Do you find yourself wearing ALL the hats?

[Relic]

I was helping out buy clicking on a FullSail ad on here and I saw that they offer:
Specialized Courses:
•Artist Management
•Negotiation & Deal Making
•Mobile Marketing
Core Business Courses:
•Business Plan Development
•Executive Leadership
•Advanced Entertainment Law

And I was thinking that once again that thats ALL shit I want to know/need to know.
I got really burned out a few years ago when I was having to learn and do everything BUT rap on songs, my crew at the time just looked to me to do it all right down to learning photoshop (which I still want to do lol) and it left me in a state wear I was so over whelmed that I didnt/couldnt do anything.
I think in my quest to keep it cheap as possible by learning everything myself I shot myself in the foot so to speak.
It made it so I didnt trust anyone (from trying to learn contracts) and was reaching too far ( in trying to manage artits) and eventually all that self destructed so now I just do the producing part (because thats where Im happiest), but to my detrement I dont even go to my folks shows now... lol
I just send the shit out the door and ask how it went , did they like it how did it sound?
I guess what Im saying is, try and get an actual team together where everyone plays an effective role and you can trust the elements on your team. Trying to do it all can have unexpected burnout consequences, PTSD not being the least. lol

 

[dacalion]

I went though the same exact thing, cats were coming to me for everything. It has a lot to do with your love for what we do. You wanna help and be as efficient as possible in all aspects of the game but the game is too big for that. We do need to cut back and manage ourselves a lot better or we will eventually burn out. Once you find that balance, everything becomes easier and probably helps us in the long term. I agree, get those that you can trust to do their part and things will go much better.

 

[Relic]

Finding people to trust is really the hardest part, especially when you are getting to that next level. I think I have sabatoged myself many times over the years over that lol.

 

[thedreampolice]

@Relic you kinda know my thoughts on this but....

I really feel like you need to be a little selfish, just in the fact that no one cares more about your carrier that you. And honestly life is what you make it. I think that you should help everyone you possibly can and build a community, but at the end of the day its on you to make things happen for yourself.

And yea, anyone who promises me the world, I am kinda done with. Because I don't work with liars. This game can be tough and it is lots of hard work, just like anything else and anyone who says they can shortcut that is full of crap. But when someone says, "Here's what I want to do and here is where it will be tough" Then I am on board. Because I know they understand what they are getting in to and they won't bullshit me.

All the greats went through hell to get there, there is NO overnight success.

on another note it looks like I may become a partner in the artist development company, so I may learn even more of this stuff ha ha

 

[Relic]

Im kind of amazed that Nebraska has more hiphop and music opportunities than Charlotte.
But yeah on that other thing that was all a learning process, Im way about me now.

 

[thedreampolice]

Well lots of my clients live elsewhere, but that being said Nebraska is really late with trends and hip-hop is finally starting to hit hard out here. Now we just need more black people LMAO

 

[dacalion]

That one chic at Wal-Mart might be interested, you should holla at her dp. Then Relic and I might come out to do a killer video or someting. =) *btw for all those that don't know...Relic is black and I'm a half breed.

 

[2infamouz]

lol u can help me out i think fullsail gives up to a dollar / click sometimes on my site...But yea i know exactly what you mean. If i ONLY made beats i wouldnt feel like i was really doing much cuz im used to trying to do it all

 

[Relic]

ayron that shit just burned me out too much, if I was getting paid for it its one thing but around here that shit doesnt pay and it isnt fun.

 

[lion-ucs]

I find myself wearing pretty much all the hats, yea.

Not really so much a quest for the cheapest route tho. I just naturally gravitate to so many things, and if I take an interest in something I go hard at it.

And like what dream said, no one cares more about it than you do. So, its like if I'm doing it, I know it'll get done. Even when I give something others to handle, its really hard for me -- cause now, I gotta get on them about getting it done and then is it done right? If not, gotta get them to go back and fix it. It's like so much work to make sure someone else does what you need them to do you end up feeling like "I might as well do it myself."

I'm not really good on getting on people to do something either, either feel like I'm being TOO hard and annoying about it, or being too lenient and allowing them to put it on the back of their list, behind chillin, playing games and watching TV.

 

[Relic]

Word lion I was like that as well, I want to know everything do everything , then I get cheap lol..
But anyway I cant do all that, but you know if I dont then no one else will.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

I burn myself out atleast by-yearly lol. I do everything and I try to learn everything. I burn out, take a break and its not so hard after. The problem begins when I want more time/energy. Its all ALOT of work but I know I cant trust anyone else to do what I know I can get done when I need it and how I want it. Most other people arent as dedicated generally and I HATE waiting on someone else to do what I could do my self, its why I produce, engineer, mix, etc. I see it as a blessing in a rose bush lol

If you can find a group of people (or one) you trust to get quality work done on you behalf, more power to you!

 

[Relic]

church!

 

[Greg Savage]

I'm a jack of all trades. For me it wasn't frustrating because I was never in a position where I "had to learn" I chose to do it. I always had a budget to hire people to do things for me

Graphics
Mixing
Legal Entities
Taxes
Asset Protection
Marketing etc

(just naming a few)

Now I can do this all myself but my thing is i like my time there are soo many tools out right now that will assist with things keeping everything simple.

If you're trying to learn stuff best thing to do is pay someone to do it for you and learn from there it's easier, cheaper and you get that over the shoulder experience

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Thats if budget permits..

 

[Relic]

^^ LOL thats my point, an actual BUDGET helps ALOT.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Thats where the luck comes in! You either:

1) Know ALL the right people and you're straight on the biz tip.

2) You know someone whos WILLING and DEDICATED to LEARN those things

or
3) You're shit out of luck and You do it all your self. (Not even factoring in if you have the energy/time etc to actually be effective)

..And thats alittle out of everyones hands though.

 

[Malice]

Yeah I was in the same situation a while back I was trying to make beats, produce, mix, make fliers, write songs, and everyone that I "tried" to work with just wanted to come over and lay down their versus and have stuff put on a cd that day. After a while I got sick of it left music alone for a while and now Im getting back to it for myself. To have fun again with it. I am trying not to take things so serious with it I just want put out music for fun and listen to and show people now. Its really hard to do everything on your own when it not just for you but everyone one around you and no one wants to help. Great post Relic!

 

[2GooD Productions]

Great thread, I missed this one completely.
I think you raise some really good points about taking on too much and ending up doing nothing, and burning yourself out. I know exactly what you are talking about there. I learned photoshop, HTML, PHP, mySQL all to get my music out there and advertise. Im in a similar position where I just dont have the money to push myself properly, and now I work a 50 hr week, i just dont really have time for any of it. But like you say, one of the biggest issues I have in this industry is trust. I have dealt with so many bullshitters that its very disheartening in the end and I tend not to trust anyone anymore.

 

[shadeed]

I have a whole LOT to add to this topic. I'll have to bookmark this one and come back. Understanding and applying this subject is the difference between those who have talent and those who leverage that talent and build movements.