It's Not An Effort Contest
Andrew Hitz
"No one cares how hard you've worked. It's not an effort contest."
-Seth Godin
The music business, as with just about every single business in the world today, is a results-based business. It doesn't matter how long you spent studying the score. It doesn't matter how many hours you spent in the practice room. It doesn't matter how hard you marketed the event.
All that matters is how well you can conduct the piece. All that matters is how well you can play the part. All that matters is how many tickets you sold.
It's not an effort contest.