What Exactly Are We Doing Wrong?

Wednesday I received a near-fatal overdose of rock & roll. The Mayhem Festival in Seattle Washington was a 12-hour onslaught of metal. Featured bands like Disturbed, Airborne, Dragonforce. Great show. Good pit. I went with my brother, an added bonus.

Much as I love my heavy metal, I have to say it got me thinking.

The festival drew at least 10,000 people. My tickets (in the cheap seats) were $40. Expensive floor admission was much higher. That right there is half a million dollars. Ad concessions (including $8 beers), tshirts, etc and that's gotta be a million dollars in one day. And the tour has 30 dates. Even assuming the Seattle gig was average (and it's probably low), you're looking at 30 million dollars and 300,000 people.

That's for a freakin' rock & roll concert. A good time (a great time -- good concerts were my first and still my favorite experience with satori). But still, 30 million bucks and 300,000 people to watch some guys in leather play their guitars and sing about angst for a few hours?

Meanwhile, karate schools are experiencing a brutal year and poor coach Tom is having kittens over how hard it is to get martial artists motivated.

Our message is more affirming. Our product is better for you. And yet nobody's gonna drop $50 and wait in line for an hour to come play with us. What exactly are we doing wrong?

Thanks for listening.