A Better Idea than Beating Out the Competition
“Build a better mousetrap” is the strategy adopted by most musicians. Believing that beating out the competition will lead to gigs and success, they work tirelessly to play a little better, a little faster, a little higher, a little more musically. This same tactic is applied to building a website, architecting a concert, making a recording, shaping a teaching studio, and just about everything else they do.
There are at least three problems with such an approach.
- Few of us can actually be the best. The bar is already too high.
- Most audiences aren’t demanding higher levels of perfection. What’s already available is plenty good enough.
- Excellence is a difficult attribute to sell, especially to new audiences. Everybody claims to be good, and audiences expect outstanding performance as the minimum.
Here’s a better idea: Create a new market, where there’s no competition at all.
Consider cereal, for a moment. Grocery store aisles are lined with all kinds of cereal—sweet ones, healthy ones, fruity ones, fun ones, shaped ones, colored ones, crackle-y ones. New cereals have a hard time getting noticed, even if they are “better” than the competition. There are already more than we know what to do with.
Then one clever company invented the cereal bar. Wow—cereal isn’t just for breakfast anymore! You can put it in your pocket! They created a new market, and by doing so, made a lot of money and impact. (Of course, a few years later, many competitors hope to capture some of that glory by making “better” cereal bars.)
The same logic applies to musical products and services. Don’t try to outpace the competition. You’ll probably fail. And even if you don’t, the rewards will be small. Instead, avoid competition altogether. Create new markets. Consider the following:
FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE
Will you be the original? The initial company/band/artist to open up a market has what is known as the “first mover advantage,” especially if they visibly market their wares. They have a head start towards becoming the leading authority in that area. Since consumers don’t change habits easily, this provides a huge benefit.
DIFFERENTIATION
What makes you and your work different than everything else available? Better is subjective, and hard to market. Different is easily quantified and explained. Of course, make sure it’s not just different, but also fulfills a real need.
BARRIERS TO ENTRY
What barriers are in place to prevent others from copying your idea? As soon as your venture is successful, new organizations will undoubtedly try to imitate and—once again—beat out the competition. To prevent this from happening, erect a moat around your castle. Place measures so that others won’t be able to enter the market and usurp your business. Some ways to do this are:
- Legal protection. Copyright or patent your work/idea.
- Money. Spend considerably more capital than the competition can afford (unlikely for us independent musicians).
- Shock and awe. Be more thorough and comprehensive than the competition could ever be. With the first mover advantage, you’ll have a head start.
- Combination. Combine your unique skill sets and assets to ensure that no one else will be in your league.
- Expert buy-in. Team up with the best minds in the business. Instead of competing against them, make them partners.
How I Use These Principles in My Music Career
As a piano player, I’ve always been a hard worker and a strong performer. But I’ll never be the best pianist in the world, or maybe even in town. However, my brand is one against which few people can compete. For starters, I’ll play anything: virtuosic classical literature, burning jazz improvisations, beautiful pop ballads, quirky Irish reels. Often on the same concert. And I’ll do anything. Many events incorporate movement, costumes, secondary instruments, lighting, singing, interactive speaking, beat boxing, humor. Heck, I’ll even try a magic trick or use a puppet. Please understand, these inclusions are not incorporated as gimmicks. They are always used to support the artistic integrity of the show. But few other people (if any) are capable of or willing to exhibit this kind of versatility.
When I started writing The Savvy Musician, there were no other top-notch music career books geared towards trained musicians on the market. But a couple of years into the “product development” phase (writing), a text was released. Not only did that author benefit from the First Mover Advantage, but this title was quite strong. So I had to differentiate. Some of the many distinguishing features/benefits of my book: 165 case studies of actual musicians; comprehensive sister website (yes, this site!); in-depth focus on an entrepreneurial mindset, marketing, personal finance, performance models, and leaving a legacy; even a comedy song. (For a more complete list, click here.) I’ve also become friends with the other author, and we’ve been involved with several joint projects to date.
Next time you brainstorm project concepts, try to shoot holes in your ideas. Will you have the first mover advantage? Are there barriers to entry? Will your work be highly differentiated, while fulfilling real needs? If so, the rewards can be great.
Forget about the competition. Let them fight their own battles. Instead, create new markets that stand alone.
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108 Responses to “A Better Idea than Beating Out the Competition”
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DAVID CUTLER balances a varied career as a jazz and classical composer, pianist, educator, arranger, conductor, collaborator, concert producer, author, consultant, speaker and advocate. Dr. Cutler teaches at Duquesne University, where he also serves as Coordinator of Music Entrepreneurship Studies.
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Well…interesting ideas.But what I experienced (playing since 36 years),that people mostly get confused,when they hear,os see something new.If your music is out of every known style,they probably will not listen to it,because they got used to loving rock,or jazz,blues,or whatever.
See – I decided to be the best jazz pianist,when I started,and I did.There is about 5,maybe 10 people on the world,giving full time improvised solo concerts…and also only a few,putting 5-7 tracks on each other,making CD-s as a “one man band”.
Still – I’m close to freeze,or starve to death.Doesn’t matter,that I have hundreds of thousands of listeners on the net…and well,I’m Hungarian,wich makes my situation much worst – I admit…
My final conclusion : there are no more people working for managements,record companies (publishers,art-galleries,ect)
who are able to tell the difference between real music,and fake imitation.
There is only space for (usually burned out)”stars”,came up during the ‘70-s,’80-s,and for rich amateours – usually cheap copys of real geniuses.
And as far as they are the ones ruling the music business,the better you are,the more ignored.
This is the reason,that we have no more musicians,like Miles Davis,Frank Zappa,
John Coltraine,Pink Floyd,J.S.Bach,ect…
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Viktor, and I enjoyed checking our your music on your MySpace page.
The thing about Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, John Coltrane, Pink Floyd, and J.S. Bach is that they all did something differentiated from the competition. Miles, for example, invented several new genres of music making, giving him the first mover advantage. Bach wrote such complexities that there were barriers to entry for anyone else who tried to imitate him–even today.
We may not be seeing those musicians reappear, but there are a lot of new creative artists doing innovative, exciting things today and finding success.
I wish you well in your pursuits.
…But even the music of Bach wasn’t appreciated in his lifetime…. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that people started waking up thanks to F.M.bringing his music back via the performance of St. Matthew’s passion.
True. Luckily for us, things move much faster today!
I couldn’t agree with you more, Dr. Cutler, but I also agree with Viktor. People today seem wary to try something new. Movies are based on best selling books or are remakes of other blockbusters; songs prominently feature samples and hooks from well known songs, or try to lure listeners with famous guest artists; Broadway shows are re-imaginings of older musicals and successful movies (or comic books!). How does an artist really come up with something new that their audience can relate to?
I play in a hip hop band (for lack of a better term) who tries to respond to this trend by being as unique and singular as we can be, but do so by combing comfortable and well tested elements together in fresh ways. We are bi-gendered, bi-racial and bi-oriented. We bring obvious influences from as many different styles of music as we can. We are multi-instrumentalists. We use looping technology (becoming more common) in a way that no one else does (looping our entire band, not just one instrument). We incorporate choreography into our performances.
In this way, we have achieved considerable amounts of attention because we take familiar elements and present them in a new-and-improved package that welcomes instead of alienates. We have won over crowds of college kids and middle aged hipsters, played in beautiful venues in the suburbs and dive bars in the inner city, sold CDs to little white boys and old black women.
People are familiar with cereal and candy-bars, so why not combine them into one delicious and interesting product?
(BTW, I’m sorry if my post seems like shameless self-promotion, but I feel we are a perfect example of what you are discussing!)
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