Why do I have to collaborate, when I can do it myself?

To collab or not to collab.

Have you got what it takes on your own?

Do you need a bigger team around you?

How much have you invested in your idea already on your own?

If you are possessive of your creation but you don’t really know the value of it, this could be a major issue. Are you seeing the full potential and do you have the appropriate unbiased access in your brain or to the industry to see the whole picture? This is where collaboration could be essential for us all.

I’ve definitely been guilty of underestimating collaboration many times in my earlier adult life.  I thought I can do it without others. 

“I am good enough to get my music tracks to the big stage.”

“My DJ friends think the tracks are great and already play them out on their club nights”

“I’ve had artist/producer management taking their time out to come to speak to me.”

Yeah Paul, mate, that’s really not enough.

In 2002, I had been producing for 3 years and I produced a house track with great potential to be an underground banger over in Ibiza. A well-known record label boss from the White Isle showed interest and wanted one of their producers to work with me to push it to the next level. First of all, my ego quickly and irrationally came brimming to the surface and fought that it was already a 130bpm work of art. If he likes it, someone else will surely too and sign it. They didn’t.

I’ve been on the other side of that situation too, where my hard work on a deal with another recording artist wasn’t being recognised.  The artist management company wanted to push forward without me being included publicly and still use my instrumental tracks and vocal production.  I would effectively be a silent partner of sorts, where the artist gets all the commercial and visual recognition.  The deflation of my ego in that one-hour office encounter in Tottenham Court Road positively made me find and collaborate with other artists.

Instead of communicating immediately on both examples, I dragged my feet in the former, finding only the negatives towards collaboration and put my head in the sand in the latter, but finally learnt a lesson. My own naivety had put the “unseen” positives of collaboration in a blind spot (highlighted in the column below). I hadn’t entertained this at the time, because I would have needed a calm, measured, experienced and rational brain to find it. Bottom line, it was my idea, I spent my hours on it, I’ll own it, it will do fine and I don’t need to share accolades with others.

I have written just a few negative points on the left that I refused to counter-argue when working with others.  The right positive column was unfortunately not on my radar, when I was a younger creative.

BE NEGATIVE / TOO CAUTIOUS	BE POSITIVE / LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITY
They could take the idea and run	They could take a modest idea and make it into a life changer
They might not get it	Try and explain it better to them
They might not give you your way on decisions	Put a case together so strong, that you have to collectively decide on your way
Why own fifty percent or less of the end product when I can have a hundred percent?	What’s a hundred percent of a project with no substance and no longevity?
They are dragging their feet, losing the window of opportunity and the initial buzz of energy	Ask why they are dragging their feet – can they not add to the project and do they not see the potential and opportunity?
They haven’t properly “made it” before in the industry	If the idea is that good, then it might be their chance to make it, alongside your own

Being cautious with collaboration is not an incorrect method though.  You have to pick the right team to ensure success and this can take time (years, not months for some).  You may not even need them if you have the right methods, patience and the inclination to learn.  By teaching yourself or learning from others (a form of light collaboration and research) and executing ideas yourself, you could become multi-faceted in any area of expertise, allowing you to find the thing you really want to do.  You may come to the conclusion, why make music when you can sell it? Your new emphasis becomes guiding an artist to the next level, painting the big picture for the artist and the customer.  This is not for me, but its definitely worth investigating, if you have the mindset to do so.

Where is your energy in this process? 

Are you only addicted to the initial idea and first buzz?  If so, then making the track, or writing the premise for the book or drawing the sketch for the painting is the ‘juice’ for you.  This was true for me, without question; I was addicted to the initial buzz, not the marketing, nor the business or collaboration to get it to the next stage.  In my mind, at that stage, all of a sudden, the spark of opportunity from the initial idea became watered down and open to committee.  The initial creative buzz was in danger of losing focus and flow and I wasn’t confident enough to manage that process through.  In hindsight, that was a pretty limited way to develop an idea, but I was fine with this view because of my own idea of happiness.

Be honest.  Happiness is subjective. Which of the three fundamental types of happiness below applies to you in the final product and process.

1. Revenue opportunities
2. Respect from others 
3. Self-respect

You can choose two but you can never truly have three, so decide what makes sense for you. Collaboration in itself has the capability to drive respect from others, without the process going even further.

Why I must now collaborate

The longer I live, the more I want to work all types of people with different energies.  The pandemic cemented the importance of other people.  I missed the self-opinionated, the kind, the geniuses, the neurotic, the driven, the strong-minded, the chancers and with these multiple personalities onboard, creativity has many chances and forms of success. 

Are you being fair to your idea by not envisaging and driving where it could possibly go?  Why restrict the flow of energy and your own initial hard graft and consequently, why hold all the stress for the final product yourself?  People bring ideas, experience, depth, colour, character and if you manage that as a team, the right team will drive success and have fun doing it.  Just make sure those characters are aligned with your type of happiness before you start, allowing everyone to understand their role quickly.

Pick your own path, but collaboration is definitely worth weighing up. One chance phone call could be the difference between project frustration and ecstasy. Its never too late, I’m still learning.