Cohen and Collaboration

This week has been particularly difficult. It’s been busy and emotional and trying. From painfully witnessing the election results causing a deeply rooted divide in not only the country, but also the sisterhood at Converse, to legendary songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen’s passing, I didn’t think I could make it. However, as I was remembering Cohen’s accomplishments, I came across a line from his poem “Good Advice For Someone Like Me”, and it became my mantra for the week.

“If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick every day.” Just as the waves are not separate from the ocean, we are not separate from society. We cannot live with the notion that our individualized thoughts, ideas, and way of living is superior. We must accept that we are all a part of a bigger picture. Once we start to swim against each other, we all struggle to gasp for air. Relationships are the foundation of life.

This quote stuck with me throughout the whole week in my personal life, my work, my friendships, and even my classes. It especially resonated with me during our discussion on Friday about talent buying. The talent buyer is the ultimate socialite. It’s all about relationships and negotiation. The role of talent buyer is quite extensive. He or she books artists for their venue or events for which they have been hired. It is their responsibility to know their market and understand the music audience. They often work in close quarters with booking agents and the artists themselves. All of this is successfully accomplished through developing good relationships and working and negotiating with people to reach an agreement. If a talent buyer only drew up deals with his own interest at heart, then artists would never be willing to take those deals, leaving the booker high and dry.

Professor Jeter mentioned that people would take every opportunity to take advantage of him when he was first starting out at The Handlebar because he didn’t understand the field as well as other seasoned veterans. Make no mistake. He learned quickly after that, and it was smooth sailing from there. If you don’t have the stamina or know-how, you’ll be left behind as quickly as you started. Likewise, if you struggle to form good relationships in the music business, you won’t get very far.

There is so much to learn from each other when we are willing to listen. In my opinion, we could all learn from Leonard Cohen. I’ll say it again for the people in the back, “If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick every day.”