
The Unexpected Entrepreneur: Interview with Joe Satriani - darbelo
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-unexpected-entrepreneur-an-exclusive-interview-with-joe-satriani.html
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blankenship
The whole interview is great, but the last few paragraphs on advice to young
musicians are brilliantly helpful.

 _“Be voracious when it comes to uncovering the secrets of the music business
and how people outside the music business behave as entrepreneurs.”_

And I wish more of my fine art friends would embrace this mentality (primarily
so they can keep making art):

 _“[Art and business] seem diametrically opposed, but I don 't think you can
survive being just an artist or just a businessperson. If you're only
business, you will lack the flair that attracts an audience. If you're only
flair, you'll be taken advantage of.”_

~~~
ajtaylor
The last sentence was the kicker for me:

 _" You have to be both. Then you can surround yourself with smart people,
secure in the knowledge you can control your own art and your own career--
because if you don't, someone else definitely will."_

I'm not much of an entrepreneur these days, but I know that the best way to
succeed in life is to control your own destiny.

~~~
pohl
It's especially important if you're in a small artistic niche like
instrumental rock that only connects with mainstream interest on very rare
occasions, like Satch's Summer Song or Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover. Steve
Morse handled this by becoming a commercial pilot, which gave him the latitude
to focus on composing music that he himself found interesting, rather than
trying to tap into what the market wanted.

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Bahamut
This is a good read, and definitely something I've seen with my friends in the
music industry who have carved out success. Being excellent at your craft
alone won't get you where you want, it takes an equal amount of work & savvy
on the business side to promote, set yourself up to do well financially, and
control your direction.

The most successful that I've seen amongst my musician/songwriter/composer
friends enter unorthodox spaces that have strong potential, such as creating
high quality sample libraries for instruments like guitars for use in DAWs
(digital audio workstations - software like FL Studio, Cubase, Logic, Reason,
etc.), aggressive promotion via forums & writing articles of interest to their
potential audience on their blogs, and networking in scenes such as indie game
developer communities (via forums & IRC) & events such as GDC and Video Games
Live. I have an acquaintance who even found success networking with musicians
at concerts!

It's certainly a tough business to be in - you have to love it, both the music
and business side.

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grifpete
Smart guy. And I love this quote "I like to think that because I had the
courage to take my shot, good fortune came my way, but it could have just as
easily gone terribly wrong." Isn't that the truth and he has the humility to
say it.

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drblast
I've always liked Joe Satriani's music and guitar talent, but every time I see
an interview with him I'm so impressed with his intelligence and drive.

This is a video where a guitarist won a free lesson with Joe. It's incredible
how much Joe can pack into a 45-minute lesson; it's obvious he's a fantastic
teacher and he's totally dedicated to learning and improvement.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXk4gxcjVr8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXk4gxcjVr8)

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untothebreach
I have been such a big fan of Satch ever since I heard "Summer Song" on the
radio when I was in high school. It is great to learn about this side of his
career, the stuff you see in the guitar magazines is (rightly so) more focused
on his musicianship and composing sides.

~~~
ajtaylor
Ahhh, "Summer Song", I remember you well! Many a day were spent driving in my
Mustang with the windows down blasting this song. I've now been lucky enough
to hear Satch play twice. He puts on an awesome show - highly recommended!

~~~
untothebreach
Yea, I saw G3 when it was him, Vai, and Petrucci, and it was amazing.

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chiph
_I just thought that it would be really great on two levels. Number one,
artistically for me to play with people who could really kick my butt every
night, and put the fear of God in my playing. I also thought the audience
would really enjoy it because I did._

[http://www.guitar9.com/interview38.html](http://www.guitar9.com/interview38.html)

Which gets back to "Always be challenging yourself"

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at-fates-hands
When you talk about things happening for a reason, this is pretty much the
blueprint:

"We shared part of the building with Nolo Press, a company that made how-to
books with tear-out pages for all sorts of legal situations. Their dumpster
was right outside the door where we would hang out and have a smoke and a
drink in between practicing, and it was always overflowing with damaged books.
So we're out there wondering how we're ever going to make it in the music
business and start absentmindedly flipping through books. One of them showed
how to start all kinds of businesses."

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ateevchopra
Theres alot of "put aside" in the beginning of the article. We just can't put
them aside. He was my inspiration to learn guitar. Awesome read.

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matt_s
This sounds very similar to the stories of micro-isv's that came about by
doing a solo business and learning the business side of tech. Inspiring

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HeyLaughingBoy
FTA: _It 's not complicated_

This is the beauty of starting a business in the USA. It really is that
simple.

~~~
zhemao
It depends on what business you are in. Some are more tightly regulated than
others. For instance: healthcare, telecom, and finance.

