This week I visited the website of a fellow mastering engineer. I noticed something strange.
The content looked oddly familiar.
Well, turns out it looked familiar because I wrote it! Most of the content on his front page was copy pasted from my old website.
Most successful creators and professionals in the creative space will face exploitative people and plagiarism at some points in their journey.
I wanted to take this opportunity to share some thoughts with you, not as a source of frustration but as a perspective that may help you navigate similar situations should they ever arise.
Truth be told, I felt frustrated at first.
I’m not concerned about losing business over it. I share what I know with others all the time anyway. I feel happy if it benefits someone, whether in business or some other way.
More than anything, it’s a matter of respect and what’s right.
I sent him a fairly friendly email about it, but he claimed to my face his content is completely original and refused to change his website.
I feel sorry for our colleague. Even after being offered a chance to regain his integrity, he chose not to.
Trust and reputation are the cornerstones of a successful mastering business. If he can’t stand up to those values, he doesn’t have a chance to succeed in this competitive field.
What to do then?
There’s no point in dwelling on what is outside of our control.
It’s within our power to let go of the frustration and see the situation as an opportunity for growth and learning.
He’s not actually harming me (okay, perhaps my ego a little bit).
He’s living according to what he knows. He probably has enough to deal with.
It’s pretty hard to get through life without making mistakes. And it takes guts to admit and apologise when you goof up. I’ve been there, too.
The best I can do in this situation?
To not be like him. To maintain integrity, and carry on.
I have faced exploitation in the past. A memorable incident involved a big label changing the artist name and track title of a demo I had sent them, and releasing it without my awareness or compensation.
The fact is this stuff is a permanent part of our world as creators.
When we are making an impact, there will be others seeking to exploit it in some shape or form. The more proactive we become, the more it happens.
As people who are passionate about music, working diligently towards creating a better life through our craft, it’s crucial we maintain mental resilience in anticipation of these hiccups.
It would be more concerning if such situations never occurred!
Receiving encouragement is gratifying, but it’s incidents like these that truly affirm that we are on the right path.
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