***

- Ти знаеш ли изобщо нещо за мен?
- Знам, че когато си наоколо не се страхувам. Освен това знам, че откакто те познавам, се усмихвам повече. Знам и че си един от любимите ми хора.
- Това са все неща, които знаеш за себе си - дотук няма нищо за мен.
- Да, но съм ги научил благодарение на теб. А, да - знам също така, че се чувстваш щастлива, когато се усмихвам.
- А знаеш ли, че ...
- Знам. И аз теб.

***

Yeah, just try and make me!

Well, one lovely lady surely did. Her name is Imogen Heap and in case you haven't heard of her and her music, it is high time to correct this and you can do so here. She is extremely talented and her music is great. But so is the music of a great bunch of other artists and bands. And while many of them have managed to find a way to promote and distribute their art independently and be happy with it, the majority is label-bound and hopes to sell some more copies of their albums legally. The problem with the second group is that fans do not always want to buy albums. Sometimes they prefer to download them for free and as an artist you just have to deal with the fact. Unless you have the superpower to somehow convince your fans that they have to buy your album instead of downloading it. It sounds heretically, doesn't it? And here comes Imogen Heap with a valuable lesson for all of us.

Today, she released her new album "Ellipse" and to be honest, for the first time since Sigur Ros released their latest work, the thought of downloading the album instead of buying it hasn't crossed my mind even for a second. And as much as I love her music, I'm pretty sure that there are bigger fans of her than me out there. So how did she do it? How did she succeed in convincing me that paying for this album is important? It is actually dead simple. Imogen Heap has a Twitter account. As you all probably know, it is free, everyone can join, if one wants. (In case you don't know about it, heck, I don't know where you've been living in the past year, but here's a link to the service, sign up and enjoy!) First step she takes with her Twitter account is that she begins to keep us updated on the recording process of the album. And she does it with praiseworthy persistency. It gets interesting. As a fan of music I'm truly excited about this, 'cause I'm getting the chance to learn how a favourite artist of mine ... well, makes her music. And that's very nice, 'cause basically most of the time I only get the end product. Second step: Imogen Heap starts posting videos of her, puts sound samples of the songs on Twitter and most importantly starts asking the fans what they think about the stuff they're seeing/hearing. This is where it gets deep. So, now I'm not only able to get first-hand information on the working process, but I'm also able to participate and give my opinion to it? This wasn't possible some 10 years ago when the Chili Peppers were recording "Californication"! Yeah, it's not exactly like filling the shoes of Rick Rubin, but it feels fancy and you know that the "Artist Almighty" on the other side of the line is, after all, human and wants to interact with other humans, just as you do (especially if they tend to be interested in his art). By the third step, Imogen Heap has already got my trust. The album is as good as ready and we're just waiting for it to be officially out. The conversation's relaxed now, Miss Heap goes to photo shootings for the covers, we're commenting on the photos and advising her on one hair style or another. She informs us about the different release versions and we're all eager to finally hear and see what we've done. Granted, most of the work's been done by her - heck, all the work's been done by her! But we're friends now and everyone of us feels as if he's contributed to this product. And that's why I want to give my precious 9-something (or whatever) Euro for it - 'cause I value it more now that I've taken part in it, watched it grow and communicated with it's creator.

In conclusion, here are the three golden keywords you gotta know, if you want to sell me an album: trust, communication, participation. Gain my trust by communicating with me about your work and letting me participate in it. Easy, easy, easy! And not only easy, but also possible in the age of Twitter and all other kinds of social media. And, of course, this does not go only for musical albums - it goes for practically anything from consumer goods to all kinds of services. And we've been talking about this emerging changes and re-definiton of customer relationships for over 2 years now. It's pretty much time for the world to start listening.

P.S. On the music industry: sure, this is a single case and I do admit, that if, hypothetically, every artist I like starts following Imogen Heap's model and makes me wanna buy his album, I soon will be out of funds. But in the current situation, when the stubbornness (to say the least) of the music industry doesn't allow itself to see and correct its flaws, artists like Imogen Heap, Amanda Palmer, Mike Skinner, Trent Reznor, Radiohead and probably many others I can't name right now are raising awareness flags and changing the ways we filter and listen to music. Hopefully the right people will see it and maybe something positive will come out of this in the next 10 years - will write about the issue again in 2019 ( :

Will you?

DO!

She is right there in front of you. You know her for a certain time now. You like talking to her. Spending time with her has always made your day. You smile. She smiles.

You touch her cheek. You start caressing her hair. This lasts a while. You move closer. The air between you and her has become thicker. There's tension in it. It's like some kind of invisible obstacle you both have to overcome to reach each other. You do. You kiss her. She kisses you back. Her lips are so delicate that you feel as you're protecting them with yours. You slowly start taking her clothes off. You're excited. You're impatient. Still, you don't want to push this. Feeling every moment is important. You touch her skin. It's soft and you already know this, 'cause you've been holding her hand before during walks. Her hair smells good and you already know that too, 'cause it was the thing that impressed you the most when you first hugged her. You're feeling her with your lips. You follow her curves with your hands. You follow her body's motions with yours. You listen to her breath. You try to adjust yourself to it. It's like playing music. You seek harmony.

And then there's this thing, we refer to as "sex".

And then there's after that. You lie next to each other. You're holding her in your arms really tight. Still, you're very careful. She's so gentle. It's like hugging a flower. You kiss her. You look at her. You want her to smile. She smiles. You smile. The air around you sways lazily. Everything's calm. Everything's quiet. Silence. Happiness.

Now, tell me: does this look to you as a mere, regular, physical experience? Well, I suppose I could accept that explanation. But for me there's more to it. It's like an emotional landscape you paint with your imagination. And, of course, there are also all these things I cannot describe, 'cause there are no words for them. Add them to the whole story and maybe, just maybe, you'll be somewhere near the full picture of what we refer to as "magic".

I am not a brave knight. (I'm an economics student.) I do not own a white horse. (I own a soul, though.) I am neither blue-eyed, nor green-eyed. (My eyes are brown.) I am not tall, my body is not muscular. (I'm 5' 11" and pretty slim.) I am not blond, neither am I black-haired. (I'm brown-haired.) I am not Swedish, British, Italian, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Polish, Irish, Russian or German. (I'm Bulgarian.) I am not a famous musician and I don't play in a band. (I play the bass for fun and sometimes I do it with friends as well.) I am not a well-known sportsman. (Although I truly love sports.) I am not extremely witty or funny. (I can make you laugh from time to time.) I am not the actor you saw in "The Notebook", "Fight Club", "Blood Diamond", "Minority Report", "The Departed" or any other movie. (I am that guy you saw on the street that day.) I am not a superhero. (Although I always try to help people when I can.) I do not always understand you. (But I will always try to.) I am not perfect and I am not what you imagined I should be. (But I am human and I seek to improve and develop.)