People who pay, pay attention.

Rick Barker leaves it all on the table – what the biggest thing holding musicians back is, why he doesn’t work for free, and why he stopped making it about the money & started making it about expectations & results.

You’re listening to Episode 77 of the Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast.

Hello! You’re listening to Episode 77: Music-Preneur Spotlight: Rick Barker.

I’m your host, Suz – a mindset coach helping music professionals get clear on their goals and find the time to get it all done while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Wrapping up the month of January, a month I’ve spent shining the light on people in the industry who help music-preneurs just like you make money from their craft, I’m focusing on one of your favorites – Mr. Rick Barker.

If you’ve spent any time in the music industry, I shouldn’t have to do any introduction here. But, in case you’ve been living under a rock, Rick is the founder & CEO of Music Industry Blueprint and host of the top-rated podcast of the same name, the author of The $150,000 Music Degree, and… you know, the former manager of Taylor Swift.

Yea. That guy.

From 2006-2008 he was responsible for handling Taylor’s career and teaching her the ins and outs of the business. He started in radio and as he says in this episode, much of what he did as a manger he learned on the fly.

Taylor was his first client as a manager, and it goes to show you, you don’t have to have all of the answers before taking the leap. You jump and build your parachute on the way down. That is the definition of the music-preneur mindset and I couldn’t think of anyone better to round out this month of industry chats than this guy right here.

He has overcome drug addiction, homelessness, and other obstacles that would keep most people down and out. Instead, Rick has secured his spot as one of the sought-after coaches in today’s industry, including by some of the top talent shows on network TV.

He’s forever a student, always learning so he can better serve himself and his audience and I am thrilled to bring you my conversation with him. I have a feeling you’re gonna learn a lot because we leave it all on the table. Take a listen…

Suz: Rick, thank you so much for being on this show. I’ve obviously been a fan for a while, we’ve been friends now for a while, so I’m so excited that I’ve got you on this show to talk to our audience.

Rick: I’m excited to be here. It’s one of those things where people always ask me, ‘Hey, do you know the Rock/Star Advocate chick?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, very well, thanks.’

Suz: And I remember when I had moved to Nashville briefly in 2016… I had heard your name from many people but my first encounter with you was through Periscope. I always found that so interesting, every morning, it was part of my routine, I watched your Periscopes – never missed one.

Rick: Isn’t it funny how we go through those phases? Because right now everything for me is about Instagram Story and Instagram LIVE. Someone was saying something to me one time.

They’re like, ‘Dude, you’re such like the expert when it comes to social media!’

I said, ‘How can anyone be an expert on anything that changes so fast?’ I said, ‘I’m not an expert I just try to keep up!’ I mean now it’s like you ask somebody what a Periscope is they wouldn’t even know! Go ask somebody, ‘Hey! I found you on Vine!’ They’re like, ‘What?’

Suz: Exactly. You know I find that people, like yourself, who are so well-versed in all of these changing platforms, you’re someone who pays attention. You know that’s really what it takes is paying attention.

Rick: You know I think it’s so hard to get attention that if you don’t realize the tools that are available to you to stand out and stick out – I mean I’m going wherever! Someone asked me the other day, ‘Hey are you spending any time on TikTok?’

My rule is this: if I can provide value to a platform, I’ll show up. If I’m just trying to go here because I think that’s where everyone else is… I’m not wasting my time. And that’s where I think a lot of musicians – you know they start chasing whatever the shiny new object is. It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh! Chance the Rapper won a Grammy and he was on Soundcloud. I’m going to Soundcloud now!’

I’m like, ‘Great! Are you a hip-hop artist?’ ‘Well, no.’ Well that’s where a lot of the hip-hop artist are. ‘Well Lil Nas X, he was on TikTok.’ I’m like, ‘Great! Have you been doing this everyday for three years?’ They’re like, ‘Well, no.’

I say, everyone that you hear that ‘breaks out’ on these platforms – they’ve been spending the time on these platforms. They understood what they platforms were about. Yeah, I’m gonna have an active presence on TikTok, it’s just gonna be me being goofy.

I’ll provide some comedy. I’ll laugh at myself. I’ll make fun of myself but because I know how to optimize things, when people go to my bio, then they’ll find out that I’m in the music industry and I launched the career of Taylor Swift and I have a book – you know, all these other things. But I’m not gonna go on to any platform just trying to sell myself because I think that’s what everyone else is doing.

Suz: Exactly, and to spend the time to experiment and try new things on the platform, see what’s working before you abandon it, as you said, because somebody else said another platform was working for them.

Rick: Well I think, we’re all guilty of it, I mean I am as well. There’s only so many hours we have in a day. I just recently went virtual with my office. I’ve had an office on Music Row since 2008, but I was also consulting major labels at the time, I had clients that were signed to major labels, so I needed to be downtown.

I don’t need to be there anymore. Now it’s like, I sit there and I go, ‘Okay. I can be virtual. I can be anywhere.’ Well, that’s the cool part about being a musician today, also. You can be virtual and you can be anywhere. People are like, ‘I wanna tour the world!’ I’m like, ‘Great. Have you done a Facebook LIVE? Or an Instagram LIVE lately?’

Rick: Yeah, you can be worldwide right from your phone! It’s like the excuses are almost gone, is what I love. It’s like now, I’m like, go ahead. First person that makes an excuse, you’re voted off the island. You’re out. We put your little flame out. You’re gone. Next!

Suz: Or I hear people say, ‘Oh I just hate being on Twitter.’ I’m like, ‘Then don’t be on Twitter…’ If you like Instagram then do Instagram. If you really hate something then no matter how many features and tricks of the trade you learn, your disdain for it is going to come through, in my opinion, so it’s like find the platform you like.

Rick: You’re so correct. I had one of my mentors say to me one, you but the word ‘hate’ in front of everything and it will never grow. ‘I hate working out’ – you’ll always be fat. ‘I hate working on my vocals’ – great. You’ll always be a mediocre vocalist. ‘I hate social media’ – great then the customer service part of your business is going to suck.

But when they said that to me, I completely got it. And what I tell people today, too, is I’m glad that it’s tough. And the reason that I’m glad that it’s tough, is because it starts to eliminate those that are weak.

It’s so crowded and so noisy, that we need the weak people to leave. We need them to get out of the way.

If you’re just gonna come in and do it half-butt, you know? It’s like just leave now. It makes it easier for everyone who wants to take it serious. And you know, as we’re in January and people are sitting back going, ’Man, okay. Here’s my New Year’s Resolution,’ and it’s usually the resolution from the year before, it’s like – you know, one of the last podcasts that I did wrapping up 2019 was, ‘Let’s talk about where you fell off’ because we all do.

Whether it be with diet, whether it be with an exercise routine, whether it be with recording songs or writing songs or whatever it is. We are all going to fall off. It’s not the falling off that’s the problem. It’s not getting back up and knowing where to pick up.

So what I did at the end of the year, I was like, ‘Let’s take the next 30 days and let’s figure out what we need to have in place.’ Two items, at the max, two, that will give us the next 90 days.

So what are the two things that we can put in place that will make the next 90 days kick butt?

And that’s what I’m always trying to remind people. It’s like, ‘Look, we are going to fall. We are going to stumble. We’re humans. That’s what happens. We are going to get distracted. We’re humans. That’s what happens’ – ‘Oh wait, we’re humans?’ Yes!

So we’re not in a position where by us not finishing a song someone’s going to die or by me not putting out a YouTube video on a weekly basis, someone’s going to be hurt. It’s like no, we’re in the creative space. So we just need to back up sometimes and go, ‘Okay. I got a little overwhelmed. What can I do now to get myself back on path?’

Suz: Absolutely! And I mean, listen, even I’m the same way, too. You know, we get caught up in life. We get messy, but then having, whether it’s a planner or a certain structure or routine, to get us back there.

You know, I always say you’re never going to achieve full balance, but acknowledgement over judgement. It’s like if you know what your ideal is maybe you never reach it, but when things get messy it’s your guide to be like, ‘Oh. Okay. Things are crazy, but here’s where I know I need to be working towards. Let me get back to that.’

Or, ‘I got messy, let me get back to the planner or to that morning routine that was helping me,’ or whatever that might be. So I’m in total agreement with that and I love what you said about clearing the way for the people who want to take it seriously.

Because the minute I hear somebody say, ‘Can’t you do this for me?’ Or, ‘I hate learning about the business,’ or, ‘The business is just never a strong suit of mine.’ Again, the mindset – if that’s what you… if you want… I don’t know, you tell me. I feel like there’s this entitlement of like, just because technology exists, ‘I should be able to have the music career I want.’

‘Just because I don’t need a label anymore, I’m entitled to this music career.’ It’s like no, just because the labels maybe don’t play the same role they used to play and you can ‘do it on your own,’ you still need to treat it like a business. And if you don’t want to learn the business you have hobby and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Do it for the love of the music and just make music and you have a hobby and that is great. And as you said, clear the way for the people who do know, hey just like a baker needs to bake their cakes but also at the end of the day balance out their register. They didn’t get in the business and open up a bakery just so they could balance out their register, but they gotta do it!

Rick: Well and the thing, too, with most creatives is the one thing that they forget the most is… I don’t care how great your work ethic is, I don’t care how great your music is, if no one hears it… The audience is so important. What social media is, is it’s a tool to get in front of a consumer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Suz: For free! Most times.

Rick: That’s it. And most businesses don’t have the ability to do that without having to run ads and spend fortunes on advertising, hoping that someone absolutely watches that commercial, listens to the radio and hears that commercial at the exact time… We catch people where people are.

That’s why we use social media. The problem is, like I always say, is marketers got a hold of social media and screwed it up. We screw up everything. But we are marketers. You as an artist today, you’re a marketer. Whether you want to be called it, you are a digital marketer and the sooner you accept that the sooner you realize that all these things that you have access to are magic.

There was a time when you had to get in a van, when you had to sleep 5 guys to a hotel room, when you had to physically touch hands with every single person that you wanted to meet. You had to physically hand them the sign-up sheet to get on your email list and hope that nobody spilled beer on it and hope that you could read the writing.

All the tools that you have today to not have to travel… I was talking about Facebook LIVE. I’ve got clients of mine right now making $4-5,000 a month doing a half hour, three times a week, just playing their original music with a virtual tip jar, offering the people the ability to support their cause.

No gas. No hotels. They’re not leaving the comfort of their own home. They ended up going to Hobby Lobby and kind of decked out their little stage. Now they’re got their Pickin’ Parlor or whatever it’s called… oh, Pick’in and Grin’in, that’s what they call it. Pick’in and Grin’in and it’s hysterical that the fans – trust me they have like 3,000 people that follow their page – they’ll get about 300-400 that will watch their videos, not live, most of it’s on the replay. But they show up everyday using the tools.

And most musicians aren’t making 60-grand a year. Most of them haven’t made 60-grand in their career! These guys are making it but doing Facebook LIVEs. So the excuses to me are kind of done with.

The good part for me, is I don’t attract people who make excuses. I like to eliminate them on the front end. I’m just excited that these tools are here. I’m grateful that we have them as long as we do.

So right now my focus, sole focus for 2020 is email list. Obtaining as many leads as I possibly can. You will not be able to watch Facebook, Instagram, my website, podcast, YouTube Channel – everything is about providing value and the only way I going to be able to deliver that value is by having your email address.

That’s my goal. I’ve set a goal for myself – 5,000 new email sign-ups every single month. That’s my goal. And it’s gonna cost me probably anywhere between $7,500-$10,000 a month to get that. And I know somebody just went GASP ‘Oh my gosh! You’re going to pay $10,000 a month?!’

I am. And the reason why is because now I get to build a relationship with you through email because I can’t trust that you’re always going to see my social posts. But I trust that you’re always going to get my email. Now whether you open it or not is another story, but that’s on me.

But yeah, I’m going to spend whatever it takes to acquire a lead, because once that person becomes a client I’m golden at that point. And that’s what I’m explaining to my management clients towards the end of 2019 when I started doing management again for people throughout the world. That’s what I explain to them. Here’s how I brought you into my world. Let me teach you those same strategies to bring people into your world.

Suz: Absolutely, I delved into a bit of your story and how you’ve become the Rick Barker that we all know and love today, but I want out audience to really understand why you do all of the amazing things you do and why you help the people you help.

So my question for you is, coming from a background where you managed Taylor Swift, you’ve been on radio, you’ve dealt with he big-wigs, you’ve consulted major labels, you’ve been the consultant for American Idol and all these amazing big-time, mainstream agencies and artists, so why help independent musicians?

Rick: Why? Because there’s a great living in it. Let’s just be straight up. Let’s not come here and try to BS you guys – there’s a great living in providing value and what I’m able to do is I can either be like every other manger running around Nashville crossing my fingers hoping that I find the next Taylor Swift, hoping that everything lines up… there’s a lot of hope marketing when it comes to managing artists.

And by the way, the reason my book is called the $150,000 music degree is because that’s the salary that her family paid me to manage her career. So when people come to me going, ‘Hey! Can you do for me what you did for Taylor?’ I’m like ‘Great! Do you have $150,000 to spend a year?’ They’re like ‘What?!’ I’m like ‘Hey, you know, it worked for her.’

But, the way that I look at it is this, if I can provide a lot fo the same things that I provided to Taylor, I provide to everyone who comes and asks me a certain question. There are certain things that have to be set up properly in order for someone to have a successful business.

So I started thinking to myself, ‘Okay. Let me think about this.’ Not everyone can afford $150,000 a year. Day-to-day managing of an artist you can maybe have 3-4, how can I provide the lifestyle that I want to provide for my family while providing great value for the person that it is that I’m trying to help?

Am I doing it for the money? Yes. Just like you guys are doing it for the money. Am I doing it to impact as many people as I possibly can? Yes. Just like you guys are writing your music to impact as many people as you possibly can. So that’s why the independent artists don’t have access a lot of times to the relationships that I have, so I’m able to bring that.

They also don’t understand that all these tools, they’re available to everyone. A lot of them just want to create. They don’t want to go focus on these other things, so I’m gonna reach out and show them how to do it.

The difference is you can have me as your manager for $1,000-2,000 a year instead of $150,000 a year. You’re not having to wait until you get commissions to be able to afford to get proper guidance and instruction.

You can hire me as an employee to help you get that proper knowledge and instruction. So the same way that you as an artist want to be paid, we’re providing a service, we need to be paid as well, and I only work with people that pay me. Period.

I do my podcast just like you do. I have a YouTube channel. I give free copies to my book, but one of the things that I’ve learned is those that pay, pay attention. And I don’t care who they are. It’s like if I want somebody to treat me like that Martin guitar that they spent 5-grand on that they can’t wait to get to everyday, and not the little Fender squire sitting over in the corner that hasn’t had new strings on it in 4 years that they just pick up every now and then
because they don’t have anything invested in it.

Suz: Well, musicians, think about it, when you have a free show, the thought is, ‘Well if I make it free everybody will show up.’ No. What happens is, people, when other things come in in their lives they’re like, ‘Oh, well I didn’t lose out on anything. It was free. I’ll go to the next one.’ Right? You don’t show up.

Rick: Also too, realize this! The more expensive the tickets are always the ones that sellout first!

Suz: Exactly! Because it’s this scarcity of I MUST have it then before somebody else grabs it.

Rick: Yes! And you know there’s going to be more value the more you pay. I mean, the whole reason people were asking, they were like, ‘Rick, you know, you used to be $275 or $600.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but no one showed up because it was only this.’

Now it’s $1,000 / $2,000, but I’m also doing on-boarding with each client, I limit it to the number of people coming in every month, I’m able to spend more time with them. So, I really wanted to just give them an opportunity to say, this is what it’s like to be held accountable.

This is what it’s like to have the resources. This is what it’s like to be able to sit down with someone and plot out your career.

They’re like ‘Woah.’ But, I don’t have to sit there and get you under contract, cross my fingers and hope that you make money because for the first two years, just like with any business, people, there is no money to be made so you can’t expect someone to work for 2 years for free. Period. You wouldn’t. No one would. So they can’t expect the same thing from us and that’s what I’m trying to get them to understand.

Suz: Absolutely, and this might actually flow into my next question which is, what do you believe is the biggest struggle that these independent musicians are facing?

Rick: The biggest struggle you brought up earlier: Entitlement. There’s just still this thing that they’re owed something. They’re not. No one owes any of us anything at all, and the biggest problem I think right now is 1) people are putting songs out before they’ve learned how to become songwriters, or they haven’t worked on the recording process.

They think just because they wrote something and recorded it that they’re a recording artist, which they’re not. Second, is they think and assume that everyones going to find them just because the music’s good.

Artists are afraid to invest in the business side of their business. They’ll pay for recordings, they’ll pay for publicists they don’t need, they’ll pay for equipment that they don’t know how to use, but when it comes to running their business they still won’t invest in that and that’s why most of them will never have a successful business.

Suz: Totally. Can’t argue that. So what has been, as you yourself are an entrepreneur, what has been your biggest struggle as you’ve grown this incredibly business that helps so many musicians?

Rick: I say this and it’s funny, someone asked me on a panel once. They said, ‘What would you have done different?’ I said, ‘I would have invested in the coaching quicker.’ I thought, I’m a smart dude. I can figure this out. I’ll always take the lowest price option, and what I realized is that the more coaching I can get – what coaching means, is time and speed.

There are no shortcuts, but it means time and speed. And I am so precious of my time right now. I would rather be able to pick up the phone and call you, Suz, or send you a quick email and say, ‘How do I do this?’ Or, ‘Where can I find this information?’ Then going through all the stuff trying to figure it out on my own. And if it costs me an extra $1,000 to be able to get access to you, I would have done that sooner in my career.

But I didn’t, but now I do.

And that’s why everyone laughs when they try to sell me something, I go, ‘I’m gonna be the easiest sale. Tell me what gives me the most access to the person making the decisions. That one? Great! That’s the one I want.’

I’m always a self-learner. I love to learn, but I don’t like wasting time, so I tried to short-cut my learning curve by getting access to the experts – speed up the process.

One of my mentors, Brendon Bruchard, says, ’It’s better to have the map before you enter the forest.’ The more I’m able to do this, the more I’m able to help people as well. One of the things that I’m doing with artist right now when we do our on-boarding, is I’m really… one of the questions I ask them is, ‘Why did you come into my world? What were you hoping to get from me?’ And two, ‘What is your goal over the next 90 days?’ because I want to see how
realistic people are.

Expectations are pre-meditated resentments, and that ’s something I learned a long time ago. If you’ve got the wrong expectations and we know we’re not going to hit it, a lot of people will say that. They’ll just say whatever to get the sale. I learned a long time ago not all money is the right money, and I would, rather not have someone in on the front end then deal with a nightmare on the backend.

Same thing for you artists, just because someone is offering you $1,000 for a gig and you’re like, ‘Holy crap! I’m making $1,000!’ Well if they want you to play 5 hours and you can’t play any covers, you only can play originals, and you can’t repeat any of your songs, guess what?

That’s a bad deal. Because you may not have that much material.

‘But I’m making $1,000!’ It doesn’t matter. It’s not the right $1,000. It’s not the right situation, so I stopped looking at the money a long time ago and I started look at expectations and results, and that’s really helped my business also.
Suz: And what’s been your favorite part of navigating this music industry? Because as we said, it’s not easy, and you have learned a lot of lessons along the way, but what’s been something that gets you out of bed every morning? What is your favorite part of all of this?

Rick: You know what, I don’t know if I have a favorite part. I love challenges. I mean, it’s like I love waking up in the morning and seeing somebody leave a review that says that the podcast absolutely opened their eyes to something.

I mean I’m real big… because I don’t base my success or my clients’ success on whether they got a record deal or whether they had a number one song. When I see someone say, ‘I made three grand this month,’ that excites me!

When I’m able to tell people that, you know, you can wake up in the morning, conceive it, write it, produce it, shoot a video on it and get it out to the world without having to ask anyone’s permission and no one telling you, ‘No,’ that’s super exciting for me.

Suz: Well you’re definitely in the right industry if you like challenge!

Rick: I love challenging myself. Let’s be serious. I’m sitting here trying to come up with the right copy to get people’s attention for a Facebook Ad. That’s challenging to me! I want to figure that out. I want to go get on Instagram LIVE and I challenge myself to say, ‘I’m going to do an Instagram LIVE and I want to see how many people would want a free copy of my book or would want to pay for a copy of my book.’ I mean I challenge myself every day.

Suz: Exactly, and I love that you said that about challenges because I also always tell musicians, beyond just learning the business, you have to be okay with mess. You have to be okay with not having all the answers right away.

You just gotta do it and figure it out. And that’s gonna set up artists to make the most of their 2020, I want to know what you’ve got to make the most of your 2020! What’s on the horizon for Rick Barker?

Rick: So this year what I’m super excited about is that I am taking on 50 new management clients a month. That’s been fantastic. The reason I do 50 every month is that I on-board them personally. I’ve had some amazing folks come on board. But I’m also exploring and being brought in to be the education piece for a hip-hop organization.

And I can’t give the details just yet, but it’s a very famous record label who reached out to me and said, ‘We’re going to be doing all these various tours across the country and we want you to be the education piece.’ And it will launch at SXSW, which will be my first SXSW.

I am getting more things automated so that I can teach more through automation, so that I can spend more time with my management clients. And this year my daughter graduates and we get to go on our fourth-annual daddy-daughter trip, so I’m looking forward to that.

We started it when she was a freshman. First year we went to Toronto, second year Montreal, last year we went to the Grand Canyon and this year we’re going out to the Northwest up into Washington, we’ll go to Portland, Seattle – that area.

And I want to get my golf handicap down because now that I’m working from home I can go hit a bucket of balls in the morning at like 7 or 8. So that’s what my plan is this year. It’s just be more involved, hands on with my clients, get more systems and processes in place to be able to serve more people and spend time with the people that I love.

Suz: That’s incredible, so far it sounds like a very bright future, so I’m very excited for you for that! You know when we talk on this podcast a lot about music-preneurship and the ups and downs of running the business, we also talk about celebrating wins. And what is something that you’re most proud of right now?

Rick: 27 years of sobriety.

Suz: Nice.

Rick: Yeah, I mean I’m no good to anyone had I not hit my absolute rock bottom. I always tell people I’m living proof that your past does not define your future. You know I’ve got two teenagers that dig me. I’ve been married for coming up on 20 years, knowing that my mom was married 5 times and my dad was married 5 times and I’ve been sober for 27 years. So those are the things that I’m most proud of. Being able to do what I love doing, which is
serving people, that’s always been in my personality, that’s always been who I am, just knowing that every day for those that want me to make a difference in their life I can make a difference in their life.

Not everyone wants me, which is great. I tell people, I’m like sushi – I’m an acquired taste. But I’m also like the coastguard, I can only help those that are swimming towards me. There are a lot of people who are swimming towards me right now that are having such an amazing impact on the world with their music and I like being a small part of that.

Suz: That’s incredible. I love that. And something that I’ve gained, I’m sure our listeners have gained a lot from this conversation so far, but if I had to pick a certain theme about this, it’s that you’re in the drivers seat of your future guys.

It’s all about your choices and it’s about what you believe is possible. You’re the only ones who are going to limit what you believe is possible. As Rick said, if you constantly say, ‘I hate this,’ or, ‘I’ll never get this,’ or, ‘I can’t do this,’ you’re the only one standing in your way, so this was such a great inspirational conversation to have to kick off the new year and I’m so glad that we were able to do it.

It is now time for our rapid fire question portion.

Rick: Oooh. Alright!

Suz: This always trips people up! A lot of them, Rick said from the start, ‘I’m not here for any edits,’ a lot of my guests are like, ‘Can you edit this part out?’ Cause they take some time to think.

Rick: I don’t edit, man. You can’t edit life!

Suz: They always want time to think about it, so we’ll see how this goes. If you could go back and tell yourself one thing what would it be?

Rick: Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Suz: Mmm. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Rick: Teleportation.

Suz: Nice! Three musicians that you would bring to dinner.

Rick: Prince, Bruno Mars, Kurt Cobain.

Suz: Awesome! And finally, first of all I have to say that is the fastest any guests has ever answered these questions, so I appreciate you showing up to play.

Rick: Oh, ok good!

Suz: Every week on this podcast, I try to make this as actionable as possible, so I usually have a download or something – some little homework to give our audience to do, so since you’re my guests here I leave it up to you. What action would you like people to go take right now when they’re done listening to this?

Rick: Go to YouTube.com/RickBarkerMusic and subscribe to my YouTube channel. I went all in last year, hired an amazing YouTube coach, her name is Sunny Lenarduzzi, and she gave me a system on how to really be able to teach and provide value through video, so I would love you to head over to my YouTube channel and follow me there.

Also if you’ll hit me up on Instagram @rickbarkermusic, DM me let me know that you heard me here on the podcast. I spend a lot of time on Instagram, that’s my jam right now.

Suz: Final question, I’m just curious to your opinion being that you are ever-present on Instagram. What is your take on Instagram removing the likes? Or soon to be removing the likes on people’s accounts?

Rick: Yeah I’m glad. I mean I think that a lot of times people are lazy. Hey just swipe down and put a heart on something because they see other people have. I want them to go actually see that that content provides value. I’m okay with it. You’re able to see that you got likes, no one else is able to see it, so if you see you’re not getting any likes it means your content sucks so go fix it.

Suz: I love it. Yeah, I’m a huge fan of this. I think it will bring about a lot of, as you said, make room for the people that take it seriously and want to provide value and give to their audience. So as someone who is always giving to their audience, I want to thank you, Rick, for being with us here today. I’m just so thrilled we got to make this happen, so thanks and here’s to an unbelievable 2020.

Rick: Awesome!

Rick, once again thank you!

I’m sure you rock/stars listening took a LOT from this conversation so be sure to tell me your biggest “ah-ha” moments in the show notes! Head on over to www.therockstaradvocate.com/ep77 and let Rick and I know what the most impactful piece of this episode was for you!

And while you’re at it, if you haven’t already, subscribe to his podcast for more incredible tips around social media, fan engagement, stories from his career and more! A link to subscribe is in the show notes, but you can also head on over to www.rickbarker.com and find it there.

I recommend Ep 90 to hear more about his journey through the industry and why he took the path he did to get to where he is now. You’ll also find a TON of useful info daily on his social media channels so follow him @rickbarkermusic on IG, Twitter, YouTube and more!

So we did it you guys! We made it through the first full month of 2020. How are you feeling?

I know this episode may have given you a lot to think about, so give yourself some time to reflect and tweak your plan as needed. If you need more support be sure to grab a copy of the 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner while they’re still around! We’re already in our second printing and they’re going quick!

If you already have it, I’d love to know what your experience has been using it! Head on over to Amazon and leave a rating/review, send me a snapshot of it and I’ll send you a discount code for 20% off any product or service I offer, including my weekly accountability program – Rock/Star Slackers™

If you need the link to the Planner on Amazon, head on over to the show notes page where you can find everything from today’s episode 🙂 Again, that’s www.therockstaradvocate.com/ep77.

Next week we return with our regularly-scheduled programing, hitting on common mental roadblocks that keep us from reaching our full potential, so don’t miss it! There may even be a free bonus download involved…

Until next time, Rock/Star! Have a wonderful week and I hope to see you back here next week so we can get grounded to get rising! Take care.

Key Highlights

• Why Rick doesn’t consider himself an “expert” on social media
• Why he’d like the “weak musicians” to get out of the way
• What he believes is so powerful about social media
• What his sole focus is in 2020
• Why he chooses to help independent musicians
• What he believes is musicians’ biggest struggle
• His favorite part of working in the music industry
• What Rick’s 2020 looks like & what he’s most proud of right now
• What his biggest struggle has been as a music-preneur
• The lesson he’d go back and tell his younger self
• The super power he’d like to have
• 3 musicians Rick would invite to dinner
• His actionable for YOU this week: Connect with him on Social Media!
  • Subscribe to his YouTube Channel here
  • DM him on Instagram

Links/Rocksources

• Theme music brought to you by DC-based Indie/Pop band Sub-Radio
• More podcast episodes can be found here
• You can download a copy of the episode’s transcript here
• Subscribe to Rick’s podcast – The Music Industry Blueprint – here
• Subscribe to his YouTube Channel here
• Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
• Sign up for Rick’s Social Media Training here!

Get Your 2020 Plan On!

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