Art too can be seen as a value-generating endeavor.

When we put on an entrepreneurial perspective, we think about delivering value: to our customers, to stakeholders, to our employees. Money is fundamentally a representation of value after all—so we measure it meticulously to help us make decisions and motivate people.

It's fairly easy to pinpoint where value lives in a product marketplace exchange. My product X has value for population A; therefore, members of population A will pay Y dollars for product X, which is roughly the measurement of improved value in their lives. They are willing to pay for something if it's worth it to them—if it gives them a feeling, status, or utility.

But what about art? What value does music give its listeners? Let's riff a little and brainstorm what that value could be:

• A pleasurable listening experience
• A thought-provoking experience, perhaps—if couched in the right story
• Bringing together community members—a side effect of the art but intimately connected
• A place where status can be expressed—buying VIP tickets to a big concert can make you feel important and make others think of you differently
• Inspiring people to take action—whether through the message, the story, or in their own art by feeling so moved that they want to replicate the artist's skill
• Making people want to dance, providing a space to express themselves and move their bodies
• Offering an intellectual or spiritual experience, transporting them into another world
• Opening hearts, enabling people to feel deep emotions they may not otherwise access

So, what do you want your music to do? Who do you want it to serve?

After reading Seth Godin's This is Marketing, I find myself thinking about what "problem" my music is trying to solve. Who is it for and who is it not for? Who does it bring value to? How can I use this music to be of service?

The exercise of thinking about music through an entrepreneurial lens is useful, but sometimes I wonder if it's trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Does thinking about music in this way help us, or does it distract us from the fact that deepening in the craft and sharing music is an end in itself?