The difference between an operator and those who understand how things work.
In 2004 I had a meeting with a couple of C-suite music label executives. In that meeting, I asserted that the way to get more music into the market should be via streaming. This meeting was years before streaming became the primary way people listened to music, and any of the services that are now household names were on the market. I had worked with a friend to build a streaming site that hosted my music. I brought it to three major record labels. While I’ve supported many people I’ve worked with in the physical distribution of their music or music on which we’ve collaborated, I’ve never distributed my music in a physical medium. I knew from day one that I would never have my music on physical CD — only digital. When I showcased the streaming site that my friend and I built in that meeting in 2004, not only did they laugh at me, but they told me in a dismissive, condescending tone that I needed to stick to playing music and let them handle the “business side of the business.”
This, to me, is a clear example of how people at the top can have status while simultaneously lacking the depth, clarity, and articulation to understand how the music business works. Most only understand how it operates. One must draw the distinction. Operations stand in stark contrast to the answers rooted in logic, efficiency, and effective process that align with a fluid ecosystem that is the opposite of stable.
To clarify this distinction, consider a car. Someone may know how to drive a car — they may even drive professionally — but still have no idea how the vehicle was designed, what chemical and mechanical engineering processes allow it to run, how the supply chain from raw materials to the local dealership works, etc. This is the difference between an operator (the driver, in this analogy) and those who understand how things work.
In my original opinion, there are two kinds of people in business: makers and earners. Most earn because they have a natural aptitude to operate within an existing structure and move within it creatively. Hence, “creatives.” Makers, in contrast, speak to innovation, which is different from being creative. Makers build structures. Earners create within those structures and sometimes rise to the top of them. Most at the top are there based on luck, the gift of gab, networking, and the advantage of tenure. Few makers are found in the C-suites of companies, especially for companies that have longevity beyond a single generation. Therefore, those at the top commonly lack the context/cognition to understand that if we don’t educate artists to help them learn to navigate the industry, the natural supply chain will diminish, not just in return but overall function.
