Oh come on, you knew it was coming. The Radio and Internet Newsletter points to an article in the WSJ explaining how John Legend has sold 1.7 million units without a true breakthrough on radio. Quoting the Journal, "Before becoming a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, John Legend worked for three years as an associate consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. 'I look at myself as a businessman still, even though my first thing is music,' says Mr. Legend. 'Every day we have business problems we have to solve.'"
This is so important for any up and coming musician to understand. You may be bright, hot and talented but, today's music business also requires you to be a somewhat sharp business person as well. Certainly, those with business or marketing skills are at an advantage but, increasingly, those without face greater hurdles to expansion.
Case in point, it's no coincidence that John Legend's appearance in The Wall Street Journal falls only two weeks after the release of his latest album. Perfect exposure in a non-music context to his target demographic.
1. This article misses the fact that every musicians first priority still needs to be the music in itself and not the record-sale-numbers... but a good read anyway.
Posted at 7:14AM on Nov 3rd 2006 by gulli