This was in my Inbox today from Bob Lefsetz's newsletter and thought I would share. What's below focuses on musicians, but the entire email was about a successful fast food chain, so the concept applies to whatever you got goin on -
"Authenticity means you know how to play.
Authenticity means you don't dance on stage, unless you're spontaneously inspired, choreography is taboo.
Authenticity means you write your own songs.
Authenticity means you don't go on morning television shows.
Authenticity means you know fans are first.
Authenticity means you know without your fans, you're nothing.
You write and sing from the heart because you have to, not because you got an MBA and want to get rich.
Yes, the public is craving something real. And we've got a whole industry built on not providing it. The music infrastructure is teetering because it's built upon a foundation of crap. The only acts people want to see with consistency tend to be over fifty, who did it right back then and can tour until they drop, which they're gonna.
Sure, there are exceptions. But don't you get it? When you co-write and polish to perfection, when you get a clothing line and consider yourself a brand, when you hype perfume and refuse to be honest, never saying a negative word, you're working against yourself.
The public craves authenticity. According to the Oxford Dictionary, that's an adjective meaning:
1 of undisputed origin; genuine
-made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original : the restaurant serves authentic Italian meals | every detail of the movie was totally authentic.
- based on facts; accurate or reliable : an authentic depiction of the situation.
- (in existentialist philosophy) relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.
Let authenticity be your credo."
--http://www.lefsetz.com
