Working together to reach a common goal
Introduction
Collaboration occurs when people come together to achieve common goals. Whether it’s two or more artists, an artist and a songwriter, or a producer and artist, collaboration is a great way to push your creative boundaries, network with new people, and grow your career.
For the sake of this article, let’s use the example of two artists coming together to collaborate. There are many reasons why artists would choose to come together to make music. Some are vain while others are more pure intentioned.
For some artists, collaboration is for their fans – always clamouring that they collaborate with so and so. Or like items on a checklist — they have certain artists they want to work with to gain a bigger fan base, buzz, or to piggyback on the hype of someone else. Collaboration might just be for the curiosity of exploring other sounds as well.
With collaborating, artists learn from each other, get deeper into their own creativity, build useful relationships, gain a bigger reach, and maybe even step out of their comfort zones. All these and more can be achieved if the collaboration is the right one.
So how can an artist find the perfect collaboration partner to work with? Let’s look at 3 important factors in finding a collaborator.
#1 Aligning Intentions
A great question to ask is how can artists ensure that they collaborate productively? First of all, the intentions of the artists involved have to be aligned. Both parties have to have the same vision and goal for the project whether it be a song, a joint project, or even a group. If the goals and vision of the artists involved differ, it’ll be more difficult to achieve anything positive from collaborating.
Jay-Z and Kanye West — frequent collaborators who went on to release the classic Watch the Throne
Think about if a pilot and co-pilot had different intentions for a flight. If one wanted the plane to end up in New York, and the other Tokyo, the flight would end up nowhere and it would be a failure.
If your collaboration partner only wants to write #1 hits for billboard artists, but you are writing to put out everything you work on, you’re probably not going to be happy when they don’t want to release the song you write.
Recently, this came into play for me personally when I failed to ask an artist what their plans were for a song we were working on for Sounds Sphere. I mistakenly thought the artist would want to put it out as soon as we finished the song and started making plans to do so.
Come to find out, the artist didn’t want to start releasing music until 6 months later! I was surprised and disappointed, but it was my own fault for not aligning my intentions with theirs.
Ask potential collaborators what their goals are for the potential project. Ask them what their intentions are and how they see the project going. Doing your due diligence ahead of time can save you a lot of pain later.
#2 Understanding Motivations
Secondly, understanding each other cannot be overstated. Two artists that want to come together to make a musical piece have to have a certain shared vibe since their energy is certain to affect the final product.
What motivates your collaborator? What motivates you? How can you both get what you want out of the collaboration? These are important questions to answer prior to diving into a project with someone else.
If someone is externally motivated they probably respond well to compliments and not so well to criticism. We as musicians have fragile egos, so checking your collaboration partner’s motivations can help avoid a potential conflict.
If someone is internally motivated, then their reasons for creating music are probably more pure and they’re probably easier to work with. “Success depends on your motivations” is a quote often recited that’s relevant here.
Being motivated for the right reasons (challenging yourself, meeting new people, blending styles, etc…) usually build lasting foundations and powerful networks.
While egoic and superficial reasons (using people for their name, taking and never giving, thinking you “have to work with so and so”) make you bitter over time and cause others to not like how they feel around you.
Without a rigid “I have to do it this way” in mind, you or anyone else, can feel more free to create. The music industry is tough and rejection is hard. But understanding your own motivations and your collaborators motivations can help navigate the experience so you can feel good and achieve a common goal.
#3 Synchronized Work Ethic
The work ethic of both artists comes into play when collaborating. Do you usually make music on your own at a slow pace? Are you quick, do you pay attention to details? Do you rely on extra help from other songwriters?
When another party is involved in the music-making process, both artists will have to adjust, but having similar work ethics can make the process easier.
It’s obvious having one person who needs frequent breaks and shorter days, won’t mesh well with someone who burns the midnight oil and wants to power through until the song is done. You’ll both end up frustrated and the chances of getting a finished product you’re happy with diminish.
This situation can be avoided by understanding how the other person likes to work. Ask them about how they deal with challenges and what their biggest problems are. These questions help you get a feel for their personality and what you can expect when things get tough.
This is one of the biggest problems teams have in professional sports. An alpha figure pushes other members of the team too hard to the point it turns them off and they don’t want to be on the team anymore.
David Goggins, a former navy seal and all around badass continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in his own life. His work ethic is scary to a lot of people.
David told a story of a friend who wanted to start running more, calling him up one day and asking to go for a run with him. David runs almost every day and has competed in ultra marathons, 100 mile races, etc… so this guy had to know what he was getting into.
After 6 or 7 miles at a ferocious pace, the guy asks David to slow down. David says “I’m not going to do that” and continues to run at the same pace. One of two things will happen in moments like this. Either the other party rises to the occasions and adopts the work ethic of the other person, or they fall off, get discouraged and quit.
In this case, the other guy continued to run with David and completed 15 miles at a pace they never thought possible.
The point is, make sure you know what you’re getting into with your collaborators and understand if you don’t have similar work ethics, you might face a choice of either sucking it up and continuing, or quitting and going home.
Conclusion
A successful collaboration is built on preparation and understanding the other party. But in the end, collaborating should be fun and enjoyable. It’s a dead giveaway that a collaboration isn’t a good fit if you aren’t having fun.
Finding artists to collaborate with is easier than you think especially if you have the right intentions, motivations, and work ethic. Whatever the reason you might want to collaborate, be it to challenge yourself or to build new relationships, keeping these 3 things in mind will propel your collaborations to be the best they can be.