Master/Pub/Writer

Three of the four primary pillars of music as a business are…

The Master side

The Publishing side

The Writers side

The more you know about these the more the business begins to come into focus.

Who owns what, who reps what, and for how long and how big of a percentage…and all the laws, language and norms that go along with it.

If you’d like a place to start, check out The Plain and Simple Guide to Music Publishing.

When I was eighteen years old I remember older Nashvillians telling me even though it’s confusing, pay attention to this copyright stuff. That was good advice.

***The fourth pillar is live music.

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

From 10 to 100

You’re already really busy.

But you want more, more something.

So you push really hard and instead of getting 10 things done you get 11.

You eeked out one more.

Now you’re totally and completely maxed. But you know how to get 11 things done and that’s more than before. So maybe if you just try a little harder, put in a little more time that you don’t have, sacrifice more of your life that you’ve already given away….

With the flow you’ve created and are accustomed to you will never get you to 50 or 100 or whatever the big crazy number is.

You’re going to have to do something totally different to go from 11 to 100. Effort won’t do it. Increasing work hours won’t do it. Sacrificing more won’t do it.

It’s easy to go from 10 to 11 because you just do all the same things only a little faster.

What about a big shift, a big change, an idea that makes you scared but is the only way to get to 100?

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

Money And Fame

You can tour clubs and make a million dollars a year.

You can tour arenas and make less than a million dollars a year.

You can tour clubs and be recognized everywhere you go as long as you only go places you are recognized.

You can tour arenas and there will still be a lot of places where you aren’t recognizable.

If you want a million dollars, both venues are good options. There are limitations.

If you want fame, both venues are good options. There are limitations.

What do you actually want?

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

Passion Follow Up

As a follow up to yesterday’s post…

It’s why VH1 Behind the Music is always good…and always the same thing:

Artist turns into a superstar and all their dreams come true and they’re wildly unfulfilled.

It’s because they still are who they are, just with more zeros in their bank account and a better shoe collection.

If music had the power to bring them passion and fulfillment it would have, they’ve achieved the toppermost of the poppermost, everything music has to offer.

Music is incredibly powerful but it can’t deliver on that level.

You bring your passion to music. Passion is part of your identity. You bring your identity to music. Music helps expose it, but it isn’t the thing itself.

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

Passionate About Music

I hate to break it to you but music doesn’t give you passion.

You bring your passion to music. (You bring your identity to music.) Music doesn’t give it to you.

Music might then ignite, unearth and expose more of what’s already there. But it’s not giving you more of it. And if music went away you would still have it.

Maybe instead of

‘I’m passionate about music’

It could grow into

‘I’m passionate’

Passion is part of who you are, your identity. Music is simply where lots of us go with it.

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

The ‘Don’t know what I’m doing’ Loop

It’s not that we don’t know what we’re doing…it’s that we know what we’re doing might not work.

And we know what we need to do next…but are we willing to give up the other things?

We’re scared we might give up the wrong things…so we keep it all…and if anyone asks we just wiggle out by saying we don’t know what we’re doing.

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