Don’t be a Jackass and other helpful ideas

foto by walter price

there is no need to burn bridges when sometimes bridges are the only way to get to your destinations.

by Walter Price   Stop me if you’re heard this one before… I like to think I’m a pretty positive person but there is a new way of thinking and it is the internets fault, mostly. Over the years and through my career I have been privileged, honored and blessed in my view to have interviewed, dined, attended events and become friends with a good amount of entertainers, sports figures and the like. People for the most part joined into their fields to make a difference, excite and entice people and ultimately for the love of what they do. Music, acting, politics, sport  and what have you. When I left the corporate world and delved into various this and that’s until I decided to start this wonderful blog for the purpose of further enjoying such people, music artists mainly,  and doing my little part to spread the word about great music and the folks making it. For the most part it has been a blast but things changed rapidly since I left my perch at a major radio network in NYC. The web has quickly turned some aspiring stars into real creeps or maybe into people who have no idea what they’re doing but think otherwise. It is a toss up. I say the web is to blame for many reason and let me start with this. When I had to deal with PR firms for bookings, info or what-nots in regards to their clients the info was given, appointments kept (mostly) and mutual respect even superficially or business wise was had. Things got done. Now with the internet flooded with blogs, websites and forums and a wildly large number of these are music related. I don’t have scientific or statistical backing on this claim but trust me. So now artists have a super wide range of platforms and music loving ‘writers’ to catch in their web.  That is great! That isn’t great! Now with so many places to go or so many locations to get the attention of , have your sounds heard by some up and coming (and a smattering of larger acts) find it more than cool to shrug off, not follow through with commitments, act is if these folks don’t matter …you get the picture. This is irritating. Most irritating is if the artists contacts an entity and said spot or writer loves what the music maker is doing and the two parties agree on say an interview or track x track or anything really. They had an agreement. The current atmosphere has and is cultivating a breed of individuals who think because the other person is just word on their screen their mutually agreed on appointment matters less or not at all. But it does. I am in the fortunate position and have the means to run Global Texan near worry free for any number of years I choose.  I love doing this gig. I dig that. I know that hundreds of blogs get started and fade away faster than ever changing web itself and that’s cool and that isn’t my point. Who to trust and what sites and writers are reliable is for another day. What I’m speaking of is respect and the follow through. Keep your commitments. You have to remember that the more people you pass judgment on (being not worthy), the more you piss off, the more people you treat as sub-par the faster and harder you will fall. I have decades of experiences that I rely on.  I’ve seen artists at all stages of fame stumble into oblivion and it didn’t necessarily have to be do. Also bear in mind that when you agree to something with any publication or broadcast there is tons of time spent prepping, writing etc and when you renege it sucks for the other side. Understand even sites (non-corporate) with ads aren’t making money or much of anyway. So the love of sharing music or art has to be the driving factor. Don’t be a jackass and skip out on these folks. If you want to only be seen and heard or interviewed by the top dogs, the corporate mags, blogs and websites…get a PR agent before you ruin your likability. And STAT. Most likely you’re probably not that likable anyway. Hiring a team can help smooth out the edges. If you’re DIY and going it alone live and learn from your mistakes but keep your integrity and standing with those who dug you from the start. Understand this is a not bitch session but a helpful reminder that what you say and do (or not do) will stay in peoples’ memory banks for a very long time and there is no need to burn bridges when sometimes bridges are the only way to get to your destinations. It’s all very easy, don’t be a jackass. Live long and prosper…   Now check out this video I recently shot with the phenomenal German singer/songwriter outfit Livy Pear.  

 MAKE MORE MUSIC; MAKE ART…