#AskGaryVee

by Gary Vaynerchuk

  That’s why I don’t understand why so many people continue to bemoan the fate of the music industry and complain that musicians can’t get a fair shake. They sure as hell can. If they hustle, that is. They just have to stop thinking of themselves as artists and start thinking of themselves as a business.

  * * *

  Since music itself doesn’t create income anymore, what advice do you have for musicians wanting to make their living playing music in the twenty-first century?

  * * *

  Let’s get some perspective—throughout history, maybe 1 percent of all musicians, singers, and songwriters ever made it big. Most professional musicians worked their whole lives making the best living they could doing what they loved, while supplementing their income doing work that they did not love. But they don’t have to take that second or third job anymore. Just like many other entrepreneurs, artists can make a perfectly livable income through AdSense, YouTube ads, sponsored social media content, and Beatport sales, which leaves them more free to devote their working hours to honing their craft, distributing their music, engaging with fans and music venues, and creating their own opportunities to perform live. In fact, according to a New York Times article called “The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t,” “More people are choosing to make a career as a musician or a songwriter than they did in the glory days of Tower Records, with as many as forty-six possible revenue streams available to them.”*

  Musicians have to implement a proper content strategy on social media and build awareness of their brand and product, same as any entrepreneur. Where is your audience? If you’re trying to reach new music lovers, you need to go where they are. If you’re not on Snapchat, YouTube, Vine, Instagram, and SoundCloud, you basically don’t exist to the average twenty-five-year-old. Get over there now.

  Your presence won’t be enough, however. It’s not sufficient to make some Vines, throw your music up on DistroKid, and wait for the sales to roll in. You have to cultivate community. That’s what the best music stars have always done. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, the Grateful Dead, Phish—is their music that much better than anyone else’s? Yes, to a point. But one thing that is unquestionably true is that these artists beat the odds by going well beyond merely putting out music and building an extremely engaged and loyal community.

  Most musicians think their art is their priority, but your audience needs to be, too. Show them you care. Start doing things for them. Use all the platforms at your disposal to knock on their doors and say, “Hey, let me in.” Live streaming offers musicians today a spectacular way to connect to fans, and Facebook Live, Meerkat, and Periscope have created a new pipeline they need to expose and use. You can play for people live. You can take requests. You can talk about the process that went into the creation of a song or piece of music. You can test new material. Imagine the behind-the-scenes access you can offer. Imagine the connections you could make. You’d have fans for life! Once people love you, it’s easy to sell them your stuff.

  Create music, create content, create community, and create revenue streams. If you’re a musician, that’s the path that will allow you to support yourself with your art.

  * * *

  As a private music teacher I have limited hours to teach. Thoughts on how to increase my income and brand?

  * * *

  Of course I do.

  There are entire industries that have been transformed by tech, allowing people who work on opposite sides of the globe to connect and collaborate. Who says your students all have to be in your time zone? There are doctors who treat patients, and accountants who consult with clients, via Skype. Why couldn’t a music teacher do the same? Offer classes on Skillshare. Take a page from online education and start marketing yourself to people who don’t have easy access to good music instruction. Find the need and fill it.

  Another strategy would be to monetize the hours when you’re not teaching. As hard as teachers work, they of all people should have the most time to crush it when they’re not in the classroom or with students. Teachers usually find their schedules open up a lot during the summer, so that’s another time when you could get a lot of initiatives going that could carry you throughout the year. Start putting out content—blog posts, videos, podcasts, anything—about music, teaching, cultural events, and any other topics that are even tangentially related to your business and give you a chance to show who you are and build trust. Use Twitter Search and engage with people who love music, or who have kids who love music, or who might be interested in music classes, or even to connect with other teachers. Offer tutorials on Spreecast or Meerkat (I’m an investor), start a YouTube Channel, and take advantage of Google hangouts. The options are endless for creative entrepreneurs.

  Does all of that sound like a lot of work? It is. How people react to the prospect of so much work is really what differentiates between those who build successful small businesses and those who eventually give up and go work for someone else. If you love the work—if the idea of putting yourself out there and sharing your love for your art and reaching more and more students gets you excited—then there’s no reason why you can’t make this work for you. If you’re overwhelmed by it all and just can’t imagine giving up Game of Thrones or the many other activities that take up hours in our days, you’re really not cut out for it. Your talent is what it is, but the level at which you increase your income and brand is limited only by the scope of your ambition and willingness to hustle. Nothing more, nothing less.

  * * *

  I’m a music producer. How can I use social to promote my content?

  * * *

  When this question came in, we decided to take a look at this music producer’s Twitter account to see what he was already doing. You know what we found? He’d posted a remix of a Rihanna track eight times in twenty-four hours. That’s a bit much. Overwhelming, actually. You want to put out content, of course, but you want to put out a variety of content, and you want to do it with purpose. Otherwise you start to look desperate.

  So, the answer to improving your social, whether you’re a music producer or a mustard seller, is, as always, to listen to your audience or the target audience and produce great content, in that order. Get your best work up on SoundCloud and other music platforms, and then start looking for opportunities to listen to people and then engage with them to the degree that they decide they want to check you out.

  Someone in the music scene might go old-school by joining some music message boards and becoming an integral part of that community. If Rihanna’s music inspires you, you could use Twitter Search to find every single person who recently tweeted about her music and start jamming with them, sharing why you love her work, too, and how it influences yours. Be interested and interesting and more than likely they will check you out to learn more about you. You might even set aside a few days to concentrate on this strategy. If you do, consider this tactic: Change the URL on your Twitter profile to that of your SoundCloud account so it links directly to the track you want people to hear. If people love it, they’re going to share it. If they share it, it has a chance of gaining more attention from more people and maybe even have something pop, aka go viral. Get that viral loop going and you can get major brand awareness. All your efforts should go into creating great art, making it as easily available as possible, and engaging with the people who might want to hear it. If you’re truly skilled, your fans and their word of mouth will start doing much of the social work for you.

  * * *

  I’m holding back tears and my heart is heavy because the Seahawks lost and I bet $225. That’s like four Xbox games and an Arizona iced tea. I’ve listened to Drake, the Weeknd, Jhene Aiko, and even PartyNextDoor, but the pain is too much. How do I cope?

  * * *

  I’m an extremely happy guy in general except when the New York Jets do something stupid. And then for a few hours I feel like I’m drowning in quicksand. When you’re feeling this low, do what I do: play a heavy rotation of two s
ongs, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony’s “Tha Crossroads” and Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” Put them on loop, repeating each about seven times before switching to the next. Drown your sorrows. Then take the pain and carefully put it in a little compartment near your heart, and let that be an engine for the revenge you will strike against your enemies.

  * * *

  How would you suggest an indie artist use his or her marketing money when royalty checks come six months later?

  * * *

  Simple. Be patient. You can’t do anything if you don’t have money, so you wait for it, and then you execute.

  Come on, you didn’t really think that was all there is to it? Use your time to hustle and make some other money! Look at the royalty checks as gravy. Go out and play shows, get another job, go garage sale’n’ and flip the stuff you buy on eBay. Whatever it takes! If this is your dream, if you want to be a famous and rich artist, or even just a working artist, sitting on your ass waiting for your check before doing any marketing seems idiotic.

  Read the answers to the first two questions in this chapter and you’ll see what you need to do while waiting for your money to come in. You should also go back to Chapter 2, “Starting Out,” and reread every single question and answer. If an entrepreneur can figure out how to market a product that’s still six months away from a finished prototype, you can figure out how to market the music that is probably as much a part of you as the air you breathe.

  CHAPTER 20

  SPORTS

  * * *

  IN THIS CHAPTER I MAKE A PREDICTION ABOUT THE DALTON DEAL, REVEAL WHAT TEAM I’D BUY IF I CAN’T BUY THE JETS, AND EXPLAIN THE PARALLELS BETWEEN TENNIS AND BUSINESS.

  * * *

  Unlike music, sports are an enormous pillar of my life. It’s my real passion besides business, and factors into all of my ambition and determination to buy the New York Jets. It’s relevant, too, because over the last decade the sports industry has become very interesting to a lot of entrepreneurs, and the landscape around it, from communications to business, has expanded and is evolving rapidly.

  This chapter may not have the most teeth in it, but if you want this one man’s 360-degree point of view, we gotta go here. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed answering the questions.

  * * *

  What do you think of the Dalton deal?

  * * *

  In 2014, quarterback Andy Dalton signed a six-year, $115 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. And even though he crapped the bed in the playoffs, I thought it was a good deal. Quarterbacks are tough to come by, especially redheaded quarterbacks. The New York Jets haven’t had a top 15 quarterback in 25 of the last 27 years, and I would rip my arm off for Andy. I have a feeling he will have that playoff run that all the Bengals fans are looking for. We’ll see who was right.

  * * *

  With the NFL in London this week, what do you think about sports franchises moving to other cities or countries?

  * * *

  This question was posed the day after the Jets lost their game, and my answer reflected my mood. At the time I said that some sports franchises should move to faraway places, like as far away as possible. Now that a little time has passed and I’m less disappointed, I still think it’s interesting to think about a world in which teams play in other countries. I am also super-curious to find out what city in the United States will be next to get its first professional team (Oklahoma City?) and in which sport.

  * * *

  If the Jets never come up for sale in your lifetime, and another NFL team does, would you buy that team instead?

  * * *

  I don’t want to answer this question. I’ve gone back and forth with this. In the end I think I would focus on the Knicks, and after that a random other basketball team. I just can’t see myself owning another football team.

  * * *

  Do you see parallels between tennis and business?

  * * *

  I’m not as good at tennis as I wish I were, but I enjoy it a lot. The best thing about it is that because the matches are made up of multiple games and sets, even when you’re down, you’re not necessarily out, because you’ve got time to watch your opponent and gauge his or her weaknesses and strengths. Once you figure it out, you can come roaring back. I’ve done it. Nate Scherotter, my former assistant and the CEO of my last book, has never beaten me in a game of tennis, even though twice he has had me down 5-2. How did I win? I reacted to what was happening, took a step back to observe, made the necessary adjustment, and started targeting his weaknesses. I evaluated Nate exactly as I would if I felt threatened by a competitor in business.

  It’s like Mike Tyson said: “Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.” You can strategize and plan ahead all you like, but once you’re on the court, or in the ring, or on the field, you’d better be ready to adjust and improvise. The same goes for business. You created a plan, you set a path toward success, and then suddenly someone copies your product for less. Someone is better than you. Nobody wanted your stupid app. Time to adjust or die.

  Entrepreneurs need to have the emotional composure and the intestinal fortitude to make real-time adjustments and come back from the brink. Those qualities don’t hurt in a game of tennis, either.

  CHAPTER 21

  WINE

  * * *

  IN THIS CHAPTER I TALK ABOUT HOW TECH BRINGS NEW VOICES INTO OLD INDUSTRIES, I MAKE SOME WINE RECOMMENDATIONS, AND I TELL YOU WHAT TO DRINK WITH KIMCHI.

  * * *

  You didn’t think I could write this whole book and not mention wine, did you? In this one man’s point of view, what has happened to wine in the last half decade since I stopped being as intimately involved with it is nothing short of transformative. So many fun things have happened. Wine has grown to become a standard in American culture. Rosé has finally established itself in the United States. That makes me smile quite a bit. People are trying lots of different wines. That makes me smile, too. But the thing that really makes me smile is how many new voices have emerged. I have enormous respect for Robert Parker and Wine Spectator, the two powerful voices that dominated the industry long before I entered the field and throughout my early wine career. They were monumental and served a real purpose for their time. Yet what a great evolution to see how many new voices have been able to emerge because of social media and tech. New apps where people can leave reviews, blogs, hundreds of thousands of pieces of content put out by bright new personalities in the wine community, especially on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. It’s been inspiring and exciting to be able to learn from so many different perspectives in addition to incredible thought leaders like Jancis Robinson, Wine Spectator, and many others. As in all other sectors that provoke passion in so many, we’re living in a time where we have access to better debates and more original stories, which I think allows consumers to enjoy a richer exploration of a beverage and cultural touchstone that’s been around since the beginning of time and will be around when most of us are gone.

  * * *

  What wine bar or restaurant would you recommend to a first-time visitor to New York City?

  * * *

  Any establishment that has been smart enough to get on my reservations app, Resy. (JK.) Gotham Bar and Grill, Rosemary’s, Minetta Tavern, Toro, Estela, Scarpetta, Carbone, Marea, Charlie Bird, and Balthazar, among others, are all great choices. I’m also a huge fan of a wine bar called Terroir.

  * * *

  Tea, coffee, or wine?

  * * *

  The answer these days is water, but in my heart it’s wine, then tea, then coffee. And root beer, too.

  * * *

  What wine goes with kimchi?

  * * *

  We Eastern European immigrants are big on pickled foods, too. High-acid whites would be good, or oily thicker whites. So I’d recommend a Falanghina, which is a white wine from Italy, or from the United States a Santa Barbara Roussanne or Viognier. There is also a wine we produced exclu
sively for Wine Library called The Neighbor 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, which is super-creamy for a Sauv Blanc, and if it’s still around by the time this book comes out you should find it and try it!

  * * *

  On Fridays we drink wine. What’s a good drinking-home-alone-bottle-to-yourself wine?

  * * *

  I’m a big white wine fan and I’m obsessed with Italian whites, non–Pinot Grigio. Look for things like Fiano, Soave, Greco de Tufo, and other white varietals from Italy that a lot of people don’t know about and don’t recognize the quality of. For 8–22 bucks you can get an enormous array of tremendous high-acid wines that still go great with cheese if you get hungry. Some suggestions:

  2012 Bertolani Spergalino Secco Colli Di Scandiano Di Canossa Frizzante

  2013 Girotondo Chardonnay Delle Venezi

  2012 Mesa Giunco Vermentino

  2014 Costa Alessandro Roero Arneis

  * * *

  When someone gives you a horrible glass of wine, how do you politely get rid of it?