At the beginning of this year my album was all finished, mastered and ready to go so I made a list of all the things I needed to do to get it out there and promote it. I had to set up a website (check), write a regular blog (check), get myself on some more social networking and music recommendation sites (I'm now on facebook, facebook pages, Last.fm, iLike, ReverbNation, and imeem, so check!) and apply for a grant (check, but unfortunately no cheque). I also had to read loads of articles about online marketing, digital networking strategies, and flipping the fan funnel (which I had previously thought was just something Mötley Crüe did after gigs).
One thing I haven't yet done, and which I've had Hamlet-esque levels of procrastination about, is to write a succinct USP statement about me and my music. (USP = Unique Selling Point i.e. what's special about my music, what distinguishes me from the millions of other musicians out there.) I got an e-mail from Ariel Hyatt this week directing me to her online article about this, so I realised that I really should get cracking with it!
I think what's been holding me back is partly simply English reticence, partly a seeming contradiction in the USP-writing process itself, ("Seems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not 'seems'" - sorry, I've got Hamlet on the brain now... :) and partly something to do with the nature of being a creative person.
On the seeming-contradiction-in-the-process side, USP-writing experts advise that it's crucial to say who you sound like but at the same time they say that you've got to distinguish yourself from these sound-alikes so that you appear unique, or as someone put it, you need to inhabit your own "micro-niche" (you can insert your own Mötley Crüe joke here.)
Now the English reticence comes into play at this point. I don't for a moment think my music is an entirely new, ground-breaking, never-before-heard style, so obviously I must sound like someone else. But the problem is, in these circumstances, how high or low do you go when you're comparing? Should I say I sound like Jazzanova and Sonar Kollektiv, and risk people saying "yeah, you wish!" or should I go with some obscure Italian lounge band, which kind of defeats the whole process? (In an evil moment I toyed with "Chris Bestwick - not as good as Build an Ark, but better than Kissey Asplund".)
In Ariel's article she links to a site called 15secondpitch.com to help with the USP writing process. One of the steps the site takes you through requires you to say why you're the best at what you do. This touches on my point above, but I think that it's not just a national or personal character trait that makes this step a little tricky for us English musicians, but also that every creative person, once they reach a certain level, realises how far they are from being the best. It's part of what keeps us going, the desire to get better at what we do. I can't actually imagine for a minute any real musician saying they're the best in the world - it sounds far too Noel Gallagher-ish...
Anyhow, all these caveats aside, I know it's something that has to be done and I'm completely aware that this blog entry is itself just a form of procrastination, so I'm going to get started with my USP now. Look out for it at a social network site near you soon!
Cheers for now,
Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe It's Chris Bestwick
Leave a Comment