I often suggest to program directors and audio producers that they observe and analyze other forms of entertainment - movies, circus, theater, etc. - in order to learn and be stimulated to produce fun and drama in their radio/audio product. Recently I ran across a quote from Rick Rubin that reinforces that.

Rick Rubin is a very successful record producer – in fact he has been called “the most important producer of the last 20 years” by MTV. The long roll of artists whose work he has produced includes Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lady Gaga, Metallica, Johnny Cash, Lincoln Park, and Jay-Z – and that’s only a small part of the list. He’s won a ton of Grammies. He likes to vary approaches; he once had Tom Petty write a song by using only words from refrigerator magnets.

In Tim Ferris’ Tools of Titans (a book I highly recommend), Rubin says “Going to museums and looking at great art can help you write better songs. Reading great novels; seeing a great movie; reading poetry… the only way to use the inspiration of other artists is if you submerge yourself in the greatest works of all time. If you listen to the greatest songs ever made, that would be a better way to work through finding your own voice today than listening to what’s on the radio now and thinking ‘I want to compete with this.’”

One of the things Rubin implies there is that the more you listen to your competition, the more like them you’ll sound – and you know (or should know) that “me, too” is a very bad strategy that rarely succeeds; it’s far better to be different. And when he says “listen to the best ever, not just what’s there now,” you might translate that in radio to “learn from the past.” Time and time again we see great ideas in radio go out of style, rarely or never to be brought back. Don’t be prisoner to current fads and clichés.

Tim Ferris captioned Rubin’s words with “Learn from the Greats, Not Your Competition.” That is terrific advice. Listen and research great radio stations and ideas from the past, and attend (meaning “pay attention to”) how great movies, stage and other productions like Cirque du Soleil get your attention, hold your interest, and magnify your enjoyment and engagement. It will all contribute to you and your product being differentiated in very entertaining ways.

(Tim Ferris is one of the world’s most interesting people, and Tools of Titans is fascinating and useful reading; so is his blog).