEM19: Ron Davis

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 of FredBrass

Article: Gary Numan thinks the music industry's collapse is a beautiful thing

"There are a lot of people who are really frightened about what’s going on at the moment. I’m the opposite. I think it’s an amazing time. It’s a golden era for bands. You’ve just got to be aware. You’ve got to be savvy with the technology that’s coming and adapt it to you, or you to it, whatever it might be. I’m optimistic, because I’m sure there are other things coming that are going to be really useful. But most of it involves direct access to fans."

The above quote is from a great interview in Fast Company with electronic music pioneer Gary Numan. I love his attitude towards the changing music industry.

And I really love this coming from someone who had a bunch of success in the old model.

Fast Company: Gary Numan Thinks The Music Industry's Collapse Is A Beautiful Thing