Early adopters of a movement are usually the ones that profit the most.  Dieselboy was one of the early adopters of the rave movement in the 90’s and he describes how he did it:

 

"I'd see the post on alt.rave about a party five, six, seven hours away," explains Higgins. "It'd say, 'Plus more DJs to be announced." That's when he'd make his move: "I'd call the info line and be like, 'Hi, I'm Dieselboy from Pittsburgh. I will play for gas money if you book me at your party.' I was so small-time at the time that no one was going to fly me. So I drove around all over the place. I remember I drove 11 hours to play in Rhode Island."

 

You don’t always have to be the first person to be a leader or pioneer. CD Baby Founder Derek Sivers describes how a movement is made in his “First Follower” speech. It’s a risk to stand out, but it’s worth it to become the leader of a movement. 

 

 

Article written by Isaku Kageyama, music professional at Berklee College of Music, traditional Japanese drummer and new WeLoveYourSongs collaborator.