Derek Sivers podcast

When describing your music, don’t use musician language. Don’t say, “Wonderful harmonies and intricate arrangements. A tight rhythm section and introspective lyrics!” Real people don’t understand what that means. For most people, listening to music is like a cat watching cars go by. “That’s a fast one.” “That one was blue.” “Wow that was loud.” Only an expert or mechanic would be able to describe...

Someone sees you carrying a guitar and asks, “What kind of music do you play?” You say, “There’s no way to describe it. You just have to check it out. We’re playing next Thursday night at 11. You should come.” Imagine reversing the situation: You meet a man that says he’s running a small business. You ask what his company does. He says, “There’s no way to describe it. You just have to check it out...

This is a story about how two words can change your career. David and his band had always wanted to play at the big music festivals. They had been performing at clubs for years, and doing pretty well, but he could never get the attention of the agents that book the festivals. He’d call them and submit his music, but those agents would never reply. One night at a show, in between songs, a drunk fan...

Email everyone you know, saying you’re trying to come up with a single phrase to describe your music, and ask their help. Find a few teenagers, and treat them to pizza if they’ll sit and listen to a few songs, then describe it for you while waiting for the pizza to arrive. Hire a music writer to help you. This is what they do. When you’re playing on stage, ask people in the audience. Read a music...

Screenwriters in Hollywood constantly pitch their movie ideas to studio executives. Each one has about five seconds to impress. The one sentence they use to describe their story decides whether the studio will read it or not. Same with you. You just need one good sentence to describe your music. It has only one goal: Make people curious. That’s it. It should not try to describe every note of music...

On the radio, your music speaks for itself. People hear your music and like it or not. In concert, your music speaks for itself. Hearing and watching you perform is enough. But in every other situation, unless your music is already in their ears, your music can’t speak for itself. The words that describe your music have to do the hard work. Online, the description needs to be so interesting that p...

When you’re in high school, it’s all about popularity, cliques, and being cool. When you go to college, the focus shifts to academic achievement. Many people get out of college thinking the world will be like that — like the harder you work, the more you’ll be rewarded. But it’s not. Life is like high school. It’s all about how you come across, how social you are, what scene you’re in, being likea...

When I worked at Warner/Chappell, I was the least-important person in the company, just working in the library. Since it’s the largest music publisher in the world, I dealt with hundreds of people. I can’t remember most of their names. But three times, and only three times, I got a surprise gift from one of our songwriters. James Mastro , from The Bongos, got me a cool little “Mother Mary” keychai...

Have you ever asked for directions in a city? People get a little ego boost when they know the answer to something you’re asking. They’ll gladly show off their knowledge. So don’t be afraid to ask for favors. People like doing favors! When I lived in New York City, one bold musician I know called me and said, “I’m coming to New York in two months. Can you give me a list of all the important contac...

When someone says they’re looking for something, remember it, and help them find it. Introduce people to each other. Also listen carefully for what they might not realize they need. Ask them what’s the hardest part about their job. People love to complain. And each complaint gives you an idea about how you could help. When you come across something that might be useful, go through the list of ever...

That’s your simple goal to expand your network. Every single week, meet at least three new people that could help your career. Have a real conversation — something more than text on a screen. Ask questions, get to know them, and make a personal connection. Learn what they’re looking for, and how you can help them. At this rate, you’ll meet 150 new people each year. The more people you know, the be...

Every person you’ve ever met has the potential to help you. If you keep in touch and stay on their mind, there’s a good chance an opportunity will come your way. But if you don’t keep in touch, that potential is almost gone. Out of touch, out of mind. So you need to make a simple automatic system to keep in touch without relying on your memory. Use your database to label everyone in a category lik...

As teenagers, we learned the hard way that if you contact someone and they don’t reply, they’re just not into you. If you keep trying, you must be a total loser. But in the business world, it’s the opposite. If you don’t keep trying, you’re a loser! If someone doesn’t get back to you, it probably wasn’t intentional. Everyone is busy, and their situation has nothing to do with you. Imagine two diff...

A mosquito enters a room of people only to suck something out of them. People hate mosquitos. It’s important to meet people, but more important to get to know them. Ask questions. Listen. Learn what they love. Learn what they want. Figure out what you can do for them. Relationships are reciprocal. You need to give to receive. Don’t be a mosquito.

When I was promoting my music, I used to look to the big wide world for opportunities. Only later, I realized that every great thing that happened in my career came from someone I knew. When you come to an opportunity through a connection, you have an advantage. You’re not anonymous. You’ve already passed through a filter, and passed a test. You’re treated special because it’s a personal referral....

Back in 1997, when “The X Files” was still on the air, a friend of mine who called himself Captain T recorded an album that was all about conspiracy theories, Area 51, and aliens. It was intentionally funny, but he stayed in character. He acted like a guy who was trying to tell the world about government cover-ups. We wanted to send his album to college radio stations, but couldn’t afford to hire...

A famous record label executive was confronted by a musician who said, “You don’t value creativity!” The executive said, “Oh please! I’ve got accountants more creative than you!” It’s meant as an insult, but it has a point. Don’t think of music as creative but business as not. Business is definitely just as creative as music. Most musicians are wildly creative when writing, playing, performing, an...

In America in the 1970s, they would test the Emergency Broadcast System on TV, with a long “BEEEEEEEEEEP”. At the end, an announcer would say, “This is a test. This is only a test.” That phrase is burned into my brain. “This is a test. This is only a test.” It’s very useful to remember when pursuing your career. Everything usually feels so serious — like if you make one mistake, it’ll all end in d...

The “do it yourself” mentality is appealing. But it doesn’t mean you do everything yourself. And it doesn’t mean it has to be your hands. Maybe at first, if you are just starting, and have no action, you can do everything yourself. It can be fun to make your website, engineer your recordings, design your artwork, book your gigs, and even play all the instruments when recording. But as soon as you...

A few decades ago, as a musician, only 10% of your career was up to you. A few gate-keepers controlled all the outlets. You had to impress one of these powerful people to be allowed to present your music to the world. So getting discovered was about all you could do. But now 90% of your career is up to you. You have all the tools to make it happen. You have to come up with a plan and make it happe...

You don’t need a formal business plan. But you do need a plan. So make two simultaneous plans. Make one plan that depends on nobody else. No record deal. No investors. No lucky break. Your profits may be small but sustainable. Grow your audience. Develop your skills. Build your reputation. You can happily continue this way indefinitely. Make another plan that uses the music industry. Build your te...

If you want a bigger company to help you some day, imitate what food companies call “test marketing”. When companies create a new product, before they try to release it to the world, they want more proof that it will be a success. So first they’ll release it only in a small city like Albany. They ask customers for feedback, then make improvements based on that. They repeat this process until it’s...

Imagine the world’s attention as a big squishy pile of apathy — so thick you could cut it with a knife. To call attention to your music, you want to cut through that muck. Only problem is, if you’re well-rounded, you can’t cut through anything . You need to be sharply defined, like a knife. Let’s look at a bad example first: Your name is Mary and you put out an album called “My Songs”, and the cov...

Imagine you’re in the audience of a play, and there are a hundred actors on stage. Which ones would stand out? Which ones would you remember? It’s not necessarily the loudest or most hyperactive. Maybe you’d be drawn to the woman with the long black hair, half-hidden, standing silently at the edge of the stage. Now you, as a musician, are one of the actors on that over-crowded stage. Would you sta...

When communicating with your fans and contacts, don’t try to sound bigger than you are. Don’t use the corporate “we”. Say “I”. Fans want to connect with you as a person, not as a brand. Don’t appear flawless. Show a charming flaw. Confidence attracts, but vulnerability endears. Definitely don’t use corporate-speak to try to sound like you’re a big business. It comes across as fake, insecure, or sp...