Panos A. Panay
President of The Recording Academy, producer of the GRAMMY Awards
R. Michael Hendrix
CEO, Huldunótur / Invisible Notes, former IDEO Global Design Director
A Creative Collision
Everyone likes to talk about the entrepreneurial mindset and the mythical “innovator’s DNA,” but how do we actually get there? Having taught dozens of entrepreneurship courses between the two of us, we believe that the conversation around entrepreneurship is talking too much to the left brain and far too little to the creative right. We speak to people’s logic but not to their hearts.
This book is the product of our own creative collision between the worlds of music and business. The two of us were first drawn to each other by our mutual love of music and our common start-up backgrounds. We both started businesses in our 20s — including a virtual textile sampling company and online music booking platform — that succeeded in part by challenging orthodoxies in our respective industries. Then, while developing and teaching courses at Berklee’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (based in part on IDEO’s world-renowned design thinking principles), we began discussing the commonalities between the methods and mindsets of musicians and those of designers. What designers call prototyping, musicians call demoing, while iteration is a key aspect of innovation in both disciplines. The practice of observation, which musicians simply call listening, is integral to inspired application in both fields.
Two Beats Ahead is both an entrepreneurship guide for creatives and a creativity crash-course for entrepreneurs and business professionals. Whether you’re coming to this book as an artist or an executive – or a creative spirit of any stripe – we’ll hope you’ll find new inspiration and perspectives in these pages. As we go through this journey, challenge yourself to see how you can apply these creative headspaces onto whatever you do, whether it’s shaping your own career, starting an enterprise, or bringing greater creativity into your current role or team.
Panos A. Panay is the President of The Recording Academy, producer of the GRAMMY Awards. He also serves as the Academy’s Chief Revenue Officer and is a Fellow at MIT Connection Science. Previously he served as the Senior Vice President for Global Strategy and Innovation at Berklee College of Music, the founder of the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE). He is also the founder of Sonicbids, a leading platform for bands to book gigs and market themselves online, as well as co-founder of the Open Music Initiative. He has spearheaded multi-disciplinary collaborations between Berklee and MIT; the design firm IDEO; and Brown University. Panay has been named to Fast Company's "Fast 50" list, IncMagazine's "Inc 500," and named as one of Boston Globe's "Game Changers" among other awards and honors. He has spoken about the future of the music industry on programs such as CNBC's Squawk Box, at events such as the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland and has delivered keynote addresses at events and universities around the world.
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R. Michael Hendrix is a CEO, creative director, author, and professor. He leads Huldunótur (Invisible Notes), a design practice that helps organizations, brands, and individuals unleash their creative potential. He also teaches at Bifröst University, where he shares his insights and knowledge on the intersection of design, culture, and business. Previously, he was a partner and the Global Design Director for IDEO, one of the world’s most influential design and innovation firms, and an Assistant Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music. He is an AIGA Fellow, a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader, a Marshall Memorial Fellow and a Fulbright Specialist. Michael has received upwards of 50 awards for graphic design, brand, digital and product design, including inclusion in the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. He performs and prodcuces experimental pop music as R.M. Hendrix.
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