Jon Bellion and Success
Extraordinary Opportunity, the Rule of 10,000 Hours, and Demographic Luck Helped Bellion Successfully Deliver “un-Pop things” to a Large-Scale Pop Audience.
By: Theo Schmidt | Business- Finance Major
Jon Bellion, exhausted after a seven-hour flight from London, got into the back seat of a cab in New York City with a dead iPhone in his pocket. He asks the driver to flip the radio to hip-hop station HOT 97. As the music started to play, Bellion exclaimed, “That’s my song!” The bewildered, 80-year-old cab driver commented, “You sound like a girl. You have a really high singing voice,” but still congratulated Bellion. With a wide smile and a laugh, Bellion graciously accepted the compliment (Tardio).
The cab driver wasn’t aware Bellion wasn’t singing that hook — it was the Grammy-award winning artist, Rihanna. She and Eminem released the six-times platinum hit, The Monster, in 2013, a song that co-written by Bellion and pop singer Bebe Rexha (RIAA).
In his New York Times best-selling book, Outliers: Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell argues that it isn’t simply hard work and talent that lead to success. He argues that success is a product of a variety of factors from practical intelligence to cultural legacies. After achieving more than 10,000 hours of practice by the time he was 20, his undeniable demographic luck, and receiving a few extraordinary opportunities, Bellion has developed into an inventive, successful musician.
Bellion’s love and obsession for music started at a young age. At age 10, his brother bought Triton keyboard on which he started to play the piano and make beats. At this young age, Bellion idolized his older brother; anything his brother did, Bellion followed. Initially, Bellion focused on beat making but eventually started to dive into singing, rapping, and writing his own music. In high school, Bellion would routinely stay up until 3 A.M. making music and only stopped after hearing his parents yelling at him from down the hall. Bellion’s fascination and obsession with music at a young age pushed him to produce his own unique music. While many children his age were just getting into music, he was already creating (Bellion on Letting His Music Speak for Itself).
After high school, Bellion chose to give up a basketball scholarship and attend a music school in New York, Five Towns College (Former Student Jon Bellion). While academics are an area of focus during college for many students, they were not a focus of Bellion’s. In an interview on Sway in the Morning, Bellion explains his college experience:
Basically, in college I was a horrible student, I was basically giving people beats and records and writing for people for them to do my projects for me, like papers. My school was so bad, people could go to class for me and just sign in for me. I would be making beats and I’d be like, ‘Yo, if you go to my class I will give you like three beats, something good.’ (5:54–6:14)
After about a year of college, Bellion chose to drop out of school. However, by this time (at age 19) he had already accumulated a self-written, self-produced, and self-performed library of over 1,200 songs. Bellion’s obsession with music gave him valuable experience and practice at a young age which provided a firm foundation for his future music career (Bellion on Letting His Music Speak for Itself).
In Outliers, Gladwell discusses the importance of practice and experience when it comes to mastery of a skill. Gladwell says, “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good” (Outliers 42). Gladwell references a study conducted by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson in which he compared the amount of practice to the success of pianists. In the study, Ericsson concludes that “the difference between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain” (400). In this study, Ericsson gathered a group of musicians, ranging from amateurs to professional musicians. Ericsson made two key findings. The first that elite performers had totaled at least ten thousand hours of practice, whereas the amateurs had only accumulated only two thousand hours of practice. Secondly, he found that there weren’t any people who hadn’t put in the work of practicing and coasted to the top purely off of natural talent (Outliers 38–39). Ericsson’s conclusions helped Gladwell discover what he calls the ten thousand hour rule. The idea that success is a product of expertise, which is something that only comes after an immense amount of time spent practicing the particular skill. From his bedroom at home to his college dorm room, Bellion achieved his ten thousand hours of practice at a young age which helped kick-start his music career.
While Bellion has catered to mainly a pop audience early in his career, his music doesn’t really fall under a specific genre. Bellion credits a variety of artists in a handful of different genres as his musical inspirations. At a young age, his mom would play seventy’s folk and rock singer Paul Simon on the way to school every day. As a teenager, Bellion saw the producers in music videos who were behind many of the mainstream hits and wanted to do that himself. Talking about Grammy-winning producer Pharrell Williams, Bellion said, “When I was young, I saw him dancing in the video, and I was like, he’s not responsible for the success of the record, but if it blows up he’s just the cool guy moving his shoulders (“Bellion on Letting His Music Speak for Itself” 7:23–7:30).” In addition to Williams, hip-hop artists and producers like Kanye West, J. Dilla, and Timbaland also inspired Bellion at a young age. At 19, Bellion’s sister introduced him to indie rock bands Death Cab for Cutie and Band of Horses. Bellion credits Death Cab for Cutie lead man Ben Gibbard as his lyrical inspiration (“Jon Bellion | Full Interview”). From classic folk to ninety’s hip-hop, Bellion drew from a variety of different sources when he started to create his own music. He pulls from different genres and different eras to create a unique sound.
In an interview on the Zach Sang Show, Bellion discusses the unique sound of his music. Bellion confidently claims that there isn’t any other music out today that sounds quite like his music. Talking about his platinum record, All Time Low, Bellion says, “All Time Low has finished two years ago. Two years ago! And in my lowly opinion, I think it sounds different than anything else to this day on the radio” (24:30–24:39). Bellion talks about combining the late hip-hop producer J. Dilla’s sound with a style of a pop record to create a unique song (“Making of All Time Low”).
In Outliers, Gladwell describes demographic luck as being born in the right place at the right time. Gladwell argues success isn’t just a product of an individual’s hard work and dedication. He argues that individual success is a product of the world in which an individual grows up. Gladwell examines the success of a variety of people and shows how their success was at least partially because of the time and place that they were born. Gladwell uses Bills Gates as an example. Many of the technological opportunities Gates seized simply would not have been available to him at a different point in time (55–68). Like Gates, Bellion was born in a time that made it possible for him to achieve a success that previously may not have been possible.
Bellion was born in the perfect point in time to bring a new, unconventional sound to the music. The use and importance of digital music and streaming services have grown significantly in the last ten years. And while online music is becoming an increasingly popular way to access music, radio is starting to take a back seat to digital music. In Paradigm Shift: Why Radio Music Adapt to the Rise of Digital, director of the music business program at New York University Larry Miller says, “Radio is now less of a tastemaker and more of a validator of the biggest hits often discovered on streaming music platforms” (7). The main purpose of radio is shifting from that of a tastemaker to a place that validates the mainstream success of songs. The annual portion of revenue due to streaming has grown steadily since 2011, growing from nine percent up to fifty-one percent of total music revenue in 2015 (Miller 8). Bellion released two free albums in 2013, another in 2014, and his highest selling album to date, The Human Condition, in 2016 (Discogs). Bellion started releasing his own music at a time when online music was starting to become a major avenue for discovering new music. Bellion took advantage of the growing popularity of digital music and released a free album that could be accessed on all the major streaming sites. He used these sites to build a loyal fan base before his music had touched radio. Bellion’s success has to be at least partially credited to the time period in which he started his career.
In Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, he discusses trends and what causes them. He claims that in order to start a trend or movement it takes a small, influential group of people. One type of influential person Gladwell talks about is someone he calls a connector. Connectors are people who know many different people from a variety of walks of life. Oftentimes, these people have many more acquaintances than they actually have friends (Gladwell, The Tipping Point 34–60). Their ability to build a large number of relationships allow them to be able to connect ideas between groups of people that otherwise wouldn’t be in contact with each other.
After dropping out of school, Jon Bellion decided to focus on his music career. He worked in a catering hall to stay afloat financially, but he still dreamt of doing music full time. He released a mixtape online which eventually fell into the hands of an intern at Warner Bros. The intern brought Bellion’s mixtape to the songwriter, former American Idol judge, and label executive Kara DioGuardi. After hearing his music, DioGuardi offered Bellion his choice of either a deal with Warner Bros. or a publishing deal. Bellion chose to accept the publishing deal and focus on writing and producing music for other artists before focusing on making music on his own.
DioGuardi is a classic example of a connector. She has worked in many different areas of the music industry across many different genres. She started in the music industry as a songwriter, where she wrote for a variety of different artists. She wrote for pop singers Jason Derulo and Iyaz, country artists Rascal Flats and Faith Hill, and even rock artists like Avril Lavigne and Santana. DioGuardi also appeared as a judge in American Idol’s eighth season. After her stint on American Idol, DioGuardi continued working in reality television in addition to running her publishing label Arthouse Entertainment (Kara DioGuardi). DioGuardi’s experience in many different fields is typical of a connector. Her work with many different people and in different areas of the music industry allowed her to come into contact with Bellion and his music. Her ability to connect Bellion’s product with other talented artists propelled Bellion to success as a songwriter and then ultimately as a singer and composer.
Bellion’s introduction to this incredible connector is an example of what Gladwell calls extraordinary opportunity. Success isn’t as much based on an individual’s talent as based on the kinds of opportunities that an individual has access to. Gladwell argues that when looking at any success story, there has to be some kind of lucky break. While Gladwell doesn’t disregard the role of talent in individual success, he makes a point to not put talent on a pedestal. He sees how personal success is the product of demographic luck, 10,000 hours of practice, extraordinary opportunities, and talent, not just talent alone.
Jon Bellion is very talented. In an interview with Sway in the Morning, Bellion admits that he actually doesn’t know how to read music. He took piano lessons as a child but never learned how to read music. He would watch his teacher play the song and after hearing, Bellion would know how to play the song. He says he hears music in shapes and colors, not as notes and tones (“Bellion on Letting His Music Speak for Itself”). The unique sound of Bellion’s music is evidence of his natural talent and knack for music. However, after taking a closer look at Bellion’s rise to fame, Bellion’s success appears to be a product of a variety of things. His success isn’t dependent on talent alone, but rather a product of a collection of Gladwellian traits he possesses. Bellion doesn’t prove to be an exception to Gladwell’s “Outliers”, but rather the perfect example.
Works Cited
Bellion, Jon. Interview by Sway In The Morning. Jon Bellion on Letting His Music Speak for Itself + Writing for Eminem & 5 Fingers of Death!, 16 June 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4vgM7c35e4&t=627s. Accessed 3 December 2018.
Bellion, Jon. Interview by The Zach Sang Show. Jon Bellion | Full Interview, 15 Sep. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4FVi8CLTWk&t=1479s. Accessed 2 December 2018.
DioGuardi, Kara. Kara DioGuardi: Songwriter, Producer, Singer, Executive. ArtHouse, 14 May 2011, http://www.karadioguardi.com/#bio. Accessed 8 December 2018.
Ellenson, Kim. Five Towns College Former Student Jon Bellion Wins Grammy Award. Five Towns College, 10 February 2015, https://www.ftc.edu/five-towns-college-former-student-jon-bellion-wins-grammy-award/. Accessed 25 November 2018.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Back Bay Books / Little, Brown, and Company, 2010.
- — -. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Little, Brown, and Company, 2000.
Mac, Ryan. “Breaking the Sound Barrier.” Forbes, vol. 191, no. 6, May 2013, p. 78. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.bethel.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=87304279&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 28 November 2018.
Mac, Ryan. “Breaking the Sound Barrier.” Forbes, vol. 191, no. 6, May 2013, p. 78. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.bethel.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db =buh&AN=87304279&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 28 Novemeber 2018.
Setaro, Shawn. “Jon Bellion: From Pop Songs to Pixar.” Forbes, 22 June 2016,https://www.forbes.com/sites/shawnsetaro/2016/06/22/jon-bellion-from-pop-songs-to-pixar/#6d7d15b81a72. Accessed 4 December 2018.
About the author: THEO SCHMIDT
Theo Schmidt, a sophomore business finance major from Chanhassen, Minnesota, hoping to become a CFO at a Fortune 500 company in the Twin Cities. Schmidt enjoys spending time with family, working with kids, and doing free modeling for New Balance.
What I’ve Learned:
First things first. In this class, I’ve learned that in classes it is especially important to take care of the most important things before you start to tackle anything else.
When it comes to speaking, there is no substitute for practice. Practice is the best butterfly tamer.
Outliers taught me many of the subtle things that play into individual success. In America, people are often obsessed with this “American Dream” and “Rags to Riches” tale where a character becomes successful through their own determination and talent. Success rarely happens solely because of determination and talent. As Gladwell discusses in his book, there are many more factors that contribute to success.
Small groups of people lead to social avalanches. The Tipping Point shows how small changes and particularly influential people spark social epidemics and outbreaks.
Tonsils. You’re better off without them.
Replacing an “is” or a “was” proves to be very difficult when writing. I’m struggling to figure out my next sentence without using an “is”. Using unique verbs enriches your writing and makes it more interesting.
The better you dress the better you feel. While I do like wearing comfy sweatpants from time to time, in general, I feel like I have better days and get more done when I dress nice. I feel more put together and like there’s nothing I can’t accomplish.
Jon Bellion loves Pixar movies. On his third album, The Human Condition, Bellion invested fifty thousand dollars of his own money into the art on the album in hopes to attract the attention of Pixar. He said his dream is to score a Pixar movie and that he would do it for free.
Good writing has a conversational tone. In Gladwell’s books, he sounds like he is sitting with a group of friends and telling stories. If I can learn how to sound like this in my writing, I will be a fantastic writer.
When completing a Scott Winter Inquiry Sem speech, 4 A.M. comes a lot faster than you’d think. I sat on my couch, trying to make the perfect speech that tied together my hero, Outliers, and my take on success. I tried to pull together the perfect blend of facts, stories, and takeaways and present them in an engaging way. While my final take wasn’t perfect, I’d say it was pretty good for finishing it at 4:15 in the morning.
