Going With The Label (To Freedom)

We're just about here - the release of Trilloquy is just two weeks away! Months of recording, editing, brainstorming, deleting, re-recording, traveling, and everything in between are about to be realized, and I couldn't be more excited! My current excitement hasn't always been there, though. I wanted this to be a completely independent project, but I was convinced by my co-host to do it in conjunction with American Public Media. 

Anyone who's tried to produce a podcast has surely listened to others, and that's definitely the case for me. It was hearing topics discussed on podcasts that could work inside the walls of classical music that inspired Trilloquy, after all. All of my favorite podcasts have something in common that mine won't have, though - they're all totally INDEPENDENT! What does that mean? Why does it matter? For me, the answer goes back to my ultimate life goal - FREEDOM. This podcast was supposed to be the first few steps in the miles and miles I have to go before reaching complete professional freedom, but starting the walk a little un-independently is what I have to do for now - hurdles and all. 

The first big hurdle in the road concerned Trilloquy's logo. After submitting what I'd already created to the Trilloquy team, I was presented with several different options for a logo. While it felt really good to sit in a conference room and let people make their logo bids to me, I didn't see anything like what I had originally presented. At that point I decided to postpone the entire process, because I felt like things were too quickly leaving my hands. After a few more meetings, the team helped me understand their vision behind the logo, and we're rolling again (even though I'm still waiting to see proofs). 

My limitations continued to grow over the next several days, including language, editing, and even publishing! When I had to agree to sell the internet domains for Trilloquy, I knew I was in deep, and went to a private corner to let a few tears out. I believe in this project, and the thought of it changing because I'm going with the organization (as opposed to doing it independently) still makes me very nervous, but the pros out-weigh the cons. If I want to reach the largest audience possible, this is the way. If I want to have access to the funds that will make traveling, interviewing, and developing easier, this is the way. If I don't want to have to sneak around and work on this podcast at work, this is the way. As the father of Trilloquy, I can't help but to hang on to some of my doubts, but my manager, and my Trilloquy co-host have both convinced me that this is the way. Plus, it IS an honor for an organization like APM to be interested in what was once just an idea of mine. Here's to partnership! 

My podcast hero, Joe Budden, explores this topic pretty regularly as it applies to the music industry. His beef with folks like SONY is that artists don't always get their just due - the label takes most of the money, and gives the artist enough to think s/he's making the big bucks. When it comes time for those artists to leave the label, there's some big time finessing that has to happen to take the music with them. While I've gone with "the label" for now, please understand I have a few finesses up my sleeve, in case I do leave American Public Media in the future. No plans to abandon the ship just yet, though - let's see what the first few years of Trilloquy look like first.

​To freedom!