CIY is the real DIY

For the past ten to fifteen years or so the rally cry has been DIY. DO IT YOURSELF! The idea that you can do it all. There have been conferences built around the concept and the industry now embraces the idea that Artists, Songwriters, Bands Can do it all and do it themselves.

As a consultant for indie labels and emerging and indie artists, I too raised my fist in defiance that the artist do it all! But something didn't feel right. As I talked to artists, writers, etc. so many of them felt overwhelmed by the requirements of the DIY world. They realized that they didn't have all the facts. They didn't have all the knowledge. They didn't have all the resources and they didn't necessarily have all the talent. This is when I had my little epiphany. It's not about DIY. It's about CIY...Control it yourself. Many of us already knew this but it was never so clear. If we started from the CIY frame of reference, this gave us permission to NOT do it all. Now we could have no problem outsourcing. We could hire a publicist, promoters, marketing, managers, agents, assistants, etc. But at the end of the day...we made the final decisions. We received the lions share of the revenue. So the key to control is to surround yourself with a rock solid team that you can trust to go out and do the best job possible. However, if you're the controller, if you are the person making all the decisions, then you need to own that position. No more claims of "I'm just a musician", "I'm just the guitar player", "I'm just the singer", "Not my area", "Not my job". That doesn't mean you need to do everyone's job...That would be silly old DIY. No, no, no it is time to learn about the jobs, understand the motivation of each person doing the job and and hire the folks that really know the job. So get out there and be the CEO of your CIY world! .....C-Ya!