"A wise man knows he knows nothing..."

Have you ever heard this expression before? It's a very insightful and intelligent statement if you think about it. Simply put, people that are smart tend to listen and take heed while there counterparts usually talk and disregard. It's never a good thing to know it all.

Something unsigned artists (or naive and uneducated people in general) are notorious for is entering into situations with all the answers. They think they know all the tricks of the trade and all the solutions. You know the type. In the studio, they know more then the engineer. At the meetings, they can negotiate better then their lawyer. They know more the manager, the publicist and OF COURSE more than the artists who've sold millions of records. The audacity of someone to think otherwise (obvious sarcasm). Here's something to think about, if you know more then all of these people why would you need them? You can do all your business, create all your music, sell all your merchandise and live happily ever after right? Doesn't make much sense does it? Sometimes its best to just shut up and listen.

Now don't get my wrong, you shouldn't listen to EVERYTHING people tell you. That's just stupid. What you should tho, is listen to what people have to say and then take in whatever information applies to you and makes sense. People tell me many different things all the time about everything under the sun. I listen and take it all in, but I filter the information and ignore the unnecessary parts. I suggest you do the same especially dealing with people in this business. You see, others will use this same logic against you. They will see a unsigned artist and manipulate them because they know they are unknowledgable, so you have to be careful. Use your best judgment when dealing with these types of people, there usually easy to spot if you train your eyes.

Here's some advice that will put you on the right path. First off, learn to practice the art of silence. You would be surprised how much you can learn by letting others speak. Another good idea would be to attend conferences, panels and classes that teach about topics pertaining to the music industry (I've been to several myself). Something else you could do is read books and magazines (and even blogs like this one) that contain information about the business. Two good books I suggest would be The 48 Laws of Power and Everything You Need To Know About The Music Business (Bishop Lamont recommended these to me and he was dead on). One more thing you could do that I think is very helpful is watch those Street DVDs out there. I know what your thinking "How the hell does that help?" right, well I'll tell you. Most of those rappers make complete fools of themselves and it's a good visual aid that's demonstrates that. Great media training on a low budget, haha.

The bottom line is very simple. You don't know everything. Its this one fact that separates the foolish from the wise. As long as you know that, you know everything you need to know.

You can check me out on my Myspace page at MySpace.com/DonnyGoines.