Physicist Richard Feynman is one of my favorite people and teachers ever, and his book Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) is one of my favorite autobiographies. This week Jason posted a short interview clip, in which Feynman rails against the idea of a group of people awarding one of their own with an award of sorts. In his context he is speaking of a Nobel Prize, which he actually did win, and in our context we are talking about a Grammy, MTV Award, or BET Award.
While these awards currently still increase awareness and provide a serious sales boost, like the past and current versions of the Billboard charts they will lose relevance as our industry becomes more and more customer-driven and artist-empowered. Artists and executives tend to have big egos, and big egos need stroking. Award shows are there to stroke, but in the end what really matters? Who cares about the tiny subset of people that votes for a Grammy, when you have millions of kids voting for your band with their Facebook Like buttons and their purchasing behavior?
Seth wrote a great post about sales charts, from Billboard to New York Times Best Sellers, and how they are easily manipulated to achieve a high ranking, and I have previously wrote on the need for new metrics in our industry in “The Post-Soundscan Era: Metrics That Matter”. Much in “show business” is still all about “show”, and not so much about “business”. I find it very satisfying to watch that change, and to do my part in helping us move away from these old ways and towards a more transparent, smart and customer/artist friendly business.
Richard Feynman on receiving honors:
“I don’t like honors. I’m appreciated for the work that I did. [...] I don’t need anything else. I don’t think there is any sense to anything else. I don’t see that it makes any point that someone in the Swedish Academy decides that this work is noble enough to receive a prize. I’ve already got the prize. The prize is the pleasure of finding out the thing. The kick and the discovery, the observation of other people using it. Those are the real things. The honors are unreal to me. I don’t believe in honors.”
Related Reading:
- Spencer Fry wrote a great post on staying Under The Radar.
- Little Brother’s Phonte wrote one of the best verses ever, tackling the topic of why he does what he does (hint: it’s not for the props). Listen to “Can’t Win For Losing” here.