You’re Not Curing Cancer

You could be (helping at least), but you’re not.  

There are enough organizations and information on the internet to where right now today, with whatever level of formal education you have, you could devote every waking minute to any of these noble causes…

curing cancer

fight against hunger

fight against extreme poverty

fight against sex trafficking 

advocating for the oppressed

helping single moms

educating the homeless

getting everyone in the world clean drinking water

the list goes on…

BUT YOU’RE NOT (not every waking moment anyway).

So here is what’s important to realize: The above list are all really really good, helpful and noble things to do…that is the list you are GIVING UP to have a career in the music business.  

Woah.

So you better believe you’re career is worthwhile and take action, because you could be helping cure cancer.

That’s the trade off.

This afternoon you could dive into the fight against hunger…but instead you’re going to do a writing session. And that’s great. You better make it a valuable worthwhile writing session, because the alternative (fighting hunger) is pretty important too.

This truth brings a tremendous amount of realized value to what you DO, as opposed to what you COULD DO.

You COULD go feed a homeless person. Instead you’ll do that radio interview…you better make it a good one. You better learn to care for the person you’re talking with, the receptionist, the assistants, the uber driver bringing you to the station.

Because if you’re not going to place the utmost value on what you are DOING, why even bother when the world could use your help in so many other ways.

What you’re DOING and what you’re GOING TO DO is infinitely more valuable than what you COULD DO.  In fact, the list of COULD DO these days is so long its almost irrelevant.  It’s too much. You could do anything, and everything needs help.

Instead you’ve chosen this.

So you better make this really great. Care for everyone people involved. Lift up the world around you however big or small that world is.

The things you do matter. They matter so much.

Because the things you’re doing aren’t hypothetical, they’re not possibilities…they’re actualities, they’re real life, and they’re the things that need your best right now.

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

Physical Danger

Artists spend a lot of time on their devices…the emailing, social media, scheduling…and even songwriting is done with a phone or iPad in hand, laptop on knees, computer at fingertips.

But as songwriting has moved from sitting around with acoustic guitars to Logic grooves and midi…artists literally aren’t spending as much time with their instruments.

So when they get on stage to play their song, instead of having played it a couple hundred times already while writing it (so their hands already have the muscle memory built in)…there is a physical estrangement of artist to instrument. 

Sure it’s subtle. But when you don’t play your instrument a lot, there is a physical deficiency.

You can say ‘it’s just like riding a bike, so no need to worry’…but then it’s also worth noting that hopefully you’re not looking to just ‘ride a bike’, you’re not looking to just remember how to do it…you’re a professional and professional bike riders ride their bikes A LOT.

It’s not about remembering how to ride a bike, but riding at an elite level.

It’s not about remembering how to play your songs, but being a world class entertainer limited by nothing.

I’m not saying it’s the end of the world to do your songwriting on computers all day…I am saying that if you’re going to do that, then when it’s time to get back on the bike, you’re going to have some extra riding to do.

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

Paradigm Shifts and Innovations

An innovation is a new answer to an old question.

A paradigm shift is a new question, and thereby a new answer.

When the first iPhone came out we were all absolutely blown away.  I had a friend named Josh who was really into ‘all that stuff’ (most people weren’t back then) and he had watched the keynote…so he informed me that we were all about to experience a miracle.  He was right.

See…the first iPhone was a paradigm shift. It was asking a new question which was: What is a phone?

Subsequent phones were ‘merely’ innovations (new answer to an old question): How do we make the phone better? 

That’s why our eyes haven’t lit up like they did the first time.  

——

Another good example is Starbucks (tip of the hat to Purple Cow for reminding me of this…go read that book)…

I grew up in a very small town in Minnesota through the 90’s and early 00’s.  Coffee was for the grown ups at church and the farmers who bought it at one of three gas stations in town.

After I graduated high school and moved to Nashville, one of the first nights I was in town a new friend asked if I wanted to go to a coffee shop.

A what?

I agreed to go, but I had a lot of questions.

What do we do here? We just sit? Do I like coffee? How long do we sit here? Am I going to get in trouble for drinking coffee since I’m not a grown up or a farmer? Why are we still just sitting here?

Starbucks was a paradigm shift for asking the new question: What is a cup of coffee?

Now I get it. I love the new definition and utilize it every day of my life.

——

Paradigm shifts and innovation are both crucial.

There are countless high achieving, well respected, remarkable businesses that are built on each.  And different products within those businesses that may be a result of one or the other. (i.e. The iPod was an innovation…how can we put songs in your pocket easier and cooler than the other guys?)

The simple idea is this: be very clear with yourself and with your team about which one you’re going after, and then plan and serve accordingly.


Here are a few examples in music:

Paradigm shift: Napster- What is song ownership?
Innovation: Spotify- How do we make streaming fun, easy and legal?

Paradigm shift: The Beatles- What is a band? 
Innovation: Bon Jovi- How can we be a worldwide stadium band?

Paradigm shift: Bob Dylan- What can be said through pop music?
Innovation: Chance The Rapper- What needs to be said right now in pop music?

Paradigm shift: 1967- What is a music festival?
Innovation: All the other festivals- How do we make it feel more like 1967?

Paradigm shift: Spotify- What is a Chart? What is a popular song?
Innovation: TBD

Paradigm shift: new question, new answer
Innovation: old question, new answer

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

Building From The Show Up

If you start by building your career a great show, a show worth taking on the road, then when…

You’re label drops you

Or you’re agent changes agencies

Or your single flops

Or you switch management 

Or, or, or…

You can regroup with new and old team members and say…

“Things are crazy and messy and changing and uncertain BUT we have this thing called a live show that is really great, that people really like to come see, that generates great cash flow.”

No one can take it away, and you can take it with you wherever you go.

If a lot of people want to come see the show that you put on, the ‘emergencies’ of life in the music business become more like ‘inconveniences’.

*I started doing a thing on Instagram a couple times a week, kind of a short quote best of the blog. If you’re into that, follow me at gabethebassplayer

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

The Top

The top is going to feel a lot like where you are now.

True, there will be more zeros in your bank account and your phone will ring more, but other than that it’ll be very similar to the slow and steady increase in quality of life you’re on right now.  There’s no big jump when you make it on top.

The quality of relationships, contentment, level of loneliness, willingness to care for others, your width and depth of wisdom…none of that changes when you’re on top.

Being on top is just another day as it pertains to the journey of all of the things that actually matter.

So don’t be fooled by the top.

But don’t dismiss it either.

You can learn and grow a lot from the top…and you can learn and grow just as much where you are today.

p.s. The Top begs the question…What are you going to do when you get there?

And the answer to that has very little to do with your achieved position (the top) and everything to do with who you are, and what your intentions and values have been all along, and how they’ve SLOWLY been evolving.


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

Marketing Like Making Music

You know how to put together a song. Where the kick and snare should go, 2’s and 4’s, basic chord structures that work together pretty well and let the song flow.

Equal and opposite, and perhaps just as important…you know that there shouldn’t be 100 out of time cymbal crashes in a row while 3 different voices try and sing lead vocal, followed up by an out of tune organ solo, then half a chorus, then a key change, then a 9 bar rest, and finally a spoken word outro.

You know the flow of a good song.

Same thing should be true of your social media marketing.

The well written song is the metaphor for an artists remarkable social media. Ironic.

Instead, too many artists social media looks a lot like that 100 cymbal crash song.

Your social media should flow. Like a song.  The message on point. Clear. Concise. Smooth. A well thought out story.

You know how to write a song.  

Do your social media and marketing like that.

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