I learned about Cari Cole‘s Fastforward to Fame product launch from Bob Baker.  I didn’t know about Cari before, it seems like she’s a very well-established vocal coach and music career mentor.

After watching her well-put-together videos and participating in her one-hour free phone lecture, I came away with the impression that of all the music career instructions out there, she may be one the person who has the most comprehensive, most universal package that’s applicable to everyone.  I had mentoring calls with Bob Baker, I participated in Tom Hess’ Music Career Mentoring Program, bought books by David Nevue, so I’ve seen some material on this topic.  But while most books and training courses focus on the technique of music business (and I’m sure Cari Cole’s offering has plenty as well) few talk about strategy and even fewer discuss inner skills.

To me, what musicians really need first is not some “100 guerrilla promotion tactics” or “how to promote yourself on Facebook.”  We first have to focus on the inner skills — the character it takes to sustain a focused, multi-faceted and ever-changing endeavor — and then after that, a career strategy, one that’s specifically tailored to each artist/act.  Sort of a business plan, that outlines what kind of music you make, who your audience are, how you plan to reach them, how you plan to monetize your activities, and so on.  Then some of the techniques become more relevant, as you figure out how to find and reach out to and commune with your audience/customers.

Tom Hess’ program was a 2-year comprehensive course that included a lot of inner skills and strategy.  But Tom is a guitar player and teacher, so it’s easiest to adapt his strategy and approaches when you are like him.  Cari Cole’s overview, on the other hand, gives me the impression that it’s a lot move universal.  For example, here are the 3 “S”s she touts as the key ingredients in a musician’s Success:

1. Skill: put the time in to develop your signature sound, get feedback/guidance from appropriate sources to hone your craft.
2. Soul: know yourself, be authentic, align your life so that you have the capacity to succeed.
3. Savvy: figure out your positioning/branding, run a sound business, study the latest best practices on promotion, learn industry tricks and trends.

As you see, most music career stuff focuses solely on #3, but that’s really beside the point until you figure out #1 and #2.  And the world is littered with not-so-great music because nowadays it’s easy to get your music out there with a little savvyness even when the music itself is not that great and you aren’t really cut out to be a professional musician.

Now, Cari Cole is presenting herself as an upscale, slick offering — it’s a bit hard to to gauge her authenticity when everything seems so candy-coated and packaged.  With Tom Hess, I had no problem believing him because he was raw, intense and in-your-face, brimming with authenticity if not as pretty as Cari.  ;-)  Either way you go, you’ll probably get what you pay for — neither of them are cheap — so if you’re starting out and don’t know anything about developing your signature sound or how to strategize your career, I’d think about investing in one of their programs.

As for me, my needs can probably be better met by a long-term personal/artistic coach than somebody who gives me more information — I’m at a stage where execution is the most critical factor, not figuring out what to do or how to do it.  But I will be watching how Cari Cole establishes herself in the crowded marketplace of independent music industry.  If you end up investing in her offerings and have comments about them, please let me know.