Every song starts off as a new song. Even the great ones. And new songs are the least familiar.
Your fans have a long, trusted, storied relationship with your old material…so it’s not that the new song isn’t great or that it isn’t better than the old stuff…it just needs a little time to percolate.
New could mean bad. New could mean great. Give them time to figure it out.
When you have to hit the high note at the end of the song, the only thing you’re thinking about the whole song is having to hit that note.
If you’re on stage afraid of not hitting the note, there’s a good chance you’re not gonna hit it.
If you’re in the rehearsal room four weeks before the tour afraid you’re not gonna hit the note four weeks from now…you have plenty of time to go from afraid of the note to indulging in the note.
You’re gonna think about the big note either way. But you get to choose what you think about it.
I went to a university that has a good music school. I did not attend music school. I went to the business school…
But I had a lot of friends who went to the school of music.
And here’s something interesting…
During my four years I didn’t know of any music students who dropped out or flunked out.
But by four years post graduation? The large majority of them weren’t doing music anymore.
So why does the pendulum swing from such fierce commitment to such easy resignation? Two reasons that blend together…
Goals and Support
Everyone in the school of music has the same goal(s). Pass ear training, put on a good junior recital, meet the required number of practice hours, put on a great senior recital, get passing grades, make mom and dad happy they spent (or let you spend) an absurd amount of money on this degree.
And because everyone knows everyone around them is going through the same thing it’s easy to give support and find support. So it’s fun. It’s difficult but everyone can complain together and study together and go to each others recitals.
But the real reason for the abundance of support is that there is no perceived threat that by you reaching your goal I might not reach mine…and this is a seismic difference between the college music experience vs. pursing a professional music career.
So for four years in college you’ve got a clear goal and full support. What a gift.
Post college, the clear goal evaporates. And anything that might resemble a goal is now viewed through the lens of competition. If you get the call for the gig that means I don’t get the call. Zero sum. True support becomes much more elusive.
And as more of your friends stop doing music, the glue that binds you to this music quest gets less sticky. When all your friends are (at a minimum) actively engaged in a similar path there is a sense of communal support even if it isn’t stated.
So after college, with no clear vision (they don’t teach you vision in the school of music) and a dwindling support system…it doesn’t come as a surprise that so many drop out of the business.
It’s unlikely you’ll quit something that has clear goals and an abundant support system.
If you want to keep doing what you’re doing…build those two things.
Get out there and play two hundred shows as soon as possible.
The wild assortment of problems you will have to deal with is good for you. Both in regards to life on the road and the show itself.
After two hundred raise the bar for what you say Yes to.
No more driving one-offs 800 miles away.
No more booking the side stage at the metal festival when you’re a bluegrass band.
No more being surprised when the attendance ends up falling (or rising) to the level of marketing, advertising and fan communication that went into increasing attendance.
»» After two hundred shows you should be able to answer the questions…What makes saying yes to this show worthwhile? What are the reasons to believe it will be well attended? When you wake up the morning of the show, will you be glad you said yes?
Back when everyone listened to the radio, what did they get out of listening to the radio? They got to hear the songs they liked. They got connection and inclusion because they knew their friends were listening too. They got cool kid points because they listened to the station that had their finger on the pulse. They got the talking points from the DJ’s. Concert announcements which informed them where they could find other people like them. They got to hear the premier of the new track. It was a portal to be informed of what’s popular around here…and the list goes on.
All that just from listening to the radio? An amazing bargain. The deal of a lifetime.
Cut to today where it’s streaming select songs and playlists.
You get everything you want when you want it.
Except I’m not sure that’s true. Yes, you get to hear any song whenever you want to hear it…but all that other good stuff listed above, you don’t get that whenever you want it.
Music consumption has been through a lot in the last twenty years but I think it still has a ways to go.
And I don’t mean that everyone should go back to listening to radio. I don’t remember the last time I have. You probably don’t either. Music streaming/listening is a modern miracle…but it has room to build in even stronger upside.