Yesterday, Shannon Houchins, CEO of Average Joes Entertainment, came by the Music Business Radio studios to tape an episode with me.
If you're not aware of this company, you should take a look at them to see what they've got going on. It's a lot -- a record label, a management company, a licensing division, a publishing company, and more.
They've signed everything from established country acts like Montgomery Gentry to more progressive acts in the genre, like Colt Ford and The Lacs.
Shannon told me, "I want the entire company within four walls."
He said Average Joes is like a speedboat.
What he meant is that he wants to be able to make a decision without having to run it by a totally different entity. Because he's set up the company in this way, he's able to move on things quickly -- and that means he can take advantage of opportunity when it strikes.
Compare that to how most record labels work. It's night and day.
Take a look at this...
Bitches Brew by Miles Davis. It's considered a classic jazz album.
And Teo Macero, one of the most influential producers in history, had to get permission to call it that.
Fortunately, Miles Davis got his wish. But who knows how many things over the last few decades have been screwed up (or buried alive) because they've been caught up in "indecision."
The good news is, because of where technology is, you no longer have to wait for permission to do anything in the music business. You can call your album whatever you please, you can put whatever songs you want on it, and make the cover look the way you want it to.
You can make a decision today and make it happen by tomorrow. For example, you could record your show tonight and have it for sale, worldwide, within hours.
Fast. Like a speedboat.
There is no money in indecision…especially when the world moves as fast as it does. That's why so much of the "music industry" system is broken. While the outside world has been changing, some people in this business have simply buried their heads in the sand, hoping things would somehow go back to the way they were.
The world doesn't do that though. The world moves forward, never backward.
The solution to this isn't to try to make time stand still. The solution is to act on opportunity as soon as you can. Be fast -- like a speedboat.
Make a decision about the "next right thing" today, based on what you have to work with now, and then do it.