When Do You Become A Stadium Act?

After you’ve played one?

Do you have to be the headliner?

What about the moment just before you step on a stadium stage?

What about when the agent books the stadium gig?

What about when you’re rehearsing for the prospect of a stadium gig?

When you think you’re good enough for a stadium?

When you’ve been a good steward of the smaller gigs?

When you finally have pyrotechnics?


There’s just enough gray area to say…

When do you become a stadium act?

You decide.

***A few years ago Lady Gaga played at the 5 Spot in Nashville. A capacity of about two hundred. Was she a stadium act when she was playing that show?

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Support Isn’t Sustainable

You won’t be able to sustain a career by people coming out to support you.

People coming out to support you is what happens when you’re in your high school rock band and your friends and family come out to a few gigs so you don’t feel bad.

Support isn’t sustainable.

You will build a career by people coming out to be entertained by you.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Expensive And Meaningful Pictures

Per social media photos:

It’s not expensive to get a picture where you’re in the studio singing into a microphone. All you need is enough money for a microphone. And a pop filter to make it look real. Anyone can do it. And anyone does do it.

On the other hand…It’s very expensive to get a picture where you’re on the front of the arena stage with twenty thousand people are looking back with smiles on their faces and hands in the air. You paid dearly for that one.

The studio microphone picture is cheap and meaningless (except to the people who already care, which is important to note)

The arena picture is expensive and meaningful (as long as you’re willing to care)

So focus on the care. Both yours and theirs.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Key Contribution

Every Sunday I send out the Sunday Night Email to songwriters, producers and publishers with the latest Spotify and Radio charts along with how long each song is, the tempo and the main chord progression…and the writers and producers of each track. It’s fascinating watching the trends.

On the top of the email I write a little blurb before going to the charts. The one from a couple weeks ago is worth re-sharing here:

As songwriters the goal is to figure out what your key contribution most often is and then put yourself in a position to contribute that over and over.


There’s no sign up for the Sunday Night Email (yet), but anyone who drops me a message and wants to be on it gets added.

To make it extra easy for you, just respond to this email and say Subscribe.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

The Music Business Game

Maybe it’s not a game to be won…but rather a game to be played.

Where the reward for being good at it is simply the opportunity to keep playing.

The music business is an amazing crazy game of puzzles. And if you approach it with the goal of continually playing the game, rather than of beating the game, it’s a pretty great game.

***First Monday of the month: new Hum Love playlist up on Spotify and Apple Music.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Hype And Gasoline

Hype is really fun when you have the stuff.

Because when you have the stuff it isn’t hype, it’s gasoline.

So it’s important to remember: you’re in the business of fire not gasoline.

Keep building it.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com