What Music Band Nine Inch Nails Taught Me About Investing
- 8 Comment
 |
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) fame kicked some music label butt in this past couple of weeks by releasing a 36 track album on his own using only the web as a means of distribution. He racked up sales of a cool $1.6 million. I think this is a strong message for the record companies that things are changing and the middle-man is not required anymore. As usual, I looked at this from an individual investor perspective and came away with this learning:
The more people involved with your investments the less control you have and the less money you get to keep for yourself.
Ok, I admit I may be stretching things here looking for a logical connection between NIN and my dividend investing portfolio. However, I want to break this down into its two components and talk about each to make my point.
More Control
The record companies try to convince artists that without them they will be destined to low sales and poor album performance. Think of all the advertisements you see from banks and mutual fund companies that try to convince you that you will be a lost and poor investor without them. Sounds the same doesn’t it? Record companies and investment managers try to do the same thing – they sell fear and the believe that artists and investors cannot possibly do the job without them. I think NIN proved them wrong and I think investors can too.
Less Fees = More Money For The Investor (or Artist)
One thing Trent didn’t talk about but I am sure he achieved was that more of that $1.6 million he made went to him as opposed to middle men or record companies. Traditionally the record companies would get a large percentage of this money as marketing, promotion, and distribution costs. The same happens in investing – you give your money to a commissioned broker and he/she takes a large chunk of money right up front to invest your money for you. By choosing to invest for yourself in index funds you can avoid these middle-man costs and keep more of your gains for yourself.
Investment success depends a lot on knowing how to invest your money and then by keeping fees as low as possible. Both of these things can be done on your own, without the help of a middle man, broker, record company, or otherwise! It just takes some dedication, a willingness to learn and some strong planning.
8 Comments on this post
Trackbacks
-
http://dividenddollar.wordpress.com/ said:
This is a good analogy about cutting out the middle man. Certainly something we should all be trying to do.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:26 am -
Andrew said:
I cant wait to see Trent at voodoo in New Orleans. its always great to see people play their home towns. NIN always puts on a great show, but its a completely different level when its in New Orleans. Check out these videos of past NIN voodoo performances. http://www.thetenthritual.com/?content=video
August 4th, 2008 at 1:25 pm -
ba55man five said:
I have a website ba55manfive.com which has many sections. One section is bassgirldesigns we design and create websites. Another is Rayzor animations which is an animation company id love someday to be as big as pixar.
another section is music my own and other bands i am starting a record label. If you go to ba55manfive.com you will see many of the sections the site is still a work in progress. It is updated once or twice a week and will continue to be for many many years.
All i need money for is advertising to get the name out there and some music equipment and video equipment. I am willing to match what you give so lets start out with something small and once I make a profit which will be very soon I will match what you give
Thank you if you have questions please contact me at ba55manfive@live.com
October 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
[...] The Dividend Guy talks about what the band Nine Inch Nails taught him about investing. [...]
[...] nine inch nailsOwn a Wordpress blog? Make monetization easier with the WP Affiliate Pro plugin. What Music Band Nine Inch Nails Taught Me About In… saved by 5 others JLWilliamsOne bookmarked on 06/06/08 | [...]
[...] (NIN) fame kicked some music label butt in this past couple of weeks by releasing a 36 track albuhttp://www.thedividendguyblog.com/what-music-band-nine-inch-nails-taught-me-about-investing/Read “Re: Thrifty tip for online shoppers of all sorts.. new [re: Henrius]” at General Discussion [...]
[...] What Music Band Nine Inch Nails Taught Me About Investing The Posted by root 4 minutes ago (http://www.thedividendguyblog.com) Nine inch nailsown a wordpress blog make monetization easier with the wp home depot promotion code wrote nin fame kicked some music label no credit check instant uk payday loans with cash paid into your account the same day bankruptcy is a serious measure Discuss | Bury | News | What Music Band Nine Inch Nails Taught Me About Investing The [...]
[...] What Music Band Nine Inch Nails Taught Me About Investing The Posted by root 40 minutes ago (http://www.thedividendguyblog.com) Nine inch nailsown a wordpress blog make monetization easier with the wp email will not be published required website comment direct buy visitors pass middot debt a solid debt consolidation resource measure seek expert debt advice on various debt solution Discuss | Bury | News | What Music Band Nine Inch Nails Taught Me About Investing The [...]