Alexz and Inevitable Ubiquity
This post is inspired by a book I happened across at the library here called Small Is The New Big by Seth Godin. Godin has created many successful websites and businesses including Squidoo.com where most of you may have heard his name. He is business man and marketer so the writings in this book aim to that end. His writings use some words like “business” and “marketing” that can be interchanged with what I’m about to use it for. Just realize ahead of time to read these excerpts thinking of Alexz Johnson, what kind of success we want for her, and what kind of success she wants for herself.
Before I get started I want it to be clear I really want her to succeed. I want her music to be heard and loved by everyone. Thinking of ways to get her music out there and heard more is something I’ve spent a lot of time doing here on the site. For me, and every Alexz fan I know, it’s a matter of WHEN not IF she’ll become known and “successful”. I need this short disclaimer due to how some of the excerpts are going to read. Godin was trying to apply them to as many people as possible through his own life experiences.
So, getting started finally, I read a piece from him titled “Ubiquity” from the book. That just means being everywhere, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, you get the idea. So, what will change when Alexz inevitably hits the marker and has huge overnight success? What will happen when she becomes popular?
So what’s wrong with selling out? Paradoxically, it seems that once you become popular, you also become very unpopular.
For us, this translates into haters. Something I simply would never believe to exist for Alexz. I just can’t see it. There is a lot of truth to this. For some reason these people suddenly come out of the woodwork. A definite negative, but this actually isn’t the real focus of this post.
Here’s the problem: The moment you take your special, authentic, limited-edition product and leverage it, make it widely available and common, the very people who love it inevitably rebel. “Starbucks isn’t what it used to be,” they tell you. The tastemakers who made you successful in the first place turn on their heels when they smell that you’re not authentic anymore.
This equates to making it big. Being a worldwide superstar like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga. Those with Britney in the beginning definitely felt a bit put off by her initial success and I’ve read of some Gaga fans talking about how things were much better back then. So, what’s going on here?
When a product is everywhere, when it’s hyped in the media and advertised on the sides of buses, sometimes it seems as if the product exists and succeeds precisely because it is everywhere. Before ubiquity, when it seemed as if the product (or its creator) wasn’t in it just for the money, somehow that felt more real, more special, more authentic.
I fully believe Alexz can become famous worldwide and ubiquitous as this if she wants it. She’s got the talent, ability, is driven, and I think lots of people would benefit from hearing her music. I think the feelings in the above passage will ring true to most of you though. I know she won’t lose her focus and desire to just make music she is proud of, artful, and meaningful, however, clearly not everyone will think this way and either leave her or stop becoming fans because suddenly she’s super successful now and no longer their little secret.
Why does the intention of the creator have so much influence on our perception of the product?
This question we all need to answer for ourselves, but it’s important to ask and think about it. This question and its answer will likely decide whether you stick with Alexz or move on to try to someone else who is in her place now to maintain a desire to have another artist as your little secret. Neither of these options do Alexz any good since losing support, in any form, can’t help her.
We’ve got an amazing artist now who I think makes excellent and amazing music, she can sing like an angel, and is all sorts of talented. I believe she has something to say and hasn’t yet gotten the platform needed to say it. I think I have a good idea what kind of success I want for her, but this isn’t up to me. What about her? She is in the position to make some important choices right now…
If you’re lucky enough to create something authentic, you have real choices. You need to decide how important it is to be real, how much of yourself you have tied up in the authentic experience that you’ve created. Most of all, you need to decide what you’d like to do all day. Some of us can be happy taking today’s flavor and selling it like crazy. Others need to have a deeper relationship with their craft, something that establishes a connection between themselves and their product.
Alexz lands here. She is the definition of authentic. Her connection to her craft, music and film, is deep and she makes sure that she picks the right projects and creates music that is in line with her vision and goals.
People who create something authentic but then sell out almost always end up unhappy. Why? Because once you sell out, any new success you have doesn’t come from your authenticity. You’re in a new business now. Ken Burns is just as authentic as he ever was. But he’s not rewarded for that. He’s rewarded for ubiquity. Could you be happy with that?
That’s some really great insight into a frustrating trap of massive success. It translates well over into the entertainment industry in general. Success is really a strange thing.
If you do get big, you won’t be practicing authenticity for the rest of your life. When you sell out, you’re making a trade. The big market wants reliability and conformity. The big market won’t reward you for being authentic.
This is important for two reasons. The first, to show Godin is primarily writing about small businesses thinking of scaling up, expanding, and become a household brand name. Everything quoted beforehand is that way too and I need to make that distinction again. This is because “selling out” means something totally different in the world of music. Selling out in business may be becoming a faceless corporation where in music the artist and band can never do that. They are the face of what they create and ultimately people will see it a lot more personally whenever an entertainer “sells out”.
That said, it does apply to Alexz since conforming to the music of today is something she has never done. If anything, she has waited patiently for the cycles to continue enough so that her music will be more readily accepted than it may have been a few years ago or 10 years ago. This means she can still make the music she loves to create without losing any of her integrity as an artist because music finally caught up to her.
So, why did I make this post?
I think, as fans, we all need to figure out what huge worldwide success for Alexz will mean to us. Are we going to leave her and find another band? Are we going to stick with her? Knowing your own thought processes as to why you’d want to leave and why you’d stay I think are pretty important things that attracted you to her and her music in the first place.
Alexz is still some fan’s “little secret” as well. I think this condition has possibly held her back for a long time. Which is also why I made this post. I discovered keeping her music as my little secret was doing no good for her at all. It was a selfish thing to do. That ultimately this isn’t about me. It’s about helping her.
If you like her music and she moves and inspires you it needs to be shared so other people can discover her. This will create the windfall of everything I’ve written above of course. Her music will be heard everywhere and new fans will flock to forums to discuss her music. The blacklash will hit and all that, which is why I’m asking this now. The dominoes are falling and it’s inevitable, she’s going to hit big at some point, have you thought about what you’re going to do when she’s a household name?
