Showing The Music

The song you wrote today…You could post a version of it right now. It’s probably a decent song. It’s got a verse and a chorus and a post chorus hook.

So why wouldn’t you? Because you’re holding it back in order to make it better before you let people hear it.

Makes sense. If you hold it back and it becomes a lot better, then it was worth the wait.

But what if you hold it back and never get around to making it a lot better?

Then you might as well have posted the day-of demo on Instagram so your fans could enjoy it and give you feedback…which might put the fire under you to make it better.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Keep Driving

Anyone who paid to see your show again isn’t disappointed that it’s similar to the first time around.

The reason we want to watch again is because we liked the first one. We came back because we want another dose of the same (or similar) medicine.

No need to reinvent the wheel. Once you find your lane just keep driving.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

That's Not What I Meant

You’re not always going to get the chance to clarify.

If you’re the type of person who speaks up consistently you’re going to have to be ok with being misunderstood.

To have the opportunity to say, ‘that’s not what I meant, what I meant was this…’ is a rare gift.

They didn’t hear it the way you meant it. They made inferences and drew conclusions that weren’t accurate. And they might even hold their conclusions against you without you knowing and without realizing they might not be true.

So if you’re the one speaking up it helps to be as clear as possible. The more clear the less clarifying needed.

If you’re the one listening, remember that the way you take something might not be the exact way the person meant it.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Team Colors

I live in Tennessee. It’s easy to spot University of Tennessee fans. That orange is so very bright.

There’s a good chance that you as an artist or a business don’t have team colors…but it’s worth asking how one fan might spot another.

The places they go. Shirts they wear. Things they say. Things they post. Haircuts they have. The size of their sunglasses. Direction of their hat. Color of their shoes.

You don’t need team colors but it often helps (and it’s fun) when we know how to spot the others.

»» For those curious…there’s none of that orange in my closet.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Office Room Rock

If you’re going to make it as an artist in the music business you’re going to have to play office room rock…aka bring your acoustics and play songs in a boardroom to five people in swivel chairs.

You gotta learn to sell it with fluorescent lights on. With a coffee carafe on the table. With blank stares. With no microphone with which to channel your insecurity. Only leaning on the strength of the song and your ability to sell it.

If you can do that, there’s a place for you.

»» If you can put on a great show in an office AND put on a great show during a daytime slot at a festival on the flat-bed-trailer stage…you really have something special.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Firm and Fluid Pricing

If your price is fluid you’ll spend a lot of time and energy determining what the price is going to be for this particular customer in this particular situation. Part of your job becomes negotiating your own price…and then you still have to do the actual work.

If your price is firm it takes the entire slog of negotiation off the table. Here is the price, let me know if that works for you.

Sure, if your price is firm you might miss out on some customers who had hoped you were a little bit cheaper…but in turn you’ll gain back all the time and headache you would have spent negotiating with each potential client along the way.

»» It’s worth mentioning that for whatever you charge you may miss out on some customers who had hoped you were a little more expensive too.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple