Music Promo Blog: Challenging the Status Quo

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Challenging the Status Quo

by Peter Spellman

Someone once said, "Remember that the great wise men of the past held no respect for today's conventions, and neither will the great men of the future." If you desire to improve your world - or even your own situation - then creativity will help you do so. The status quo and creativity are incompatible. Creativity and innovation always walk hand in hand.

When singer Elvis Presley died, he left everything in a trust for Lisa Marie, his young daughter. Soon, however his estate was in terrible shape. In 1997, Lisa Marie's mother, Priscilla became a co-executor of the trust and found that if she didn't do something, and quickly, the estate was on the road to ruin.

During his lifetime, Elvis received less then half of what he earned. Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, had a contract that took 50 percent of everything right off the top. That and a lifestyle of free spending, meant that Elvis often found himself strapped for cash. Several years before he died, Elvis sold off the rights to most of his recordings to raise money. Consequently, his estate receives no royalties from his music, even though Elvis recordings earned more revenue for RCA than any other artist even after 25 years after his death. Add to that a huge inheritance tax imposed by the government, and an empty mansion, Graceland gobbling up money through taxes and upkeep, and you can imagine how bleak the situation looked.

Priscilla Presley was not about to allow her daughter inheritance to be eaten away - but how do you earn income from Elvis' estate without Elvis? Whenever he needed money, he would simple perform at another concert, make another album, or appear in another movie. Priscilla started to think creatively. First, she took the little remaining cash from the estate and invested it into Graceland. Rather than selling it, she opened it to the pubic as a tourist attraction. It was a great risk, but it paid off. Just thirty eight days after it opened in 1982, it earned back its investment.

Next, she severed ties with Tom Parker so that 50 percent of the estate's earnings would not continue being funneled to him. Finally, Priscilla began to treat Elvis as a brand, She even promoted legislation in Tennessee to make his likeness intellectual property, which would belong to his estate.

By using creative thinking, Priscilla Presley turned what looked like an impossible situation into a business empire that earns tens of millions of dollars each year. People speculate that Lisa Marie Presley's net worth today exceeds $250 million. Without the creative thinking that shattered the status quo, it likely would have been nothing.

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Excerpted from the e-letter, "Music Biz Insight: Power Reading for Busy Music Professionals" by Peter Spellman, Music Business Solutions.

Labels: Inspiration, Peter Spellman

--posted by Marc Gunn at Friday, April 13, 2007
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