Every 4 weeks, I publish deep dives into B2B thought leaders, breaking down the content strategy they used to go from unknown consultant to top tier personality.
Sia became an international pop star at the age of 35.
But she’d released five albums before then, her first when she was 17.
Those early albums, published through the 90s and 00s, weren't pop. She was a jazz singer and songwriter.
“[I was] minimally successful. Like, if I had quit, I would probably make a teacher’s salary [from royalties] for the rest of my life.”
Approaching 2013, she was exhausted.
“[I’d been] fully touring my guts out for like 14 years with average success.”
So, she retired from life as a performing musician and planned to work in the background, writing songs for other people.
Ben Maddahi, a music executive, subsequently made contact (through Sia’s manager).
David Guetta wanted Sia to do some topline writing.
Topline writing means that David Guetta sends her a collection of beats, Sia picks one, writes the lyrics and melody to go over the beat, and then records a demo with her vocals.
She picked the beat that would become Titanium, writing it with Alicia Keys in mind.
Keys turned down the song.
Maddahi approached Mary J. Blige to sing the track, but in the meantime, it was pre-released using Sia’s recorded lyrics.
The same thing happened again with Flo Rida and Wild One. Sia wrote the melody and lyrics and put down a sample with her vocals (intended to be sung by another singer), but the producers released the version with her vocals.
She wasn’t happy with her manager.
She didn’t want to be a pop star. She wanted to work in the background. Remember, she was this authentic jazz singer-songwriter. Up to this point, her lyrics were poetic.
But she did have an obligation to produce one more album with her record label.
So, she figured, she’d put these pop songs on the album, along with the others she’d been writing for other singers, and then she’d be out of the publishing deal.
“When I work with David Guetta, it’s like some magic potion, because whatever we do, no matter how turdy it is, it’s successful.”
The music is nothing like her material in the 90s and 00s.
“I feel like I have to dumb it down to a degree because then it’ll make it broader, less specific, because then it can appeal to more people… They can project their shit onto it much more easily. So, don’t be specific because then that alienates 70% of the world.”
She doesn’t love the music she makes, but she’s world-class at creating successful pop songs. At the time of writing this, Sia is the 58th most listened-to artist globally on Spotify, with 57.2 million average listens per month.
Sia started her career niche, then went broad.
At the other end of the spectrum, Amanda Palmer gets 189,00 listens per month—that’s 0.33% of Sia’s monthly listens.
She’s successful almost in the opposite way.
Palmer was a member of Dresden Dolls, a punk/goth duo. They weren’t exactly mainstream, but they were signed with a record label, had a couple of top-30 hits, and toured with bands like Nine Inch Nails and Panic! at the Disco.
Palmer decided to leave the band and go solo in 2009.
She didn’t sign with a record label, though.
Instead, she launched her career through Kickstarter, selling albums, merch, and exclusives to her ‘1,000 true fans’.
She made $1.2 million with that Kickstarter from 24,883 fans.
72 fans paid $1,000 each for a limited edition book she’d made with Neil Gaiman.
84 fans paid $5,000 each to go to her house party.
Seth Godin says that there are two ways to build a successful business.
Make something that’s of little value to many or something that’s of high value to few.
Both are successful in contrasting ways because they know what they are—they make their music and build their business accordingly.
Consultants like you or I come unstuck when we muddle the business models.
We develop deep expertise designed to be sold to the few, then replicate the content marketing model of an influencer who sells pop hits ‘dumbed down’ to ‘appeal to more people.’
If you’re selling pop products, make pop content. Follow the B2B influencer model. It’s a proven business model. Sell a little to a lot.
But, if you’re selling $50,000 strategic engagements, take notes from the other folks who market their business to build their authority with those clients (Some examples here).
‘Broad, less-specific’ content can get a bunch of viral likes.
It doesn’t get you 1,000 True Fans.
P.S. Story on Sia comes from Louis Theroux's interview with her.
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Every 4 weeks, I publish deep dives into B2B thought leaders, breaking down the content strategy they used to go from unknown consultant to top tier personality.
