Sunday Song Email

On Sunday I’ll be starting a new weekly email (don’t worry, this one will continue :)

This weekly email is mainly for songwriters and producers.  I’ve been spending a lot of time in that world the past few months and wanted to do something specifically for them.

So here’s the deal…

Every Sunday night before the work week begins I’ll be sending out a list of the Spotify Worldwide Top 10 and the Media Base Country Top 10, and along with each song it will have the length of the track, the BPM and the main/chorus chord progression.

Even those few elements are really interesting to look at.  Spoiler: the Worldwide track length averages around 3:40…so much for 3 minute pop songs (and after doing some research the average length on the Billboard top 10 hasn’t been 3 minutes since the 1960’s!!!!)

So that’ll be the top part. I’ve been messing with the email text formatting for desktop and mobile and it should be pretty easy to digest the information quickly.

Below that I’m gonna list all the songs again but this time include all the writer and producer information.  True: It’s a lot of names, it’s a little more to take in.  But it’s pretty interesting to see who’s writing and producing all this stuff.

The Sunday song email isn’t a means to worship at the alter of the chart…it’s simply some useful information for the week. To know what’s going on. To help you get unstuck when you feel stuck. To learn something. To make a connection.

For now the only way to get on this new list is to email me that you want to be on it.  So if you reply to this email with the word ‘subscribe’, I’ll add you for this week.  If you have friends who want on the list, have them email me and I’ll add them.

Write on.

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

$500 Tickets To Your Show

What if you charged $500 per ticket for your next show.

That’d be pretty freaky right? Because what do people pay $500 per ticket for?

Something amazing.

Something absolutely pro.

Something they can’t get anywhere else.

Something they’ve been looking forward to for a long time.

Something that very well could be categorized as “the greatest night of my year”.

So…what would your show look like? What would you have to change in order to give them this type of value?

My guess is: if you close your eyes for a second and put the $500 ticket scenario in your head you probably have an uh-oh moment…a we-need-to-do-something moment.

Ok, you can open your eyes now…tickets aren’t going to be $500 to your next gig, but prepare like they will be.

p.s. Increasing the ticket price to $500 simply activates the part of your brain that is aware of the audiences hopes for the night.  But the hopes are there regardless.  The $500 brings renewed awareness and hopefully: action.



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

Stop Reading Lyrics

When you go to track the vocal are you reading the lyrics or living the lyrics?

Are you reading lyrics or feeling them?

Reading or immersing?

Reading or channeling?

It’s the art of SINGING, not the art of reading.

No wonder so many bands’ first albums have an extra special thing.  It’s because the singer has already sung those songs a million times on the road before making the record…and has all they lyrics memorized to the point of not even having to think about them.

It’s more than simply memorization.  It goes beyond that.

If you don’t even have to think about the lyrics, that’s when the subconscious and feel can really take over and do something special in the studio.

Do you think Freddie Mercury was using a lyric sheet for Another One Bites The Dust?

Can’t you just see Adele constantly referencing the lyrics on a Mac screen propped up in front of her when she cut the vocal for Someone Like You?

You deserve better than reading your lyrics.

Stop reading lyrics.

Sing them.

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

Good Cities And Bad Cities

There seems to be one primary way we define how much we like a particular city…whether a city is good or bad in our minds.

And I’ve been to a lot of cites. I’m sure you have too.

The factor that seems to steer the ship the most is: who you’re with.

If you’re in a city with a not-so-great reputation but you’re with great people, it turns around.

There’s a lot of cities in America I think are absolutely fantastic but really as I think about why I think they’re fantastic, it has everything to do with that I loved the people I was with.

A lot of the time the memory isn’t even tied to a specific action or event or what I did…it’s just a vibe, a feeling I get when I hear someone mention that city.

It’s not to say that what you do while you’re going from city to city isn’t important, it is…I’m simply pointing to the idea that who you’re with might very well be more important than what you do.

Because, unfortunately, I’ve had experiences in great cities doing great things with the wrong people and it taints the vibe of the city.

If you’re going from city to city, gig after gig, night after night with the wrong people…you just might end up hating a lot of great places.

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

OF COURSE They Were Able To...

…because they are different than me, and are the chosen ones, and never have to work for it, and they always win without trying, and they’re always lucky, and the rich get richer, and they were chosen by something in the universe to be very cool and successful and perfect.

That’s what you really mean by “OF COURSE they were able to…” 

1. It’s not true.
2. You don’t know them well enough to know if it even could be partially true.
3. As long as you view them as anointed, your brain allows that to be the excuse why you’re not as successful…causing you to view yourself as eternally not-as-successful…which will most likely cause you to be unsuccessful.
4. Get over it. You’re just jealous. And that’s a problem with you, not them.
5. Good news: you can fix you.
6. Good news: you don’t have to wait for them to start the fixing.

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

Your Best Song

Put your best song or latest song in a playlist with other songs that it’s like. 

Does it hold its own?  Are you embarrassed, or are you excited?

I know I know I know you’re the most unique artist ever and you’ve reinvented the wheel so you can’t possibly put your song with “others like it” because “others like it” doesn’t exist for your song.

Seriously though, it’s a pretty good litmus test.  With Spotify and Apple Music you have access to hear what your music sounds like next to anyone and everyone.

So if you say people who like that band and that band should like your band: put your best song next to their hits and find out how that feels.

Proceed accordingly.

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