The Sounds Of Brilliance
All great ideas start out as nothing more than a thought of a dreamer. Sometimes the dream stays trapped in the cerebral confines of the visionary, never to flourish. Other times the dream is mixed in with the one ingredient that makes it all come together…action. Without action and forward momentum, ideas just shrivel up on the vine, never to produce any fruits of brilliance.
The world is always looking for something different, something better, something out of the ordinary. Tim Westergren had a better idea. Tim was a musician who couldn’t get his songs played on the radio. That scenario probably sums up 99.9% of every musician who ever lived. Did Tim whine, complain and say how unfair life is? No, Tim did the one thing that mediocre minds can’t comprehend—He reinvented the very industry that didn’t want him. Much Like Mark Zuckerberg did with Facebook when no fraternity would pledge him.
Tim Westergren started Pandora Radio based on an idea to change the music industry…forever. The real irony is now terrestrial radio is killing itself to have an online presence to rival Pandora. It would have taken forward thinking to embrace Pandora when they were still in the idea stage. That would have required risk, and many times the fear of loss is much stronger than the hope of gain.
I am a huge fan of live, local radio. It is one of my true loves. However, I’m not so closed minded to think Pandora doesn’t offer another incredible entertainment experience. Like a big stack of your favorite cd’s. ….and that’s the real point. People embrace more ways of entertaining themselves. Radio listenership is actually up, even in the era of Pandora. When several restaurants open up next to each other, most of the time they all do better because that area has become a destination… If you watch TV, you can still go to the movies. The world wants choices.
So what’s the next great idea that the purveyors of the status quo think is a joke right now? I’m sure it’s out there, and it’s probably right under our nose. Never underestimate a dreamer with a plan to take action, and has something to prove.
