Comments on: Business Lessons from Josh Groban

By: startupprincess

startupprincess — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:50:10 +0000

Hi Alice,
Thanks for taking time to comment and share your thoughts. Cynical? Hmm…not sure about that, I wrote the post at 2am when I just got back from the concert and was so excited about it I couldn’t sleep. I had to share how great I think Josh and his team are.

I agree with you that Josh is artistically talented! He clearly spent a great deal of time and effort on his album and it’s super–his best yet. My point in the post is that he is savvy in business too. It’s ok to have a marketing strategy! Believe me–I’m from Burbank, I have friends who are producers, they think about these things for months. In fact, I wish that MORE artists had some foresight for how to produce a show better and how to be more effective with their fans. The thing about Josh is even if he doesn’t realize there is a strategy behind what he does…he is effective doing things that WORK and that is why he is so successful. I wouldn’t ever say that Josh is motivated by money–he seems very genuine, but there’s nothing wrong with ensuring that you have a great tour, that your CD sells well, that your crew and team get paid well so that you can be on tour in another 5 years, even 10. No doubt Josh will be around for decades. His style appeals to young and old alike. I sat there with my mom, my husband, and my grandma! We all screamed, ‘We love you Josh!’

As far as this site goes–it’s not a Josh fan site. It’s a business site where I look at life experiences and comment on what is going well and try to encourage others to succeed. I hope that if anyone is planning a concert that there might be some ideas from this post that might be helpful (for example, spend time WITH your audience, be spontaneous, etc.)

Lastly, I don’t know where you live but in Utah reselling tickets is legal and people do it before every concert and event. I don’t have a lot of money myself and probably would not have been able to attend if I didn’t recoup the costs of the tickets, so we tried to be creative so we could attend. We waited 3 hours in line to purchase the tickets and so if you figure that in, we did a service for those who didn’t know about the concert and were delighted to get a ticket last minute.

Thanks for stopping by StartUp Princess! Enjoy your Awake CD. I love it.

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:13:40 +0000

Hmm, this is a kind of cynical post. Josh’s artistic directions are from the heart, and are not a “business decision.” Numerous interviews back me up because Josh is very clear on the direction he goes and why he does things the way he does. The direction of his musical career would have been quite different if he had been motivated by “business” considerations. His decisions are actually made in spite of conventional music industry beliefs concerning profits. As for buying tickets in advance and selling at a profit so you can go to the concert for free, well, the net effect is that students and people less well off will not be able to afford the tickets. And it is probably not legal. You probably won’t post this but at least you will have read some of it.

By: startupprincess

startupprincess — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:17:07 +0000

Aaah! I’m a very bad friend. I should have called you…it was Tuesday night. Sorry! Next year!! Forgive me!

By: Deborah Gardner, One Heart Bulgaria

Deborah Gardner, One Heart Bulgaria — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 05:14:11 +0000

KELLY! When was this concert? I would have loved to met up with you and go! Darn it, I missed it! You lucky girl.
Loved the post. Thanks for sharing.

By: startupprincess

startupprincess — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:55:07 +0000

Heather-Glad to hear you love Josh too! Thanks so much for sharing about Toms Shoes…excellent concept! I’ll buy some now that I know another child gets a pair when I purchase one.

Lori-Thanks for setting the record straight about the cowboy hat and elton john glasses. I guess his fans know him well enough that he’ll improvize with quirky gifts. It’s not just that Josh has fans–lots of singers have those, he has a grassroots marketing team with the Grobanites, too bad he doesn’t have an affiliate program where you can get a percent of sales when you recommend him/support him! I’d go for that. I guess you can do that with Amazon and iTunes though!

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 23:47:24 +0000

I enjoyed your story. FYI, the gifts are not planted, I know the people who gave them to Josh. Josh’s fans are truly loyal to him and he knows and loves it. Besides, no fans, no career. I am sure there is a lot of marketing going on. However, his parents and family are very involved with his life. He lets you get to know him through his music and humor. He actually is a big goofball. With Josh Groban, what you see is what you get. He works hard and it shows. Josh’s true fans call themselves “Grobanites”. It may seem silly to some. However, we are all like family. People from around the world (not just the States). We help Josh’s foundation and each other in time of need. WHAT MORE DOES THIS WORLD NEED RIGHT NOW THAN TO LOVE AND HELP EACH OTHER. I am proud to say “I am a Grobanite”. Lori “aka” MKqueenbee.

By: Heather from Mom 4 Life

Heather from Mom 4 Life — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:51:52 +0000

Very cool insights! I am a big Josh fan as well:). Isn’t it great how we can learn so much from others even if they are not in our field of work? I recently came across this website, check out their VERY unique way to help others and build an amazing name for themselves in the meantime: http://tomsshoes.com/

Heather
http://www.mom4life.com