156 – CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference Postmortem & Review – with Greg Wilnau of Musician Monster

Have you been thinking about attending CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference? Not sure whether it's worth it? In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I reflect on the DIY Musician Conference with Greg Wilnau of Musician Monster. Download the PDF Transcription Podcast Highlights: 00:34 – Special episode with guest Greg Wilnau 00:57 – Austin serendipities 02:02 – What did David get out of the DIY Musician Conference? 03:16 – Meeting people in person for the first time 05:27 – Being mindful of your own energy levels 06:59 – What is your purpose for going to a conference? 11:00 – Is the DIY Musician Conference worth going to? 14:42 – How lasting connections are created 16:07 – Degrees of comfort with creating different content types 19:08 – Learning business is the same thing as learning music 24:11 – Until you confront the ordinariness of your life, you can’t become extraordinary 27:28 – It’s harder to get noticed online than it is on stage 28:31 – Every overnight success is 10 years in the making 29:43 – The costs of attending the conference 31:44 – Weather conditions in different parts of the world 32:47 – Fun in Austin, TX 34:02 – Closing thoughts 34:34 – Where to learn about attending events and conferences Transcription: David Andrew: All right. Today, I've got a very special episode. I wanted to do a post mortem and review of the DIY Musician Conference in Austin, which was now about a month ago, but who better to have on the show to help me wrap this up than founder and CEO of Musician Monster Greg Wilnau. So, how are you Greg? Greg: Doing great, David. How are you doing? David Andrew: I'm doing awesome. I guess just for a little bit of context, Greg and I managed to meet up down in Austin. And it was kind of a fluke accident because we didn't know we would both be there at the same time. Greg: No, we didn't. It was cool. I was coming out of, I think it was one of the talks, and I walked by. I kind of just glanced over and I saw the name tag, David Andrew from Music Entrepreneur. And I was like, "No way!" I just kept on walking. I thought maybe I'm seeing things. I kept walking. I turned around. I looked back, and I was like, "That's David! What's up, man?" It was just really cool. We hung out the whole time. David Andrew: We did. We did. And it ended up being a lot of fun. You know, it's not that there weren't people I didn't know there but they were all kind of working, right, at their various booths, or they were doing some presenting or in the case of like Kevin Breuner or Chris Robley, they're, you know, they're doing podcast recordings. And this and that and the other. So, really, it was great to have someone else that didn't have any commitments and wasn't obligated to be at their booth or whatever to spend some time with. Greg: Yeah, man. Absolutely. So, what did you get out of the--? I know you're not interviewing me but I'm totally curious. What did you get out of the conference? Why do you think that it's a good thing to go to? What did you get out of it? David Andrew: Oh, that's perfect. We should definitely go back and forth on on any questions. You know, I found the conference to be really chill. That was kind of surprising to me because you know what, some conferences, some events can be a little stressful and hurried. There can be like so many people, so many booths, so many places to go around, or breakout sessions to go to that it can frankly just start to feel very overwhelming. Greg: Exactly. David Andrew: I really did not get that sense from this conference at all. It wasn't too small but it wasn't too big. You know what I mean? It was a good size. You could meet whoever you wanted to meet, if you knew who they were. Greg: Absolutely, David Andrew: Yeah. Like many of the people that I've built a relationship with online, I got a chance to meet in person. And just like you, I had those moments too where I was just looking or staring at someone's name tag going, "Holy crap, is that so and so?" And then I go up and introduce myself. Sure enough. And then we have a conversation about, you know, whatever we were working on together online. Greg: Yeah, absolutely. It was interesting. It's always weird meeting people who you've only previously met online. David Andrew: It can be. Greg: You know, it's almost like they're a celebrity. You know what I mean? Like, "Oh, my gosh. They're in person right now." I think that meeting somebody in real life always kind of solidifies the relationship. We're like, "It's not official until you meet in person." But it's interesting because... I don't know if you're... If you're anything like me, I'm pretty introverted. You know, I'm a musician. I'm super creative. I'm very comfortable being alone and by myself. So, I'm always nervous whenever I go to conferences. You know what I mean? But I've never regretted... I think this is my second or third conference. The first conference I went to, I was super nervous because I had been just working from home and doing my music business from home and I was like, you know, super awkward around people you know. I've always been awkward around people. I'm definitely not that suave smooth operator. But this conference, you're right dude. It felt a lot different. It was super casual. No pressure. I liked it too because most of the people there obviously were musicians. So, I definitely got the impression that it was casual on purpose. David Andrew: Yeah. I think it must have been because another thing too is that I just got the sense that these are people that get me, you know. And maybe it's because for the first time in a while, I'm actually getting out and seeing some of the people who would be my target audience for this podcast, or for my blog, or for the website or what have you. But I just found that, you know, I wasn't getting like a deer in the headlights, dead stare from people when I started talking about what I'm doing. Whereas where I live in Calgary... Greg: Absolutely. Absolutely. David Andrew: All the time people just have no clue. You talk about internet business. You talk about authoring books. You talk about advertising, or affiliate marketing, or whatever. Greg: Most people are just like, "Yep. That's cool. Okay." David Andrew: "That's interesting. So, do you make any money at that?" Greg: Or, "Do you like sports?" So, they change the subject. They don't even know. So, that's the thing. Like it's so important, I think, to be around other people who are into what you do. And if you're a musician, there's a difference between somebody who's a musician and somebody who's determined to make it on their own. Right? Who's made that decision instead of just hoping somebody will discover them and make things happen for them. A musician who has said, "Okay. It's up to me. I'm going to do it. Bring it on." It's important to be around people who are into what you do.Share on X So, being around other musicians who are like that, and have that mindset is so freaking critical to staying encouraged, focused, motivated and inspired. And to me, that's one of the biggest benefits of going to these things. You leave so energized. Right? David Andrew: Yeah. And you never know who you could meet too? You know what I mean? David Andrew: Absolutely. No, I absolutely felt energized going to this conference. And, you know, I was pretty burnt out going into it. So like, I've been trying to take a couple vacations this past summer. I still had to be mindful of like, my own energy. Like, if I didn't feel like or didn't feel like I could wake up, you know, super early to be there early, I didn't. And if I didn't feel like I could stay late, I didn't. I just took care of myself instead. But I still tried to soak in as much as I possibly could while I was there because, you know, this only happens once a year. Greg: Yeah, absolutely. David Andrew: Yeah. Greg: I'm curious to know, what you...? I mean, again, I'm not interviewing you. I'm a guest on your podcast. I guess we're just having a casual conversation here. So no pressure. David Andrew: Exactly. Greg: I was wondering. I think we talked about this when we were at the conference. It was the purpose of going, right. David Andrew: Yeah. Greg: And I was telling you that, personally, my perspective when I go to a conference isn't necessarily to learn things as much, even though that can be a result, an implicit result of going, I think. But my intention of going is to meet people. Right? David Andrew: Yeah. Greg: I was curious as to what your thoughts were on that. Because obviously, people who are listening to this are going to be interested in the conference, and maybe the benefits of going. Maybe they might not want to go. They're not sure if it'd be worth it. So, I'm just wondering if we could kind of talk about that, and maybe your own interpretations about what your thoughts are on the motivation to go. David Andrew: I mean some of the motivating factors for me – I'll just start there – are that, you know, I applied to be a speaker there. I guess their roster was pretty full. Now, my impression of what is going on at the conference right now is that it's actually still fairly small. I would imagine there's going to be certain limitations on personnel, as well as monetary resources to have a lot more breakout sessions than they already did. That's just my impression. But my point being that, you know, I didn't get to speak at the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference. And instead, I was given a free ticket. So, you know, that did not... Greg: Sweet. David Andrew: Yeah, that didn't cover my expenses as far as traveling to Austin or, you know, food or lodging or any of that was concerned,