Presidential Microphone

It’s an incredibly long time before the next presidential election, but the coverage has already started.  

Even just sweeping through some channels, I catch a snippet of a speech or two from a presidential hopeful.

Politicians hold a mic a specific way, and its completely on purpose.

Politicians know that their face is an important part of the speech.  Their mouth, as a visual, is important to gain trust.  

So they hold the microphone in ways that, 99% of the time, everyone in the room can see 100% of their face.

That’s what people are connecting with.  They don’t hold the mic right up to their mouth.  They’re hand isn’t holding the top of the mic as to block part of the face.  Politicians usually hold the mic at the bottom and then position the top of the mic just below their chin.

It’s well known in phycology that covering up your mouth is a sign of deception, lying and uncomfortableness.

Great lead singers know that the way you hold the mic is saying something.  And usually throughout a show, the greats will use lots of different positions.

Do you have what it takes to let people see your face while you sing?  

Or does feel better to hide by letting your hand cling to the top of the mic while you basically eat it?

What if you held the mic delicately at times, like it was about to break if you squeezed too hard?

What if you held it above your head pointing down? What would that say?

What if you sang over the top of the mic instead of into it?

Is your arm out in front of you blocking your face?

Like I said, lead singers use all sorts of positions, but I think you’ll find that the easiest ones are the ones that block parts of the face and mouth, and the other ones where you’re more exposed make you feel a bit uncomfortable or resistant.

There are no rules, but the phycology is real.  Don’t be afraid.  Relax.  Let the people see you, see your lips and your mouth move.  

p.s. I know I know, you don’t have vocal compressors and reverbs and delays at your live gigs, and so you have to just eat the mic all night.  You could let yourself of the hook with those excuses…or you could dig in, face your discomfort and get better.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Apple Music Is Cool // Taylor // The Future

Surprise surprise.  Taylor Swift 1989 is on the very top of the new Apple Music page on your phone.  Front and center.  So although she positions herself to be cloaked in nobility via her open letter, she’s also making sure she gets paid for it.

Man, I’d love to see the email exchanges from the Apple/Taylor camps that made this happen.

I’ve had Apple Music for about 15 minutes now.  Looks good, works well, haven’t listened to the radio station Beats 1 yet, but that might be fun sometime.

Here’s some things that would be cool in the future:

-When someone listens to an artist more than 10 times, they get sent an email saying when the artist is touring near them and a discount on the ticket

-When someone listens to a particular song more than 50 times, the artist has created unique merchandise for that song that the listener is directed toward.

-In real time, artists can see how many people in a city are listening to their songs.  It might look something like a heat map.  And it’s all archived for the artist so they can see seasonal, daily, hourly trends.

-Maybe for a premium price, artists can know which artist someone listened to right before them and right after them, specifically.

-Not only national/international charts but state/city charts.  With numbers.  Numbers that can’t be bought or fudged.  And artists can search to see where they stand in each city, as far as streams go.

-Artists start only promoting Apple Music/Spotify etc so that instead of 30 million paid subscribers, there’s 300 million paid subscribers.  

You can sit and debate whether or not streaming is good or bad.  Have fun with that.  You’ll hash it out for a couple hours with a buddy and be no better for it.

Or you can embrace the fact that it’s here to stay and figure out how to work with it and use it for everyone’s benefit.

p.s. As for the ins and outs of the Apple Music software, I’ll need more time with it before I weigh in on it.  But I’m sure there will be a bazillion reviews and articles online by this afternoon telling you everything that’s good and bad.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Your Music On Apple Music

Are people listening?

That’s what it will come down to.

If Apple Music rolls out tomorrow and does at least half as well as Apple is hoping…we’re going to see a change.

Instead of knowing what people are buying, Apple will know what everyone is listening to, in real time, in the city in which you’re listening.  And it could be A LOT of people.

The data collection will be incredible.  We will see a connection with podcasts too, where bands who have a certain audience on Apple Music will get connected with people doing certain types of Podcasts.  And Apple will even make educated recommendations to the Podcast makers as to who’s music goes best with their Podcast content.

Apple will know what artists are big in which cities.  Apple could buy venues, book shows and know how to reach the people who listen to those artists.  There’s already the iTunes Festival, but I think we better get ready for something much bigger and broader after a year or so of Apple Music.

They’re just going to know so much more about what people like and how to give them more of what they like.

If people are listening to your music, Apple will know, and you will benefit (and so will they).

If you’re an artist, get interested in the data and less interested in the monetary streaming rate.  If you could use this data and people were listening to your music, you could easily figure out ways to make lots of money.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Next Level

Instead of asking why aren’t you to a certain level…playing theaters, arenas, stadiums, the SuperBowl.

Ask: For what purpose am I  at the level I am?

It’s easy to get really really busy ascribing purpose to the NEXT level.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Waiting For The Elevator

Pressing the UP arrow a bunch of times while waiting for the elevator doesn’t make it come faster.

But it sure does feel good.

Makes us feel like we’re affecting the outcome.

Pressing the Facebook icon on your phone to check your band page AGAIN doesn’t mean you’re doing work.

But it sure does feel good.

Makes you feel like you’re affecting your career.

In both cases, it’s probably better to just sit in silence and think about what actually needs to be done.

And then do it.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Jake Is In Big Trouble

“Jake! Jaaaaaake! Get inside right now or else you’re in big trouble!!”

I heard this yelled from a few houses down last night.

The thing was, I didn’t actually hear any of the actual words.  I just heard that rhythm, that cadence, the slight swoop up on the word “rrrrrright”, the emphasis on “big”.

I’d heard that phrase yelled a million times so I know what it sounds like.  It sounds like Jake’s better get inside.

Our minds do an amazing job of filling in words and meaning when we have a good handle on context and know what to expect.

So when you’re on stage and you say “This next song is called Twister on the Midwest Plains”, what people actually hear is

“Th ext so is call ocklesod oseopejsf psdfoplk”

People’s minds will fill in the first part because “this next song is called” is a normal, expected phrase to hear at a show.  But the title? There’s not a chance anyone will even be able to tell what you said….unless you are incredibly articulate, enunciate, and know how to talk into a microphone the correct way for people to understand you.

The next show you go to, some lead singer will say “this next song is called…” from stage and after they say the title, watch several people in the audience turn to the person next to them…they’re asking if their friend heard the title.

The audience has a list of things they expect to hear at a show.  So if you say those things, the audience doesn’t even have to hear you to understand you.  This is helpful.

But if you venture from that list (and I think you should), you need to venture into learning how to speak clearly.

We want to hear.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com