Connecting with your kids is a challenge. My daughter is 14 and my son is 12. This morning driving the kids to their bus stops my daughter was frustrated Taylor Swift's song "New Romance" is not part of the Apple Music subscription. Sticking to Taylor Swift as a subject, we commented on how smart Taylor Swift is using humor in its Apple ad.
What my kids also understand is how smart Taylor Swift was in her famous letter to Apple pointing out the three month free trial would be a financial burden on many artists.
“ I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.
The letter was polite and to the point. Swift felt it unfair for Apple to use artists, especially up-and-coming ones, to grow its new service without compensating them for it. The counterargument, meanwhile, holds that the free trial could bring lots of free publicity to those same lesser-heard artists. The flaw there, however, is that Apple was asking those artists to make a leap of faith in the hopes of more followers and money in the future — but many small artists live essentially paycheck to paycheck, and they can’t stomach a quarter of reduced payouts.”
Apple then made a smart move and made a change, and talked to Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift is now a part of Apple Music and as my kids see Taylor Swift as one of the leaders in Apple's advertising.
Which then brought up an interesting point. Taylor Swift did a good thing. She was willing to stand up for something and possibly make an enemy.
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life. ”
Which then reminded me of how many times I've written a blog post to stand up for something and speak my mind. And, some of my best friends are now people at these companies who choose to reach out and have a dialog. After many more discussions we are working together on changing the way things are. Just like Taylor Swift. I won't point out those specific companies as that would probably get their PR groups stirred up and I want to keep my friends at those companies.
The story of doing the right thing resonated with my kids. Which was a nice ending. Then my daughter said why don't I focus on this blog more and make money that way. I then told them how hard it is to make money running a blog. But they were still interested in how it works. I told them let's talk more and we can go back and add advertising on the site and they can keep the money from the blog if they help work on it. They are both in for giving it a try.
If I could have a conversation like this once a week it would be great. Driving the kids to the bus is something I do whenever possible.