Derek Sivers presentation was straight to the point. Its true how the saying goes "where more than one are gathered big things happen..." A movement can start with person but it will eventually result in a bunch of participants and believers. Such is the same principle with starting your business. It begins with you but as you start to develop this business of yours you begin to tell people about it and the people you told tell their peoples about it. Thus you've created followers and supporters for your cause. A movement can be a very powerful thing and can spread like wild fire.
As
I was browsing around Ted.com I stumbled upon this wonderful
presentation of Elizabeth Gilbert writer and author of "Eat, Pray, Love" which is one of my favorite novel's yet next to The Divinci Code by Dan Brown. Gilbert explains that writing is not just her profession but it has been her "life long love and fascination." Through the recent mega success of her novel, Eat Pray Love she has found her self through some what of a slight predicament. No one ever imagined that Eat Pray Love would blow up to be such a huge local and international success.
Gilbert has found herself in the midst of daunting questions like "Are you ever gonna be able to top that? Will you able to produce another novel just as powerful that everyone will care about just as much if not more?....With such questions picking her thoughts it has caused Gilbert to recalibrate her whole outlook and relationship with her work. Gilbert admits to fears before and after her success. Event when she was young and in grade school she would constantly get asked by her peers "aren't you afraid that you won't be able to make a career out of writing?. Should we as creative minds fear the work we were put on this earth to do.
I can say that I'm on board with Gilbert on the notion of the fear of being successful or not in the career that I feel I was destined to fulfill in my life time has always been a daunting question in my mind. It lingers in my mind constantly questioning my reasoning in every decision and move I make towards getting closer to reach my career goal. Every creative mind that can affirm that at some point in time in their path they have question themselves on their motive, direction, and purpose.
Gilbert later on elaborates on the notion of how there is such a high death rate among the creative minds of our time and day. As time has evolved the genius is now considered to be the creative mind instead of having a genius as the ancient Romans considered it. Gilbert says that it was a bad bad idea for the perception of "genius" to be the creative mind because it now adds this load of anxiety and responsibility that human psyche cant handle resulting in the pressures of that responsibility killing our creative minds for the past 500 years. Artists like Marylin Monroe, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Chris Farley, Curt Cobain, Chris Penn, Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger and the recent death of Pop King Michael Jackson are just a few examples of creative minds that unfortunately short lived there lives due to the pressures and anxieties of life and career responsibilities overwhelming their psyche.
Gilbert wishes this would stop because "I want our creative minds to live" we all want all the talents and stars that we have come to love to last for as long as they can.
I feel that through Gilbert's presentation has edified my perspective outlook on the importance of nurturing creativity. Truly is precious and important to safe guard and hold fast to or else it can spontaneously combust if not properly care for. I agree with Gilbert's perspective of the roots of the artist and how it has evolved and effected our artists through out the years. The vain materialistic demands of the craft and how it distorts the beauty of the creative mind. It has also help me to focus on nurturing the creative mind of the talents that I manage within my company including not losing my own creativity. I have fears as well but I can't let those things hold me back. I acknowledge that those fears are there but I evaluate options on how to get past those fears and I hope to help my talents with those fears as well.
In order for Gilbert to protect herself from that "pit of despair" as she calls it she creates a psychological construct to manage her emotional and mental inhibitions. When she feels stuck or going through a small road block she figures out ways to circumnavigate and continue persevering to the work is finished and finished to her satisfaction.
I agree that creative process is different for every creative mind and does not behave rationally and can be at times as Gilbert would put it "paranormal". Inspiration comes elusively and tantalizing.
Gilbert gives the example of Tom Wade a tormented contemporary artist who figured out how to take the "genius" out of him to relieve the stress and heavy anxiety that had been tormenting him for soo long. He understand how to calibrate it to fit his creative process. The work was all the same and just as good just the process and outlook on life is what change and helped him continue to make the music that everyone appreciated.
Gilbert is an amazing speaker and I hope to one day be able to attend one of her presentations. She continues to be one of my favorite authors and I look forward to enjoying a couple more decades of her amazing writings.
One of the most influential associations in the growth of my company has been learning about the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) which is a trade organization designed to give the much needed support and promotion of creative and financial vitality of the major music companies of our day. In addition RIAA strives to protect the intellectual property and first amendment rights of its artists and music labels; they conduct consumer, industry, and technical research as well as monitor and review state & federal law, regulations and policies. There are four main services that RIAA provides beginning with the technical services which includes things like watermark payload specifications, Global Release Identifier also known as GRid, and Digital Data Exchange. A second service RIAA provides is the Dual Disc; a product sought after by many in the music industry for the mere reason that it is both a CD and DVD in one- allownig an artist to deliver audio, video, and computer content all on a single two-sided disc to the anxious consumer fan. One side of the disc is CD while the other side of the same disc is DVD... in this way their is more interactive content in the album as a whole thus allowing the artist to offer more appealing features and bonuses to its fans. Not everybody can obtain a DualDisc product. Record labels are required to obtain a license to use the Dual Disc logo on its products. A third service RIAA provides is the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) which is the internationally recognized identification tool for sound and music video recordings. It is used by major download sites, digital distribution companies and collecting societies as a tool to manage digital repertoire and track commerce. The fourth and most important service RIAA provides is the FBI Anti-Piracy Seal & Warning (FBI Seal) which is important to artists and record labels in the protection of their material. As a result of substantial losses to the recording industry due to constant piracy, the RIAA worked closely with the FBI to devlop a new government seal & warning for placement on copyrighted music products in order to increase anti-piracy awareness. If you weren't aware infringement can cost you up to $250,000 in fines and up to 5 years jail time. You can't use the mark unless your a member of the RIAA. Companies must join this program in order to use the marks. The RIAA specifically states in their site that takes an uncompromising stand against censorship and for the first amendment rights of the artists to create freely. There for you can be a member, submit what ever artistic material and there will be no bias against it. They work to protect not to hinder.
RIAA currently has two programs the Gold and Platinum program which was luanched in 1958 to honor artists outstanding achievements and create a standard by which to measure sales of a sound recording. Gold Album award = 500,000 copies sold Platinum Album award = 1,000,000 copies sold and was created in 1976 later the Multi-Platinum award was created in 1984. In 1999, the RIAA launched the Diamond Awards honoring sales of 10 million copies or more of an album or single. 50 years the Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum and now Diamond award programs are the longest running objective measure of achievement for sound recordings in the United States, and it also provides an unmatched historical perspective on the success of countless recording artists.
Lastly, In connection with the RIAA, The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) issues a silver, gold, platinum, and diamond award category for a number of countries including the US (IFPI has members in 70 countries and 5 continents)
The RIAA is important to our industry because it has sought to protect the work of artists and labels through out the years and continues to do so in the most meticulous and genius way. Not only do they offer services to the music industry in the US but they also take it over seas internationally as well. Piracy happens all over the world and the RIAA is protecting its current artists and incoming artists that aren't educated on the demands of the industry and all the legalities involved in keeping their careers safe and intact. I can definitely see my company eventually becoming a member of this association in the future. As a manager protecting the talents and their creative material is extremely important to me and the company I run. RIAA helps facilitate that in a more legitimate way. There are a lot of legalities involved in managing talents and I feel that RIAA has educated me on a lot of details I didn't know about. This inturn helps clarify the direction and decisions I need to take in insuring the success of my talents.
Reference: The official site of RIAA (2011). Retrieved from http://www.riaa.com/index.php
