Generous Marketing

Last week The Real Group (of Sweden) shared a picture from their Japanese tour, where they were promoting fellow harmony group Rajaton (of Finland).

It’s not the first time: they shared a story with me of doing a gig in Germany for the second year in a row, and urging the presenters to book then-new Rajaton instead for the following year.

It doesn’t seem as if the market for virtuosic Nordic a cappella groups is so large that it warrants a competition-less attitude, and cutthroat American-style capitalism suggests that any gig Rajaton gets is one lost by The Real Group.

And yet.

“Generous marketing,” as TRG referred to it, speaks to the generosity of spirit of artists more intent on the art than on winning. There is room for more than one successful group, and their joint success exposes more people to the art they love.

Can’t we all approach our interactions with more generosity? What would change if we didn’t operate from a zero-sum mindset?