Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

There are plenty of millionaires who would pay millions to hang a Van Gogh painting on the wall, but hardly one that would have ever had the crazy nut over for dinner. I feel like the big companies are like that with musicians. They'll say, 'We love music! It's all about the music!' - but if a musician shows up at the door, they call security.

Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

The purpose of money is to trade for things that make you happy. So if you can bypass money and get directly to the happy, you've saved a lot of trouble. And it makes others happier, too, when you organize your business around non-monetary things.

Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

A work-only zone does wonders for your productivity. So, I prefer working at the office now. I spend 8 focused hours there, then I go home to be present with my family.

Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

Distributing the music is so easy it's moot. So now the delicate art of calling attention to your music means everything. Marketing is distribution.

Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

I'm so into music that I just stop and listen, whenever there's music on. That's the problem with being a musician for so long. I can get lost in the bassline, fascinated with the arrangement, curious about the production. I can't shut it out.

Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

Everything I ever wanted to know I just ask a search engine and there's the answer. So the least I can do for my clients is share what I've learned.

Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers

For some reason, ever since I was a little kid, I wake with the most energy of the day, and it slowly declines from there.