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Okay, let me start off with a little disclaimer. I know Panos already commented on our beloved King of Pop, and as a huge fan (yes, I bought tickets and was willing to cross an ocean to see him last July and now have tickets to the midnight premiere of This Is It) I know I’m a little biased. I also know that not all musicians have any desire to reach commercial fame. Regardless of all the above facts, I think there are some good tips we can all learn from the late Michael Jackson. I’ll try not be too biased about how much I love him… oh who am I kidding? Why bother?
(1) Evolve
There are always the exceptions (see: Rolling Stones), but if you want a long career in music, you’ll need to continually challenge yourself to think differently than you have in the past. MJ re-invented himself through time and it was a huge reason why he was able to appeal to such a wide spectrum of people. He started with the Motown soul and R&B, danced his way through Disco with “Off the Wall,” added some rock here or there (‘Beat It’, ‘Dirty Diana’), then started trying some Gospel (Man in the Mirror, Will You Be There?). If that wasn’t enough, he beat-boxed his way through Dangerous and HIStory, the Blood on the Dance Floor featured some pretty awesome mixes for you DJs out there, and to top it off, he crooned some serious slow jams on “Invincible”(Example: ‘Butterflies’ – released over 8 years ago and still sounds like something Justin Timberlake would release tomorrow.) With all the changes and genre bending, the most accurate way to classify Michael Jackson’s music was just “Pop” — because Popular was just about the only consistent thing.
(2) Embrace the latest innovations
Most of MJs career was before social media and all the bells and whistles of the internet, but the media that was available to him, Michael owned it, namely the music video. No one needs to mention how innovative and cutting edge the music video for ‘Thriller’ was when a music video was a fledgling form of media, but let’s not forget just the cool stuff he did as the medium grew. MJ holds the Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Music Video (and if you want to watch the whole thing, you can here), the morphing faces in ‘Black or White’ still look awesome, and if you haven’t watched it in a while, watch ‘Scream’ again: the video was released in 1995 (that’s over 14 year ago, folks) and doesn’t even look dated. And yes, MJ and Janet had a 7 million dollar budget, but think about the sophisticated and fairly affordable tools you can get online or at Best Buy, or the free tools you have online ready for download. And there’s always the local college, library or community center to get in touch with to see if there are any tools available for your use in case you’re not 100% ready to invest all that technology has to offer.
(3) Sometimes, you have to be a shrewd businessman
Michael may have sung and danced his way up the ladder, but he wasn’t messing around. In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit. He partnered with the likes of Pepsi (although, admittedly another big love in my life besides MJ is Diet Coke) and along the way, he purchased the Beatles catalog. What can musicians learn here? 1) Read your contracts and negotiate to make sure you are protected and getting the most out of your talents and ideas, 2) don’t be afraid from the exposure a consumer brand can offer, and 3) whenever possible, make some good investments.
(4) Find your sequined glove.
By this, I mean go ahead and be a little flashy and demand some attention. Remember, you’re in show business – so it’s okay to be ‘showy.’ Don’t go outside your personality, but the last thing you want to do is hide it. Flashy can be via your clothing, or if that doesn’t feel right, do something creative to your album artwork or do a crazy Youtube video series. In business it’s called marketing, and if you want your name out there and want to get noticed, sometimes you have to be a little different.
(5) Give back.
Okay, I get it: you’re not a big MJ fan. That’s okay. But let me ask you this: are you a fan helping the planet and say, feeding hungry children in Africa? Well, then you and Michael still have something in common. When he wasn’t winning Grammys, wowing the world with his crazy dance moves, or unfortunately fighting off lawsuits, MJ was truly trying to make the world just a little bit better. Did you know that the Millennium-Issue of the “Guinness Book Of Records” named Michael as the Pop Star who supports the most charity organizations? His humanitarian awards started around May 14, 1984, when Michael was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse, but if you want to get a good idea of everything he’s done, check out the list created for the debated House Resolution 600. Remember: giving back doesn’t have to mean money. It’s easy. Go volunteer together somewhere and post some photos to your website to share with your fans; not only will you have done something good for your community, you may inspire someone else who admires you to do the same.
Finally, a note from the author: It’s sappy and corny and I’ve talked about Micheal Jackson on-end since his death. But this is the first time I’ve actually written anything about him since and I just want to say: Michael Jackson, you made the world better in so many ways and will continue to do so with your legacy–I love the King of Pop!
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