28. Collab Doesn't Mean "Free Work"

In this episode of The Music Executive, host Cinnamon Denise explores the concept of ethical collaborations in the music industry, emphasizing the importance of equitable efforts and mutual benefits. Cinnamon outlines three key principles for fostering ethical collabs: being forthcoming and honest, mindful, and nurturing relationships. 

The episode provides practical advice for musicians at any career stage on how to communicate effectively, respect boundaries, and value various forms of currency beyond monetary compensation. The show concludes with a reminder to support the podcast and a feature of the song 'Trendsetter,' a result of an ethical collaboration.

Chapters

• 1:35 Creating Ethical Collaborations
• 4:31 Curating Ethical Collaborations
• 7:11 Cultivating Ethical Collaborations

Transcript

So you reach out to someone and you want to collab with them, or someone reaches out to you and they want to collab with you. Except red flag because collab in the music industry has become synonymous with free work. And to make matters worse, collab can even mean free work that also has little to no mutual benefit.

Yikes. But for all intents and purposes, I define an ethical collaboration as one where the time to effort ratio is equal. Or near equal for all parties involved, and there is a return on investment for both parties. Now, both of those things are certainly subjective, but they are non-negotiable. So how do we create, curate and cultivate ethical collaborations?

Let's talk about it. I'm feeling sentimental. Hey, music executives. Welcome to the Music Executive, a show where we dive into what it takes to build a sustainable and holistic music career. I'm Cinnamon Denise, your host and the owner of Sentimental Productions, a production company that creates meaningful music, media, and movement.

If you are a full-time, part-time, or hobbyist in the music industry, this show is for you. I started the music executive to address common obstacles that anyone at any stage in their career may face. Particularly the obstacles that aren't talked about that impact our mental. And physical wellbeing. Now, before we dive in, I'm excited to share that you can monetarily support the show to help us keep giving back to the community.

Become a supporter at the link in the show description. All right, let's do this. Music executives, how do we create ethical collaborations or collabs for short? One, we are forthcoming and honest, and I'm using we here because these are the standards. Regardless of which side of the collab you are on, whether you are on the giving or receiving end of the proposed collab.

Be honest about the things that are important to you and the things that you know are important to the person you're looking to collaborate with. So if it's important for you to know how much time a project will take, ask if it's important for you to know how much the pay is. Ask if it's important for you to know when the anticipated end date of a project is.

Ask if you are doing this project to literally work with someone you admire. Tell them that in a non-creepy way, and I'll probably do another episode on how to do all these things because there is a little psychological to it, but the bottom line is still the same. Ask these things, do these things, create a relationship that means something to you.

Create a relationship that means something to someone else. Create boundaries that you will abide by. Like if you know me personally, you know that I love me a good boundary, honey, and I had to learn boundaries the hard way in this industry. But they are beyond important to help you build and sustain a holistic music career.

Be forthcoming about how much you are even willing to give to the project as well. It's one thing to ask how much of a time commitment a project is, but your work doesn't stop there because your next thing is to communicate to them, well, this is how much time I have to commit to it. You're not being rude, you're not being unprofessional, and you're not being disrespectful.

Okay? I have worked with some high caliber folks and I consider myself to be even one of those high caliber folks, and let me tell you, any true professional. Is not offended by these questions. They appreciate and anticipate them. Sometimes they even proactively ask or answer them before you even ask.

Okay, so. If you tell someone, I can commit 10 hours to this project, but no, you can only really commit four, that is unprofessional. And it's a recipe for not creating a meaningful relationship with the other person. So this step right here about being forthcoming, being honest is a way to inherently show respect to yourself as well as to the other person, because you're giving them the option to continue or choose a different path for the project.

Don't try to finesse your way into something you don't have the capacity for. Yes, I know this is good advice in general, but I'm sharing it here on the podcast because I noticed this pattern with myself, a pattern of me not doing these things. And then as I became more sure of my own artistry, my own worth, my own values, I graciously noticed these patterns in others and myself and put a stop to them.

And quite frankly, I will respectfully decline or graciously accept collabs on this principle alone. So let's be forthcoming. And honest. How do we curate ethical collaborations? Number two, we are mindful. Pay attention to the people you are working with and what they have going on, where they are in their journeys, and find a window of opportunity.

So if I see a mixing engineer that is early in their career, they're pretty amazing at what they do. And they have a portfolio that is catered to classical music, but they only have string instruments in their portfolio. And I play the bassoon. Boom. We would both benefit from that collab in that same vein, that same energy.

I will see if they are trying to shift gears into a different genre of music and see if I can find another window of opportunity, an ethical window of opportunity. Also be mindful. Of what they may or may not be comfortable doing. A female identifying musician may not want to be in your studio that has five male identifying engineers at three in the morning.

Okay? So don't like ask, let her offer that proposition with that same energy. The male identifying engineer may have a family that he wants to get home to, so don't ask to start the session at 10:00 PM if you can help it. Again, these are just scenarios like, y'all don't come for me. Just listen to what I'm saying.

Use context as a guide for your collabs to continue to curate something worthwhile. Also, curating ethical collabs can also be you heavily promoting your collab with this person. And this is not just for them to get followers. For you to get followers, though, that's a plus. Like you may not even be on social media, right?

It's for them to see and know that you enjoyed. Working with them and that you would love to do it. Again, I can't tell you a single person who doesn't like being admired. Okay? So sometimes things are worthwhile simply because a person enjoyed it. I believe that currency comes in many forms, not just a form of money.

I believe that happiness is a form of currency. Always pay people for their time, right? Always pay people monetarily for their time, as best as you can. But please know, money is not the only form of currency. So curate your collabs by making something that that person wants to be involved in, not just this one time, but again and again and again.

Because not only are you curating a collab and you are paying them in the form of. Monetary currency, but you're also paying them in the form of enjoyment because we all know all money isn't good money. So curate something that also creates multiple forms of currency. And how do you do that? You use context and you're mindful.

Alright, let's go to the last one. How do we cultivate ethical collaborations? Said differently. How do we grow the collabs that we already have? We nurture the relationships. So if you work with someone and you couldn't pay them in the form of money currency, but you hear that someone is looking for what they do, put in a word for them, speak that person's name, pump them up, and you can do that now because you have created a forthcoming and honest relationship with them, you have curated, hopefully multiple CoLab with them.

So you should feel very comfortable and confident to say their name in rooms that they're not in. And do this expecting nothing in return, do it because this is you paying them. This is an energetic exchange of their energy, their expertise for that project that y'all did together. Now it's gonna bear some fruits for them.

Currency also comes in the form of learning, right? Like if I can learn something from a collab that I couldn't, wouldn't, or shouldn't otherwise learn on my own, then I feel like I am really benefiting from that collab. Example, as a producer, if I get to sit with an artist that plays an instrument, I've always wanted to know more about like a satar.

That collab will help me become a better producer. It will help me learn about a culture that I admire, and then I've truly received what I consider my fair share of currency. There people do business with the people they like, know and trust y'all. People collab with people they like, know and trust.

Friendship is a form of currency, and that's why I really started with creating and curating ethical collabs, because when you do those two things well, cultivating an ethical collab is child's play. It's extremely easy. And with this a little bit of thought, it's not much effort either. It's really the best part of this entire thing.

So to recap, to create, curate, and cultivate ethical collabs, be honest and forthcoming, be mindful. And nurture the relationships. Alright, music executives, that is it for this episode. If you enjoy the music executive, write us every view saying what your favorite thing about this show is. Let's close out this episode with a song that I wrote, produced, and perform via an ethical collab with my friend Jam Phelps over at Dang Studios.

This song is called Trendsetter and it is available on my bandcamp for purchase. The link is in the description. And shout out to Garrett, who recently purchased some of our work over on Band Camp ICU. All right, music executives. Remember, this isn't easy, but it is fun. I'll see you next time. You need to count your money better.