Beyoncé: I Am... World Tour

I watched "Beyoncé: I Am... World Tour" on Hulu. Again. The first time, I only caught a glimpse of it and this time around, I jumping to the non-performance parts.The first time around, I saw a scene of Beyoncé editing the footage of the tour. She had a clear vision of the way she wanted the special to look and became director so as to see this vision come to fruition. Therefore, I watched the second time paying extra attention to the direction of the special.
I don't watch or purchase tour performance dvds, so I am no critic. I will say that if her vision was to show almost every performance within that 1 hour, her connection to fans, her as human, and as a boss, she succeeded. Beyoncé's career is not a mystery to anyone. Even if one is not a fan, one knows she is a singer, actress, fashion designer, and endorser of multiple products. Beyoncé hasn't really opened up too much about the way she runs her career. On the tour special, there were small glimpses into her work ethic (by small, I mean about a handful of short scenes). I didn't know Beyoncé ran her tour. She clearly has tour managers and most likely a 100 person crew but the first scenes of the special were her going over a lot of the details of the tour. She was involved.  In the end, I read some of the credits to know she is labeled as director, executive producer, producer, stage direction, and I stopped reading credits after that. The point is Beyoncé is in control of her career.
Not every musician has control; evident by the successful artists that are not getting paid or are clueless to the ins and outs of their industry. In fact, not every person is clued in to their career. If one sets out for a clear career goal (the path doesn't have to be so clear as paths are mostly unpredictable), take control where one can. Control gives you the best possibility of reaping the rewards of the hard work you have sown. This is not to say we will all become millionaires or do world tours but whatever rewards come your way, you should catch it. If someone controls your career, leaving you left out, they most likely will control the reward. The lesson is to understand that control, involvement, and rewards are all related.