Five Hundred Dollar Bills

I can flip on my phone or the tv and get an expert opinion on almost anything.

BUT

When my dryer breaks and I call service technicians in town, there is no chance under the sun they will give me any sort of opinion, advice, ball park, best guess, best case, worst case, nothing.

The phone number is not for help. The phone number is for booking house calls for a hundred dollars.

The rest of us know if there was a number to get a professional opinion on our broken dryer (or washer, vehicle, computer), we would all call that company and hire that company and tell our neighbors to do the same.

Building trust might require you to step over one hundred dollar bills so you can pick up five hundred dollar bills…now everyone is happy.

***It’s the same reason why pictures with the artist are always free at the merch table…and why you should have a $500 item at your merch table.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Juxtaposition

We love a good juxtaposition…

The conservative one wearing an outlandish outfit.

The guy with a soft voice singing in a rock band.

Alice Cooper golfing.

Kanye giving life advice.

Nirvana doing MTV unplugged.

The punk band wearing preppy clothes.

Lil Nas X putting out a country song.

The funny one being serious.

The serious one being funny.


It’s a great tool. It has a solid track record especially in the music business.

How do you want to use it?

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

The Ringing Phone

Your phone will ring a lot if people can see opportunity for themselves in what you do.

If you don’t make it visible for them to see, they won’t call.

If you you’re faking it, they’ll only call once and tell others to never call.

If you’re not doing something where it opens opportunity for others, your phone won’t ring.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

The Size Of The Deal

No one has ever won an argument or made things better by telling the other person…

‘It’s not a big deal’

I’ve tried. You’ve tried. We’ve all tried.

Only to find that expressing the size of the deal doesn’t matter.

If someone brings up an issue, it probably matters to them. It’s probably a big deal to them and trying to convince them otherwise isn’t helpful.

We need to be willing to listen past what we think is the size of the deal and respond in a way that is more caring and thoughtful.

It’s a big deal.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

People Listening Now

Spotify did a big update on their Artist App a few days ago. It looks really good.

But the biggest newest thing is the metric taking up half the screen when you first open the app…

Number of People Listening Now

It’s incredible to have that information and it’s also the poison that will distract and disrupt many an artist from here on out.

The truth is, that’s a pretty good number to want to get bigger. It’s real listeners listening to your music. But as with any number…how many is enough?

I wrote a few weeks ago about Spotify Monthly Listeners and how you need 14,400 in order to average out having one person listening to your music every minute of every day. And artists and their teams are doing anything and everything to make that Monthly number go up.

But the truth is the Monthly number is a little difficult to digest and know what it means.

Now there’s a different game: The the manger is in a meeting trying to secure an opportunity for a new act. The manager takes their phone out, opens the app and sets it on the table and everyone sees what the number and watches in real time as it fluctuates up and down in real time.

That’s powerful. It’s real. But again, will we know what to do with it?

Here’s a quick math example that will probably surprise you.

So for an artist who has one million monthly listeners (which is a very strong number on Spotify)…what does that equate to for an average Number of People Listening Now?

Think about this for a second. A manager who manages an act that has one million monthly listeners and he opens the Spotify Artist App, what number does he see?

The answer: 70 People Listening Now

Is 70 a lot?

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

I’m Home

If you’re someone who’s on the road a bunch then you’re also very familiar with the re-entry period of coming home.

The transition on the road, off the road, back on, off is an art and science unto itself.

But here’s a little practice that can make a big difference…

Have a friend in town who you tell when you’re back home and when you’re leaving again.

The simple act of texting “I’m home” helps you transition into being back home.

The simple act of texting “I’m leaving for a couple weeks” helps you remember that the road is different from home.

The transition off the road back home and from home to back on the road is hard. And it runs wild here in Nashville and the rest of the music business. It has the power to tear relationship and marriages apart. I’ve seen it. You probably have too.

It doesn’t have to be that way but it takes a lot of intentional work to make it better, smoother and connected throughout.

“I’m home” is a great place to start.

***When you tell someone you’re home they’ll probably respond with something like Welcome Back. Which is such so subtly meaningful to all of us. To be welcomed home makes home an even better place to be.

***There is surely much more to be written on this topic, specifically in regards to married couples. I’ll save that for another time.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com