The Music School at University of North Texas has a list of what they call "marketable" skills that each of their degree plans develop. Skills include:
- Performance communication
- Excellent memory capability
- Command of music computer programs
- Pattern understanding
- Improvisation and analytical capabilities
Now, as a former full-time musician myself and current corporate employee, I can safely say...
No one has ever paid me for any of this. Which is the supposed to be the definition of "marketable skills"—things worth paying for.
If you take Seth Godin's definition of marketing to heart (which I do), then marketing means creating change in another person. And to take it a step further, it means creating a change in them that also prompts them to "pay" for your skills in some way.
You will then see that none of those skills do anything like that. However, they may give you the ability to accomplish that goal.
Those skills might allow you to:
- Move another person so deeply that they become a raving fan of your music
- Leave someone in awe of your stage presence and artistry (so they'll come to more concerts and buy your albums)
- Create a piece of music so astounding that someone tells 10 of their friends (and they tell 10 more...and on and on it goes)
- Hypnotize an audience with intricate rhythms and on-the-spot creations so outrageous they beg to "know the trick"
All of these outcomes from your skill development lead to similar results: obsessed fans who tell other people and support your art because they can't live without you.
The skills aren't marketable.
But what you create with them and put into the world is.
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