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the way you would do that is by putting forth an
identity, and the way that that identity is perceived
is in an image-a brand image. So you have to be
very careful about what you are putting out there.
These messages can be both tangible or intangible.
So, starting with maybe the more tangible thing-
obviously the name that you have-is going to
work at branding your company. For example, this
morning I was explaining the importance of a
brand to some people coming out of my class. It
can be just in the name itself. You want to convey
what it is about your company in the name if possible. I used the example that if you're a songwriter
and you're very quick at turning around material,
you probably don't want to name your company
"Slow Music," or something of that nature.
That demonstrates how everything you do can
leave an impression in the minds of your target
audience. You can do that through a name; you can
do it through a logo; you can do it through a slogan;
some people go as far as having mascots. And then
of course, we get into more of the intangible things.
For example, the experience you leave with your target audience with. And that could be whether or
not after the show you take time to talk to them, to
shake their hands, to speak with them. All of these
things are going to leave an impression in the
minds of your audience, so you want to make sure
that everything you do is aligned with your values
and what you stand for. It's very, very important. So
literally, everything you do is going to be a reflection of your brand.
Great advice. I've got to say my own context, TAXI; the
company is called TAXI because it's gets to where you
are to where you want to go. But the bigger reason I
named the company TAXI was that everybody knows
the word. It's one of only nine universal words on the
planet earth, which I didn't know at the time. I just
knew it was pretty ubiquitous, and I figured everybody could pronounce it. But then again, you get
Spotify, which was a made-up word, but it stuck. Twitter, kind of made-up, and it stuck.
So an interesting thing about branding-you and I
have spoken about this before-is that eventually if
you do a good job in the front end of branding, the
consumers will grab hold of your brand and they
define it further. We've noticed that with TAXI. We
used to think it was just about access-getting your
music to the right people-but it has become TAXI is a
great education, because of the Road Rally and TAXI
TV. Can that also be applied from a branding perspective to an artist, where they think they're a
singer/songwriter, but they become a pop artist
because the audience tends to think they are?
Bobby: Well, I think ultimately, you're putting
forth an experience; you are putting forth this identity to your audience. And then your audience
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almost creates sort of a "family." I mean, this
[pointing to the audience] is like a TAXI community; this is part of a family now. You've kind of
created this TAXI Family, just like The Grateful
Dead created the Deadheads. We could go on with
examples like that. It starts to take on a life of its
own. So essentially you might brand yourself initially as one thing, and then the artist starts to grow
from that, and build from that, and you start to
expand, and you start to grow your brand, so to
speak.
Of course, another factor to consider too is that
once you do find a brand, you have to consider
whether or not you need to build and keep on
growing from that brand. The danger is you keep
on working the same thing that worked for a period
of four or five years, and then things start to change
in the world and you keep on trying to hold on to
that one thing that you were successful with, and
that can be dangerous. So Madonna was a great
example of someone that keeps on trying to reinvent herself over time. Lady Gaga, she made some
incredible changes recently when we saw her come
out with Tony Bennett. So that's another thing that
you have to be very careful about, while at the same
time not losing your core audience as well, which is
very challenging. This is not easy, but it definitely
demonstrates how you always have to be aware of
everything you are putting forth, because all of that
is going to leave an image in the mind of the
customers.
Gilli, most artists who want to pursue the indie artist
path have a huge obstacle in their path, and that
obstacle is that they need to earn enough income to
survive. How can they transition from that part-time
indie artist to a full-time indie artist that can walk
away from his or her day job?
Gilli: Great question. First of all, the music business has so many opportunities to make money,
and each and every one of you, and every one of us
can make money in this business. So having that
belief system is the very first primary thing you
need to have to know that you are worthy of that,
and that you can go and get that money. Now,
where do you get it?
So the next piece is really getting clear with your
brand, getting clear with who you are, and getting
clear with what you want. Because the money-or
being able to transition from day job to music
world-you've really got to be particular. You've got
to figure out where is it that your niche is going to
be to get that money-whether you're going to be
the songwriter, as we've talked about so much this
weekend, and earning money there; whether it's the
artist and you're going to go on the road or sell
albums, or get into the Spotify playlist world. It
starts with multitasking a little bit. So that's the
short answer. You might be in a day job, but you're
starting to think, to focus on wanting to do this
fulltime.
Believe me, I was there and I did this. I started

doing little things in different areas, and I was like
that Chinese circus plate-spinner. Spinning a plate,
and all of a sudden you get a plate going, and then
you get another plate going, and then another
plate. All of a sudden there would be all these
plates going. But what's amazing is that when you
have these plates all spinning, at some point you can
step back and start to get passive income from
these. And all of a sudden these income streams
start coming in. You've got money coming in on
your PayPal; you've got a sync in a movie; you've
been booked at a gig; you're getting charts maybe
or not; you're getting paid to do something; maybe
you're recording for someone; maybe you're toplining someone.
I'm just giving examples of like a multidimensional
artist or songwriters doing various things. And it's
so weird, because at some point you go, "Oh,
maybe I don't need a full-time job; maybe I'll get a
part-time job, and then I'm doing a little more of
that. Then all of a sudden, you're now a full-time
artist.
Thanks. So Aventurina, I've been in the industry for 43
years, and I've got to say you are the winner of the
"Michael Laskow's Really Impressed With How You've
Become Successful Award." Did you just wake up one
day and say to yourself, "I want to be a star, but I can
see the typical options have lots of problems. So I'm
going to learn Chinese and become a star there,
because I'll be the only tall, pretty blonde lady in the
marketplace"?
Aventurina: No, I did not. And still-at this
moment-I think I'm like everybody here. We're all
just trying to find the path that's right for us, and
we do it by stumbling.
Most of us have not been on Cosmo. I've seen you on
Chinese TV. I mean, most of us have not had these
experiences.
A: I was honestly very lucky. I had this passion for
China, and then I just decided after college to move
over there. And then I just sort of fell into it,
because up until recently, China has been a pretty
difficult country to get into, and there wasn't really
anybody else like me. I was totally unqualified for
everything I was doing there. In college I studied
Chinese and journalism, so I wasn't really qualified
to be an artist; I wasn't really qualified to be a TV
host. But because I was the only person there like
that, everybody was like, "OK, can you do this?"
and I was like, "OK." So then that sort of became
the career.
But now after my priorities in life shifted and I realized that I want to come back home, I don't want to
be an expatriate all my life. [laughing] You want to
come back, because China's eastern culture is very
different. So starting at 28, realizing, OK, I want to
come back. And then being like, OK, I'm in L.A.
and I'm 30 and I'm coming into the music industry,
and that has its challenges. That's the path that I've
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2018