This document provides an overview of a course on building an artist career. [1] It outlines 11 modules that cover topics like branding, creative differentiation, building a team, and using lean production methods. [2] The document explains key lean music concepts like "shipping" works in progress for feedback, "listening" to responses, and "learning" from them. [3] It emphasizes breaking projects into smaller tasks, gathering early feedback, and iterating based on lessons learned.

2. Housekeeping
2

3. Module 1: LAYING THE FOUNDATION
• Section 1: Your Brand Words
• Section 2: Know Thyself (Your Superpower)
• Section 3: The Artist Audit
• Section 4: 3 Gears
• Section 5: The Entertainment Ecosystem
• Section 6: Content vs. Platform
• Section 7: Time - Talent Matrix
• Section 8: Strategy And Tactics

4. Module 2: ARTIST AS HACKER
1. Forgiveness > Permission
2. Team > Talent
3. Missionaries > Mercenaries
4. Different > Good
5. Future > Nostalgia
6. The Third Way
7. The Cupcake Hack
8. The KPI Hack: The Power Of Measuring
9. Resourcefulness Beats Resources
10. Fight Beats Want

5. MODULE 3: Creative Differentiation
1. THE AGILE ARTIST: THE ARTIST OF THE FUTURE
2. SWOT MATRIX: TELLING YOURSELF THE TRUTH
3. RED OCEANS VS. BLUE OCEANS: BECOMING
AN ORIGINAL
4. THE E.R.R.C. FRAMEWORK
5. CASE STUDY: Journey’s Answers
6. GETTING YOU TO A BLUE OCEAN

6. MODULE 4: Super Teams
1. Superpowers and
Kryptonite
2. Leaders and Feeders
3. Cheese and Whiskers
4. 3 Gears
5. Multipliers Habit
6. The Dream 100
7. P.A.I.E. Method
8. Mind-hive - Your
Board of Directors
9. ALLIES
10. ACTION ITEMS

7. Module 5: RECORD LABEL MODEL CANVAS
1. Labels as Venture Capital
2. Fixed or Growth Mindset
3. Both Sides of a Copyright
4. Why Mental Models Matter
5. Doing Deals - Leverage?
6. The Record Label Model Canvas

8. Module 5: RECORD LABEL MODEL CANVAS
1. YouTube as a Label
2. Publisher as a Label
3. Artist Services Model
4. Producer Label Model
5. Upstreaming Model
6. Motown Label Model
7. Joint-Venture Model
8. Artist-Owned Model
9. 360 Multi-Rights Model
10. Mega Model

9. MODULE 6: TACTICAL SH-T!
1. Point your Mind in the
Direction You Want to Go
2. You Are a Project
3. Bursts, Sprints & Marathons
4. Gamification
5. Edison Habit
1. The Theta Tool
2. Bedtime Hack
6. SHVT Tool
7. TimeBoxing
8. The Coppola
Principle
9. Bowling Hack
10. Action Items

11. MODULE 7: LEAN MUSIC METHOD
1. Everything Is A Project
2. The Tarantino Habit
3. Waterfall Artists vs
Lean Artists
4. WHAT IS LEAN MUSIC?
5. The 3 Components Of
Lean Music
6. Enter Kanban
7. Wips, Logs & Lanes
KANBAN TERMS
8. Slice & Dice
9. Bucketing and
Sequencing
10. Swim Lanes
11. Left to Right
12. Action Items

12. Section 1:
Everything Is A Project
12
EVERYTHING IS A

15. is unstoppable.
— Jordan Peterson
EVERYTHING IS A

16. Trains your mind how to think,
Your hands how to work,
Your spirit what to create.
EVERYTHING IS A

19. 2. 10X results don’t always require
10X effort
3. Non-Avoidance Habit: The biggest
generator of long-term results is
learning to do things when you don't
feel like doing them.
EVERYTHING IS A

23. —Jeff Walker
EVERYTHING IS A

24. Everything Is A Project
24
EVERYTHING IS A

25. The Tarantino Habit
25
TARANTINO

28. Waterfall Artists
vs Lean Artists
28
WATERFALL

33. Waterfall Artists
vs Lean Artists
33
WATERFALL

34. What The Heck
Is “Lean” Music?
34
WHAT IS

35. The process through which
an artist tests something
that may later become a
finished product.
WHAT IS

40. Journey through the three
components: Ship, Listen,
and Learn.
WHAT IS

41. 1. Learning
2. Industry Changes
3. Fan Engagement
4. Expands the Brain Trust
5. Forces Focus
6. Better Stuff
WHAT IS

42. Learning - Being subjected to many
learning cycles results in the artist
constantly adding new skills to their
toolbox while refining the ones that
are already there.
WHAT IS

43. Industry Changes - Because the learning
cycles making up Lean are ongoing, the artist
has no choice but to constantly stay up-to-
date on changes in the business as new
innovations bring sweeping changes every 6
to 9 months.
WHAT IS

44. Fan Engagement - Due to the fact that the
artist is always seeking feedback from
fans, Lean helps artists stay in touch with
their fans’ expectations and changing
tastes ... all while proving to fans that their
opinion of the artist is valued.
WHAT IS

45. Expands the brain trust: Sharing projects
while they are in their early stages is a
smart way to draft new talent, potential
management, and other partners to the
artist’s team.
WHAT IS

46. Forces focus: Because the artist is
required to ship more often, Lean forces
the artist to buckle down and finish the
task at hand. It also requires that the
artist identify and eliminate distractions.
WHAT IS

47. Better Stuff: You don’t wanna release
everything, you just wanna release the
right, best, most profitable thing.
WHAT IS

48. 1. Learning
2. Industry Changes
3. Fan Engagement
4. Expands the Brain Trust
5. Forces Focus
6. Better Stuff
WHAT IS

49. What the Heck
Is Lean Music?
49
WHAT IS

50. 3 Components:
Ship, Listen And Learn
50
3
COMPONENTS

51. 3
COMPONENTS

52. 3
COMPONENTS

53. “What is the smallest thing
that you can create in the
shortest amount of time
that you can put out?”
53
3
COMPONENTS

54. Anything you WANT
to make better,
CAN be made better
by using Lean.
54
3
COMPONENTS

55. “Ship” can take 2 forms:
1. Shipping out to the world (e.g.,
uploading to youtube)
2. Shipping to a small internal group
(e.g., having your team look over
a draft of a press release).
3
COMPONENTS

56. 3
COMPONENTS

57. Forms:
1. People are saying about it on social media
2. Gauging how people respond to it at a live
show
3. Hearing what your internal team has to say.
4. Ad Copy convesion rates
5. Sales numbers, Data, Analytics
3
COMPONENTS

58. 3
COMPONENTS

59. Build It : If the early feedback on
the project in question is favorable,
you could make the decision to
commit to it. You might decide to
release it on a wider scale and
create a larger push for it.
59
3
COMPONENTS

60. Break It : If the feedback on the
project is overwhelmingly negative
and the product fails to gain any
traction, you might decide that killing
it is the best move so you can dedicate
your time and resources to something
more favorable.
60
3
COMPONENTS

61. Improve It : If the project’s
feedback is mixed, you might find
a common critique being
mentioned. Making iterative
changes based upon that feedback
might be the best move.
61
3
COMPONENTS

62. The illiterate of the 21st century
will not be those who cannot read
and write, but those who cannot
learn, unlearn, and relearn.
—Alvin Toffler
62
3
COMPONENTS

63. Keeps what is great,
Strengthen what is not.
63
3
COMPONENTS

64. Tarantino:
1. He finishes a draft and ships it to
potential actors and actresses.
2. He then listens to the feedback from
those reading the script.
3. He learns from their feedback and
works to improve the script.
3
COMPONENTS

65. Commit, Kill
or Transform?
65
3
COMPONENTS

66. Section 5:
3 Components:
Ship, Listen And Learn
66

67. Section 6:
Enter Kanban
67

68. 68
Enter Sandman!
ENTER

69. live in a world of doing.
Hobbists live in a
world of words
ENTER

74. 1. Tear it Apart -
• Slice & Dice
• Smart Sequencing
• Bucketing
2. Set up for Success
• Choose Your Swim Lanes
• Load Your Backlog
3. Do the Work -
• DO THE TASK - Move to Left to Right
• RINSE AND REPEAT
• Have Fun!
ENTER

75. 75
ENTER

76. Enter Kanban
76

77. Section 7:
Wips, Logs & Lanes!
KANBAN TERMS TO KNOW

79. To Do - The first column on the Kanban.
These represent tasks ready to be started.
Doing - The second column on the Kanban.
Tasks appearing in this column are in
motion and being completed
Done - The third column on the Kanban.
Tasks appearing on the Kanban board are
placed in this column upon their TOTAL
completion.

81. 1. Learning Cycle -The journey through Ship, Listen, and
Learn
2. Slice & Dice is the specific process of breaking down a
large project into small tasks.
3. Sequencing - a basic ordering of multiple tasks that
make up a completed project.
4. Backlog - This represents the collective tasks
appearing on the Kanban that have not yet been
completed.
5. Bucketing - Thematically organizing tasks into similar
groups.

83. 1. Sprint - The time allotted to complete an assigned task.
Short periods of time such as 2 days, 1 week. Ex.
Bursts/Sprints/Marathons
2. (WIPs) Works in Progress - notes representing a tasks in
motion that has not yet been completed and moved
into the “Done” column.
3. Swim lane - Allows for the segregation of the cards so
that cards of similar initiatives are moving across the
board in the same lane left to right.
4. Rule of 3: Habit of limiting yourself to no more than 3
WIPs at any one time.

85. Section 7:
Wips, Logs & Lanes!
KANBAN TERMS TO KNOW

87. Phase 1 Tear it Apart
• Slice & Dice
• Bucketing
• Smart Sequencing

88. Section 8:
Slice & Dice
88

89. Slice & Dice is the specific
process of breaking down a
large project into small and
manageable tasks.
SLICE

91. — David Deida, author
SLICE

93. 1. Small - They are bite-sized and cannot be
broken down any further.
2. Assignable - Once they are assigned to
somebody, that person can begin working
3. Completable - They can be completed
within a period of a sprint, usually days or
a week.
SLICE

94. Slice & Dice
94

95. Section 9:
Bucketing &
Sequencing
95

96. Bucketing - Thematically
organizing tasks into
similar groups.
BUCKETING

99. Bucketing &
Sequencing
99

100. PHASE 2. Set up for Success
• Choose Swim Lanes
• Load Your Backlog

101. Section 10:
Choose Swim Lanes
101

102. SWIM

107. Choose Swim Lanes
107

108. Phase 3. Do the Work
• Pick THE TASK
• Move to Left to Right
• RINSE AND REPEAT
• Have Fun!

109. MOD 11
Left to Right
109

110. LEFT

111. Habit of limiting yourself
to no more than 3 WIPs
at any one time.
LEFT

112. 2. Once somebody on the team begins actively
working on it, it is now a WIP (Work in
Progress).
3. The WIPs will ultimately land in the Done
column upon completion and review.
LEFT

113. Left to Right
113

115. ACTION ITEMS
MOD 7:
115

116. NEXT STEPS:
1. Who should I ask to join my brain trust of mentors?
2. Who can I go to once or twice a year to get expert input and advice?
1. An After Action Review (AAR) is a type of debrief meeting developed to
help its teams capture the lessons, both positive and negative, from
each mission. The process is focused on four key questions:
1. What was the goal, i.e., mission?
2. What actually happened?
3. What went well and why?
4. What could be improved and how?
3. Who do I have to become (both personally and as a team) in order to
accomplish the things I am capable of?
4. What do I have to do, build, or create to become the person I am aspiring to
be?
5. These are hard questions for sure, but the artists that can answer these (both
slowly, honestly and repeatedly) will be the leaders of the future.

117. IQ POINTS:
1. How A Film Composer Uses Lean
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=E--f-
p0f6MI&feature=emb_title
2. Lean Startup | Eric Ries | Talks at Google
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEvKo90qBns