The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

The great philosopher, scientist, and author, Aristotle is credited with the quote “The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts”. But what does that mean? Depending on who you are talking with and the subject matter, it can have a wide range of meanings or perspectives. Working with Conquer Entertainment as a Certified Artist Developer, a position having responsibilities unlike anything within the entertainment industry, we often find it challenging for musicians to understand what is important in their career. What do we do, and how does Conquer fit into their life? The music industry has dramatically changed and as a result so must the thinking and action of the musician, as well as anyone involved within the music and entertainment industry. All too often the challenge is that service providers continue to do business as usual because for them nothing has changed; they still have to survive and it has always been off the backs of successful musicians. Unfortunately, these artists are no longer making the money they once did since profits from the sale of records and albums are a thing of the past. 

Quite a quandary this has become! How does an artist make money in order to pay all these different service providers?

So what do we have here? Unfortunately, it's what is normally referred to as a “dog eat dog” environment – but it does not have to which brings us back to Conquer Entertainment. You see, Amanda Ridinger (CEO of Conquer Entertainment) has always loved music which is why she studied music and the industry in college. Amanda surrounded herself with musicians and people associated with the entertainment industry and it was during this time she saw firsthand just how much the industry had changed through recent years and how profits from of the sale of records no longer existed for musicians. What was worse, costs for needed support and services remained and continued to rise... it was a vicious circle. And then it happened, Amanda had an epiphany… 

Rather than making money off of musicians, why not make money by helping musicians.

Pretty forward thinking and idea from someone who, at that time, had no experience in either business or the music industry however, by being surrounded by a successful entrepreneurial father, an entire entrepreneurial family, and hungry musicians, it was a natural deduction; a logical conclusion to the question why can’t musicians also make money from “their” passion. But where does it all begin? From an idea. And how do ideas transform into reality? By taking action and so Conquer Entertainment was born. 

It has been a slow process. Were mistakes made? Naturally! This was a venture, a course of action, a challenge which had never been taken, even by those within the industry who interestingly enough were best positioned to make changes given they were the professionals who knew just how the industry was changing, and why. Ironically, in talking with a few people who did have remarkable success within the industry, they admitted there were indeed significant acknowledgment and appreciation as to the challenges facing their industry, and ideas were thrown around as to what could be done however, no one could come up with ideas beneficial for musicians. It was not because of intentionally mean or despicable executives or service providers, it was simply because the mindset was stuck on what used to work. There were no fresh ideas, no one was able to think “outside the box”. So, even those having great and prosperous careers within the music industry made mistakes. With any endeavor, mistakes are just part of the process and are not in themselves bad so long as lessons are learned and built upon to create successful solutions, which was exactly Amanda’s mission.

After my weekend at a magnificent “fairytale” wedding with some very talented people, I myself had an epiphany… just what exactly did Amanda create? Wow! Has anyone really sat down and seriously thought about and fully understood the profound impact her idea could actually have on the music industry? Aristotle’s quote “The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts” hit me like a ton of bricks. But how could I explain it? Then I came across a brilliant answer and through their analogy to a question What does it mean "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"? the answer became obvious. In using the automobile as an analogy, it provided the perfect explanation to Amanda's idea, what she created, and the immense impact it will have for everyone within this industry. 

“…the 'whole' car is a combination of many 'parts,' with things like the carburetor, the fuel pump, the steering wheel, the seats, the motor, and so on being the 'parts' which work or function or interrelate together to make up the car which you drive in. You cannot take a drive somewhere with just one or a few 'parts' of the car, but you can drive somewhere in the 'whole' car... In other words, the 'parts' aren't just put together helter-skelter. Each part in and of itself has its own function, and it is the unique combination of the functions of the parts which, in turn, creates an altogether new function that didn't exist before the parts were put together, that new function being that of the 'whole.' Actually, 'organized systems' like this, wherein functions of parts interrelate together to form new functions…” (Notice the various companies whose parts were used in the making of this vehicle?)

I want to bring to your attention what I consider the operative word “function”.

It is not uncommon for service providers to sell musicians the idea they are “the vehicle” that will propel the artist to success. However, this could not be further from the truth. Service providers are a part, not the whole, as too is Conquer Entertainment – for unlike the car, these services are merely parts which should efficiently function together to make up the whole which in this analogy was the car. And, we all know a car is also described as a “Vehicle”. So, in actuality it is the entertainer or musician which is the “Vehicle” meaning it is the Musician that is the “Whole” which IS Greater than the Sum of all their Parts. What Amanda did was brilliantly put together an infrastructure and an environment allowing musicians the art of leveraging, a function never before given the musician, allotting them an opportunity which up to now never existed. An environment allowing any service provider to become parts of the Vehicle which everyone can enjoy riding to success on. It is a win-win for everyone. 

It is not just the manager, the publicist, the makeup artist, the songwriter, the promoter, the recording studio, the hair dresser, the image consultant, the endorsements, the personal branding, the fans, social media or platforms that “singularly” makes the musician successful. It’s the ability for the entertainer to effectively and efficiently integrate all of these resources into a cohesive functioning infrastructure that propels their future. And it was the brilliant brainchild of Amanda Ridinger, along with her father and a cast of literally thousands that are changing the music industry in a positive way, and not just for the musicians alone, but for everyone involved in this very “sexy” entertainment industry. How true it is that "Conquer Entertainment IS revolutionizing the way music — and all forms of entertainment — is marketed, produced and ultimately delivered to the end consumer."

Wittingly or not, Amanda embraced Aristotle theory which even transcend into the world of entertainment... 

“The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts” 

Enjoy one of our Conquer Entertainers Michelle Bailey performing with the Judge Talford Band

For more information about Conquer and a list of our artist can be found on our Conquer Entertainment platform.