March 23, 2012
A $64,000 Question Still Needs an Answer
Earlier today, a few staff members at AMP (including myself) had the distinct pleasure of meeting Darryl Knight, a true pioneer in both the mobile media and social media industries. For a little more than the past decade, Mr. Knight has been involved with a multitude of early-stage companies with impressive success stories. Indeed, he truly was "Mr. Social-Mobile" before the the terms Mobile Media and Social Media were even coined.
In 2001, Mr. Knight founded Arizan Corporation which was a well-known early entrant into the Mobile Internet. The company developed a content platform for email attachments which was subsequently acquired by RIM 18 months later to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
His success with Arizan led to a number of similar success stories with mobile and social media innovators over the last ten years. These days, Mr. Knight is the consummate "serial entrepreneur," holding different leadership positions at a number of companies including Wapple.net, MobileNext Group and Hope Now Ministries USA.
As soon as the meeting started, it was easy to understand the formula for his repeated success. He is incredibly insightful, polite and charismatic, an expert in all facets of both industries and, most of all, down to earth. He insisted we cut the formalities and call him Darryl.
Throughout the meeting, Darryl was very inquisitive about AMP and what our experts see for the future of the music industry. He fired question after question at us in a truly engaging conversation.
As the meeting came to an end, Darryl asked a question which completely silenced us at first. "If the Association of Music Professionals were were a person rather than a trade enterprise, how would you describe them and what qualities would they possess?"
After a brief minute, I finally spoke up and broke the silence for our team, "AMP is a membership association representing a very diverse and rapidly evolving industry. And, our members come first. We really would have to ask our members who best represents them and their own personal qualities before we can best answer your question."
With that our meeting concluded. However, I promised to get back with Darryl with an answer to his provocative question.
So what do you, our members and followers, think? Given the present level of uncertainty in the music industry, what one person (real or fictional) could best lead us out of the darkness and in to the light? Better still, what are YOUR best personal qualities and what's driving YOUR career in the music industry? Movers and shakers are curious to know!
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1 comment:
Okay, I'll jump in.
I am not that familiar with AMP, so my description / current recognition of AMP would be very superficial at best. However, my impression of AMP is simply based on its title - "Association of Music Professionals". In regards, I do consider myself to be in the category of that description. However, I know very little, if anything, of AMP itself, other than a few posts from a Facebook related musicians page.
If my career was a person, I would describe it as a rogue, "Lone Ranger" type of figure, living in a desert area with little artistic or musical civilization. Not meaning to sound boastful, but I often find myself in company of lesser talent. Yes, I find myself living in a small, rural area, providing professional entertainment, while the locals wonder, "What are you doing here, oh, great masked wonder?" Humorously, yet in all seriousness, I do often get that from folks. I'm actually at a personal crossroads in life where I'm contemplating moving to the outer Atlanta / Charlotte area to pursue music in a larger scene. An association of music professionals would be a very desirable entity at this stage of my career.
I would like to know more about AMP before I feel I can answer this justifiably. As an aspiring performer / songwriter / producer, it would b helpful to have the following available:
*Access to industry pros who would be willing to share input into the daily workings of the professional music industry on a major and sub-major (regional) level.
*Leads and connections to management entities and venues which are "pro musician / artist". (Such as in the construction industry, there are the Dodge Reports, ReedConnect, etc, which provide new opportunities for projects.)
*Inter-connections with other artists / bands / musicians who are progressively seeking a career in the music industry. This could be categorized regionally, nationally, world-wide, or perhaps even locally.
I hope this is a good start with my basic answers. I've just discovered AMP, and am more interested in perhaps offering, as well as gaining, information and coordination with others.
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