Bear Fighting

We weren’t good at fighting bears. They always won.

And I’m sure there was a group of people that thought getting better at fighting bears would be the best way to survive. But when that training kept not working…

Instead of focusing on getting better at fighting bears we got good at anticipating bears and learning strategies to avoid bear fighting.

While there are many problems that get solved by meeting them head on…some problems are worth avoiding so you never have to deal with them at all.

For instance…

Don’t focus on getting good at firing people…but rather, make better hires.

Don’t make it a habit of making the most of terrible shows…get better at saying no to them in the first place.

Don’t spend time coming up with better excuses for being late…instead, be on time.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Convincing One At A Time

Gaining fans one at a time isn’t a good long term strategy for making a career in music.

If you have to sit in front of each potential fan and play some music, share your stories and put on the sales pitch…they’ll probably end up being a fan…but doing that two hundred or a thousand times in each city in order to sell out the venue isn’t the way to do it.

However…especially at the beginning…you’re going to have to convince some people. And it might be one at a time.

It’s worth winning over the right manager because the right manager is going to help you win other people over by the hundreds and thousands.

It’s worth winning over the right agent and marketer and PR rep and maybe even the person who runs the big playlist…they all make it so you don’t have to win fans over one at a time.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Identity and Identified

The way you are identified out in the world, in your market, to your audience or customers is a very narrow definition. It has to be. In order to cut through and have staying power in someone’s mind your means of being identified have to be clear, simple and consistent.

A certain look or sound or stance or product or character trait becomes how you are identified.

But keep in mind that the way you are identified is merely a sliver of your identity. It’s easy to confuse the two.

The way you are identified is not your identity.

And

Your full identity is too complex to trade on in the marketplace.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

No Cheaper Replacement

When you decide you want to go see U2 in Vegas or Taylor Swift at the stadium or Foo Fighters on the comeback trail…you might wonder how you can get a ticket a little cheaper than advertised. It’d be nice to get in the door while saving a few bucks.

But if you can’t find the cheaper ticket, you don’t go looking for the cheaper, knock-off, wanna be version of the band and go to their show instead.

You know what a U2 or Taylor Swift or Foo Fighters show is all about and even though cheaper would be nice, you know there’s no cheaper replacement.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

The Material

There’s a classic Seinfeld scene where Jerry’s girlfriend breaks up with him because she saw his act and didn’t like it.

The fascinating thing (and I’m sure isn’t a coincidence) is that the girlfriend never says the material is bad…she just says the material didn’t do it for her and that it wasn’t her kind of humor.

That’s the same reason why people don’t take another listen or don’t click the link in bio or don’t buy the exclusive merch…it’s not because the material is bad, it’s simply not for them.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Filling In

‘Filling in’ happens a lot in the music world.

The guitar player’s flight got cancelled, can you fill in?

The bass player’s hand got electrocuted in a toaster, can you fill in?

The drummer forgot there was a gig and went on vacation, can you fill in?

There’s a couple things worth pointing out about filling in…

-If you say yes and can be a warm body on stage and therefore the gig doesn’t get cancelled, everyone is thankful and relieved.

-If you say yes and actually learn the material, you have solidified a respectful reputation in the camp forever. You not only saved the show but your skill and contribution was such that no one had to worry about you…and next time around no one will hesitate to call you. You’ll be first on the call list.

It’s an honor to be asked to fill in. Now do something with it.

»» It’s funny how often filling in leads to getting the gig.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple