COMMUNITY * Love * Victory *Music *Connect *: Blog

When DEREK SIVERS STRUCK OUT and left the bases loaded....i know derek sivers, founder of cdbaby.com is probably the most beloved music biz person on the planet & for good reason. derek made things simple for musicians to sell their cds and later, sell their music digitally at a very good price, a very fair money deal for musicians and superior service to both music buyer & music maker.

mr.sivers did a superb job with cdbaby, so good that he sold it for $22,000,000 via the charitable trust he created, that saved $5 million from going to the feds/irs. derek knows biz and when he dies the fortune will go to educate musicians, meanwhile he'll get 5% of whatever it produces (if i'm understanding that correctly). after derek dies he won't get any of the money.

meanwhile...

what bases (3 big opportunities) did derek miss?

first base * derek stood at the plate, not knowing where he was, a fat meaty fastball came right down the middle and he stood there daydreaming that he was riding his bicycle in india. that fastball was the possibility of creating an educational non-profit for educating people about music NOW, making sure that all schools have music, music teachers and instruments. derek did create his charitable trust--please see sivers.org/trust

but what about NOW. what if mr. sivers lives to 125? a possibility, maybe even longer according to some scientists.  ok derek, that's strike one, look alive babe, let's look alive now cause here comes the curve ball.

second base ** what do the majority of musicians need help with? i think it is getting gigs & gigging in new markets. this is something you (derek) could of helped with if only you spent seven minutes or so thinking about it. derek could have easily created non-profit venues/listening rooms without spending much money or allied with nightclubs or restaurants already in existence to form a network of performance spaces  in 6 or more of the top markets on the east coast, ranging from boston to virginia beach. think boston to nyc to philadelphia to washington d.c. to baltimore to norfolk/virginia beach or whatever surburban/other city locations that would work.

the venues could hold community benefits, educational conferences and be a springboard into area colleges & radio & tv. the logistics are potent with great possibilities, an affordable way to make a living with your music. in the lehigh valley we have two good examples of non-profit venues, www.godfreydaniels.org (100 capacity) and coming in late april the musikfest cafe (700 or so capacity), news of via www.bananafactory.org

third base *** "triples" are hard to come by, what do YOU suggest that will give derek somethink to think about????? mine is a non-profit record label & publishing company. YOURS????

thank you for reading...ian bruce, gm, community 2.