Recap, Class 3, Entrepreneurship in Music and the Arts

Class 3 focused on personal branding, and then transitioned to idea development and enterprise creation.

We talked about 3 issues related to personal branding: alignment, extension and integrity.

We (often humorously) compared students’ responses from their assignments (asking 2 people who knew them personally to describe what makes them distinct as individuals, and 2 people who know them musically to describe what makes them distinct as musicians) to their Facebook pages to how they, themselves want themselves to be perceived. We discussed the importance of alignment, and the intentional use of non-alignment. Most of all I stressed the importance of intentionality.

I challenged the class to think deeply about what they had learned about themselves and what they know about themselves, and to consider developing and extending those aspects of their personae that could advance their professional ambitions. This discussion led to a small group activity in which I asked them, “can branding impede artistic integrity?”

The reporting from the small groups surprised me a bit. Several groups interpreted (perhaps correctly) branding as institutional culture, or institutional unwritten policies and procedures. Instead of analyzing individual branding these groups focused on organizational branding.

Last, I moved them into my Zone 2a and 2b, giving them concrete examples for each. I lectured (maybe a little too long) on enterprise creation and on entrepreneurship in general, then gave them the following assignment:

“You may work as individuals, or in groups of 2 or 3. Begin to develop or devise an idea for a new creation that could become an enterprise. Think about and react to your immediate world. What challenges or problems to you face every day? What are your passionate concerns — that YOU could address, or solve through the creation of an enterprise that addresses them?

As you begin to shape your idea (s), email me and open a conversation on the topic. Nothing is off limits. Ideas don’t have to be music-based, although this is where your deepest expertise lies. “

I have already heard from one student, who told me she took the class to advance the idea she posed to me…