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Have the MonaLisa Twins already "made it?"
I was talking to my good friend, Chris Foster- who is an exceptional singer-songwriter. I have introduced him to the Twins and though he’s too busy doing his own thing to give them a whole lot of time and attention- he made it clear to me that he’s “very impressed- with everything!”
I told him about the debate I’m having with Howard about their operating independently or having a management company. His take was that no management company allows an artist very much, “artistic freedom” and “if that’s real important to you, the route the Twins have taken is exactly right.”
He also said something I hadn’t really thought of- “the Twins have already made it pretty big! I’ve been doing this for 30 years and have had a lot of people tell me I’m terrific. But I don’t have fans in Australia. I don’t have fans in India. I don’t have fans in the UK or Austria or…I don’t have 40 people willing to pay $13 a month to join my fan club. They’ve already had an amazing career and what comes next is a bonus!”
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3 Replies
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In my opinion yes and no. Yes in that they accomplished a lot so far and have a lot to be proud of. No in that if you have a special talent that can move people and make lives better, I think it is a virtue to make it a life long journey.  Some might define making it as reaching financial independence, that doesnt mean you have realised your full potential.
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Hi Jung. Well put again. I get the feeling the Wagners have already reached financial independence, if not financial wealth. I also believe they are on the road to achieving financial wealth , while bringing their beautiful vision to a much wider audience, without sacrificing their artistic freedom or compromising their values.
I don’t see any good reason for them to change their current business model as each step they have taken along their path so far, to my mind, has been in the pursuit of the creative fulfilment of their full musical and artistic potential, ahead of any financial rewards.
Maybe we are the ones currently receiving the rewards, but their time will come. More power to them I say!
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I had a discussion like this on FaceBook the other day. We agreed that it’s harder to tell avreally successful band now than it was in the 1960s. At that time, you rose to success on radio and TV music and variety shows (Ed Sullivan and American Bandstand, in the US.), as well as the music press, Mersy Beat and Rolling Stone. The TV formats don’t even exist any more, radio and the music press carry nowhere near the weight they once did. So Billboard charts, word-of-mouth, and YouTube viewership are about all thats left to tell if someone has broken through. The chat shows are still around, but bands have performed on many of them several times and never been noticed.
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