#FPF – Week 90
Aside from being icons across pop-culture and music history, what do Jimi Hendrix, Curt Cobain and Biggie Smalls have in common? They all left this world with a library of unreleased tracks – that (in most cases) have yet to see the light of day.
In their time, the music industry was very different than it is now. It wasn’t uncommon to be working on an album for months, only to release a very small sampling of the tracks from the effort. From that release, the hits and the flops were decided by the masses. Without the help of the internet however, artists depended heavily on the radio and club DJ’s to play and promote their works. This was a slow process – making it even more important to ensure what you were sending out was the “Gold and Platinum”.
As a result, countless artists have died without sharing tracks that may have become your favorite song; because to them, “it wasn’t good enough”.
Today, you are the rock star; your content are the hit records; and the internet is your stage. You need to use it to release as much varied content as you can, find out what is resonating with your audience (and what isn’t) and push harder in the direction that works – armed with real-time feedback!
Don’t get caught up on “it’s not good enough” – we are all our own worst critics. If needed, share your content with trusted advisers, iterate, deploy, fail fast, respond to the market’s feedback and release your next hit.
Thank you for reading and have a great weekend!