Examining Business Strategy as an Independent Creative Professional

By https://www.flickr.com/photos/ninja-bear/ - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ninja-bear/12885075675/in/photolist-pvHdpf-9Y8BdR-kCBo6a-pxto2H-oahoCt-nSNdvQ-pgghTH-pxHHwY-pvHcP7-pgg449-oc4APp-pxtn6z-pvHcwo-pxHGUf-pgfAxq-pgfz6N-pxtnMe-pgfAEj-pgg4KE-pgfA6U-pxHJbd-pxKugi-kCBSXg-pxHHc9-pgfztw-pggiBM-pvHdnm-pxtnnM-pxKtAk-pgg4oN-pxKudc-pxKtNz-pggi5e-pxKtuP-auKrK9-pgggUD-pvHdfC-pgg4by-pgg3U1-dCzuRL-nSUrfC-qQJ9gN-94SAPB-qyffYW-wwzhb3-vAoAbD-pgfA8h-pxKtBc, CC BY 2.0, Link

In a revolutionary age of digital everything, contemporary artists are fed advice from every angle until the cacophony of noise is nearly too much to bear. Social media platforms rise and fall and seemingly each new day brings with it a shiny sparkling best practice to consider. Distilling the static has proven to be too much for many musicians I rub shoulders with and the creative community has become even more polarized with a growing divide between rabid early adopters and disenfranchised pessimists.

In 2012, an event was created to assist the creative community in innovative ways to stay agile and profitable in the volatile online marketplace. XOXO, the brainchild of Andy Baio and Andy McMillan, is still in its infant stages, but is already drawing notable players such as  Dropbox, Etsy, and Squarespace.

At this year's conference, Jack Conte of Pomplamoose was one of the keynote speakers. His candid lecture on his creative endeavors, the trappings of success, and the shift in online marketing is very relevant and well-informed. The delivery is signature tongue-in-cheek Jack, but the message is very insightful and patently applicable to the independent working artist.

It is not our usual form to feature videos in the tens of minutes in length, but this issue is of such financial urgency and so rooted in the issues of creative identity that we couldn't help but share.



—A.Hunt, SPCS Records