John Albert Thomas Solo Piano

The Indispensable Musician – Part 3: The Client-Centered Paradigm

CLIENT INSPIRES MUSICIAN –> MUSICIAN CREATES MUSIC –> CLIENT BUILDS FANBASE

Two years ago during a viewing session with our family photographer, my paradigm started to shift in a new direction. Our photographer played my piano music as the soundtrack to our photo slideshow. It turned a pleasant experience into a stunningly emotional one. We wanted to buy ALL of the pictures. The music helped increase the perceived value of the product.

We talked about the prospect of composing music for slideshows, and he handed me a sample photo album of another client to test the idea. The result of that test was this song, which made it onto my album, Zuzu’s Petals:

It wasn’t until a year later that this seed germinated into two ideas:

1. PianoGraphy – Custom piano music for photographers and videographers to use in slideshows and videos
2. Piano Portraits (i.e., tributes) – Custom piano music given as gifts, and inspired by the recipients themselves.

In the new paradigm, the client provides the inspiration for the music. The client pays for the creation of the music. The client shares this music with others who become fans. Some of those fans become clients. Lather, rinse, repeat.

In the new paradigm, the number of MP3 downloads is no longer a central goal. The central goal is now building deep, authentic relationships with individual fans, one at a time. It’s about inviting them into the creative process. It’s about letting them share the music they inspired with the world.

It’s about them.

Prev…Part 2: The Musician-Centered Paradigm

Next…Part 4: Value-Added Music

The Indispensable Musician – Part 1: Introduction

In his book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, Seth Godin makes a solid case that to be indispensable one must unleash the artist within.  Well, how does that apply to people who already claim to be artists, like me?  After all, didn’t I unleash my art during my CD release party?  What about my CDs and MP3s?  Doesn’t iTunes unleash my art for me?

In this series of articles, “The Indispensable Musician”, I am going to share my ideas–and experiments–on what it means for an independent musician to really unleash the artist within.  Combined, these ideas generate a fresh paradigm that respects and promotes the uniqueness and value of each independent artist and of each fan.

I will be so bold as to say that the musician who successfully practices these ideas may only require 100 true fans to eek out a living.  (See Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans.)  I will also say that the first online music store to incorporate these ideas into their system will win.  We shall see.

Next…Part 2: The Musician-Centered Paradigm