The Vine

As I write this, I’m sitting in a coffee shop, Coldplay’s “Speed of Sound” is playing on the satellite radio, and it gets me thinking:

1) It’s trendy to hate Coldplay. If you want to establish cred as a musicophile, dismiss them as a ripoff of U2. (Or Radiohead. Or Creed.)

2) Sasha Frere-Jones and other critics be damned, I like their music. And if you’re being honest, you probably do too.

3) The reason they sell so many CDs is they’ve found a sweet spot on what Seth Godin calls the passion/pop curve.

The curve on the right is bigger and more lucrative, but more crowded. The curve on the left is smaller and more devoted, but more discerning. You can’t appeal to both (unless maybe you’re Apple…but you’re not Apple).

The danger is not knowing which market you’re serving, falling in the middle, and satisfying neither.

Know who you are and what you can do. Choose one. Be willing to forego the other.