(First of all…please note the date of Friday’s post :)
Does anyone know a good mechanic around here?
There are mechanics everywhere but a good one is tough to find.
Somewhere, I’m sure, there is a good one, a great one. Honest, fairly priced, nice, relational, great work, reliable.
But the name of this great mechanic hasn’t reached me yet. His (or her) name is being passed around with great enthusiasm, but it hasn’t come across my radar yet….even though he is a GREAT mechanic.
And it does no good for this mechanic to advertise. What could he say that ALL the other not-so-good mechanics say? All mechanic advertising is the same…”We do great work at a great price”…but we know that it isn’t true, based on what we’ve experienced in the past with getting car problems fixed.
So we wait until we hear a friend tell us “I’ve got this GREAT mechanic…”
Moral of the story?
It takes greatness a while to make the rounds. Even when it’s top-notch.
A little patience, a little persistence, a little belief that what you’re doing is, in fact, great.
Breathe…if it’s great, people are talking about you. It’s getting passed around. Your name is coming up in a positive connotation.
It takes time.
Focus on being great, consistently putting out a great product, leaving people better than before they interacted with you.
The same Nashville commission that saved RCA Studio A has been working on Spotify royalty rates for Nashville artists as well.
They had been meeting with politicians on this even before “Save RCA Studio A” but in the wake of so much publicity for the studio situation, had to table the streaming royalty situation for several months.
But now the commission has finally come to an agreement with state and federal representatives for all Nashville artists to begin receiving 50 cents per stream starting in October of this year from Spotify (Apple Music is still pending).
It’s a HUGE win for artists in Nashville and the hope is that this change will spread to more and more cities and more and more artists.
Finally streaming will be an immediate revenue source for the many many hard working bands and artists here in Nashville.
Spotify reps have said they are indeed worried about the heightened royalty rate draining the companies profit margins but are willing to see how it plays out in the fall. They also said that on the off chance it goes really well, we could see a steady 5 cents/year increase over the next 5 years, to bring the rate to 75 cents/stream by 2021 (for Nashville artists only).
Yes! Victory! It’s all happening. I didn’t expect this increase so soon, but obviously it is a welcome change in the land of music streaming.
You knew the way your fans would respond (with unbridled enthusiasm)
You knew the way people would respect you for speaking and singing your truth.
You built this beautiful story of how you and your music would make people happy, or dance, or pump their fists, or cry, or change the world, or change someone’s night.
And then competition got thrown into the mix.
That changed the path. It turned. It sent you clamoring.
Competition made you afraid of the things you knew, the things you believed.
Competition only has room for one on the gold medal stand…and so what if the ideas were wrong, and what if it doesn’t work out, and what if, and what if.
It turns out that competition in music is one of the ways fear masquerades itself.
But you don’t have to come up with the answers (there aren’t any). You don’t have to compete.
You just need to remember.
Remember what you once knew so clearly.
Remember what your gut used to scream, but over the years and letdowns got silenced.
I have been sick on the road and then after the show I am not sick anymore.
I have been exhausted beyond belief and then after the show I am refreshed.
I have been on the down and outs and then after the show I am hopeful.
You can chalk it up to an adrenaline rush or whatever…but that can’t be it. Some of the times I’ve been healed by playing music have been in the dingiest clubs for the lamest crowds. Not a whole lot of raw adrenaline.
The music heals.
It’s a real thing. Music not only has the power to move, but the power to heal. Don’t forget what kind of magic and power you’re dealing with.
SIR has fantastic rehearsal studios in a lot of the major cities.
When you rehearse in your mom’s basement everyone shows up late. Everyone goofs off for a while, sets up sloooooowly, tinkers…ok now lets play a song…someone has to take a phone call, the drummer forgot to eat dinner, the singer needs even MORE of him in the speakers.
SIR isn’t cheap. It costs just enough to sting a little. Just enough for everyone to be aware that this is costing real money. There’s expectation now.
Magically, people show up on time (and the band leader is sure to crack the whip to make this happen). If you haven’t eaten, tough. If you need to take a phone call, you can’t.
It’s time to rehearse. That’s it. There’s a seriousness to it. Everyone expects each other to be on top of it, to be professionals (at least for a night).
It’s costing you MONEY to practice.
You take a step forward when you have a quality rehearsal. You’re perfectly capable of having a quality rehearsal anywhere, but spending money on renting a GOOD studio space for the night is an excellent instigator of revealing that quality.
Spending money on practicing makes the practicing more valued by everyone.
