Mokhov

Although I’ve been mentioning the newly-opened royalty free music store Soundtrackster a lot, the energizing music and motivation show Blogger Beats is also going stronger than ever.

I feel my music continues to get better and better (although don’t hesitate to tell me otherwise), Nathan Hangen‘s topics for the motivation portions continue to impress even the co-creator (me), and the subscriber count continues to slowly but steadily grow.

Today I wanted to share the first published review of Blogger Beats (it’s not affiliate-related or anything).

The awesome Catherine Caine of the website Be Awesome Online deemed that she didn’t completely think Blogger Beats is garbage.

Seriously though, she said some nice things, describing my electronic dance music as a “musical sorbet: brain-refreshing tunes that leave no aftertaste” and commenting that Nathan “can pack a LOT of inspiration into those few minutes.”

Check out the full Blogger Beats review here.

Thanks, Catherine. I’m genuinely honored and encouraged by your words.

Curious to Try Blogger Beats? Get Your Free 7-Day Trial

If you haven’t given the show a spin yet and are curious as to whether playing it in the background will help you to work better on your project/business/writing/whatever, you can get a free 7-day trial of Blogger Beats.

If you’re an artist, you create and build your business. So why do the whole “blogging” thing? Especially if it’s become more and more passe and cynical with the make-money schemes?

Well, the crucial reason to blog if you’re an artist is to contribute to your field.

Steve Pavlina wrote about the importance of contributing to your field. He says:

A good way to attract interesting and inspiring people into your life and to boost your overall success is to actively contribute to your field. Contributors get noticed and attract new friends and opportunities easily, and contributing is much easier than you might assume.

He goes on to give a personal example of how his indie video game development articles was a crucial turning point for his business.

And later, much more famously, his personal development articles on his blog.

Blogging? The Ebook-peddling Ad-filled Sites? That’s Lame!

Hold on.

Now, the word blog gets a bad rap these days. At least, that’s how I’ve seen it. But I’m specifically referring to the original meaning of the term.

As a weblog. In other words, a web journal for your ideas and value-giving thoughts.

Not as a traffic-driving money-making me-too scheme. What with the endless ebooks, ads, affiliate links, and opt-in popups.

(That stuff sucks.)

Contributing to Your Field

Hopefully, that’s what I’m doing here on this site – providing you with my unique world’s-most-mobile-electronic-musician-perspective value-giving ideas and thoughts.

On creativity, being a profitable artist, small business building, and high-brow cheese discussion.

In fact, since my epiphany back in spring of 2010, when I realized I had to make a unconventional full-time living with music-making because that’s what I wanted to spend most of my days doing, this site effectively became a blog.

Not a make-money-peddling-crap blog, but a blog blog. A weblog. A place for my thoughts and ideas that maybe others won’t die of boredom reading.

So, in addition to all the music-making work and business-building I do, like the recently-opened royalty free music store Soundtrackster, I can contribute via this blog.

To the entrepreneur, creativity, and music field.

Because the crucial reason to blog if you’re an artist is to contribute to your field.

How about you? Are you an artist/creative/business type with an actual weblog blog? If not, if you feel you have valuable ideas worth sharing and enjoy writing, why aren’t you blogging?

I try to live up to my self-appointed title as the world’s most mobile electronic musician, so I want to update you that I’m now in California.

I recently made the trek from the Chicago area – where I was staying put for far too long.

Specifically, I’m in the lovely Bay Area.

I flew into San Francisco with fellow entrepreneur/music-maker friend Mike Callahan.

That’s where we originally planned to stay – until we quickly got fed up with the cold and windy weather. We both looked at each other and said, “this is unacceptable in the middle of freakin’ July.”

Don’t get me wrong, my Russian body can take the cold no problem. It’s just that, after getting my first tropical-weather taste last year, I realized the wonderful world of warm.

If I have the freedom to move around anywhere I want, then why settle for anything less than achingly gorgeous climate, right?

So right now I’m situated in Palo Alto, which is close to San Francisco – just a 50-minute Caltrain ride south.

It’s one of the cities that’s right in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Oh yeah, and it has a little university called Stanford.

Now, I absolutely love almost everything about San Francisco. The oddball vibe, the hills, the gorgeous views, the sea surrounding the city on three sides, the buildings, the parks, the culture + food.

I don’t dig all the dirt and homeless people, but what’ya gonna do.

It’s just the weather and constant fog that quickly got to me. I’m a wuss, I know.

So while Palo Alto isn’t jam-packed with San Francisco-level stuff, it is a lot warmer, constantly sunny, much more trees (and palm trees!), and closer to nature. I’m digging it so far.

And since it’s my first real trip to California, I want a true California experience. Meaning, the warmth, the sun, the palm trees, and the rolling countryside + mountains. Oh yeah, and the ocean. I’m in no hurry to find some “it” spot for me, I’m just casually taking this US-state-to-end-all-states in.

Oh yeah, and my favorite part of California so far, besides the ultra-comfortable warm-but-not-hot-and-humid climate? No mosquitoes. Seriously. None. At all.

And I’ve seen very, very few flies.

Awesome.

Anyway…

So the world’s most mobile electronic musician thing. Yeah.

True to that title, my work hasn’t been disrupted. All I need is my laptop, my phones, and an internet connection. Bam. All-in-one studio + office.

I’ve been continuing to make new electronic music for my ass-kicking music + motivation show Blogger Beats, for the newly-opened energizing royalty-free background music store Soundtrackster, and do all other work.

(Speaking of Soundtrackster, there’s only a few days left to buy your tracks for $20 off. So if you want to save some money and energize your videos and/or podcasts with premium pro-sounding music, act now before August 1st.)

I’m really excited to be moving around more while still being able to comfortably make music and do my business-related stuff.

Once I explore more of California, I’d love to check out the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and then start going international (I’ve had a few overseas trips in the past years, but those were more traditional vacations than location-independent living).

All while making energizing electronic music.

As I sit there, with my phones on, making a new tune, my scenery will constantly change. Whether it’s a Californian palm tree swaying in the wind, the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific ocean, or something else entirely.

Thanks for reading and letting me share my mobile musician update with you. Hope it was fun.

How about you? How is your unconventional quest going?

During a Beatportal interview, house music legend Robert Owens was asked:

What advice do you have for an aspiring artist?

He answered:

Be yourself and give you to the world.

So simple, yet so true. There’s no greater fulfillment and contribution to the world than having your work reflect yourself 100%. It’s the most unique value you can give, and you’re happiest creating it.

Like Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

But it’s tough to follow that advice, especially for us artists. From the earliest stages of our craft, we have pressure to be like the rest.

Our business, music, visual style, whatever… it all needs to be like everyone else.

And yet the most successful businesses, artists, movies, and any other work has always been the most unique. The creator(s) giving as much of themselves as possible to the world.

Coincidence? I think not.

I’ve struggled with being comfortable giving myself in my work – my writing, my electronic tunes, my business approach.

For the longest time I felt pressure to conform, so I did.

But the more I conformed, the less happy I became with my work, and people even told me that my tunes didn’t sound any different from similar artists – it was just a lesser version of it.

It took a while, but by trying and failing with businesses, projects, and electronic music-making, I became more and more comfortable just trusting my gut and going with what felt right for me.

Basically, being myself and injecting everything I do with myself.

And I’ve become the most fulfilled I’ve ever been and had the most results in anything I’ve done so far.

My latest electronic tunes, the writing on this site, and the businesses I build like the premium royalty-free background music store Soundtrackster and the energizing music + motivation show Blogger Beats.

Robert Owens followed his own advice, with his original voice being his unique creative contribution to the world. It graced his own tunes as well as other artists’.

Had he tried to suppress his voice and sing like the rest, he wouldn’t have felt as fulfilled and the world wouldn’t have gotten as much value from him.

So don’t hesitate to give you to the world.

Figure out a profitable way to do it, and not only will you be happy, but the world will benefit from your unique value as well.