I Made It To Nashville...
but now what?
First thing…get a job. You’re going to need money. If you don’t have any money you get desperate…and desperate is a bad look.
Eager, on the other hand, is a great look. Go to all the new artist nights and introduce yourself. Smile. Tell people you’re new in town and what instrument you play and that you’d love to play with them…and then a day or two later drop them a message saying the same thing.
Now you have a job and a few contacts. Say yes to every gig for two years. Practice your instrument. Get good at asking questions and listening and caring for people. Become a regular at a few coffee shops and a few venues. Show up five minutes early.
Find a music business lawyer and pay them an hour a week to teach you things you don’t know.
The old musicians like to teach the younger ones. So find the old ones.
Come up with something you can put into the world on a regular basis.
Make it easy for people to find you and contact you.
And spend some money on a couple good jackets.
Owning The Sidewalk
Interesting Enough To Be Famous
Everyone is.
At least for a minute or two. The video or meme or interview of the day that gets passed around and then forgotten…it’s good enough to get our attention…but not HOLD our attention.
Holding interest is much more difficult to do.
A working definition of ‘captivating’ is to hold interest.
Captivating builds careers. Captivating makes a difference. Captivating is why we talk about the great artists and chefs and entrepreneurs. Not because they’re merely interesting, but because they hold interest.
Others' Thoughts
I heard it on a podcast again today…
‘I don’t care what anyone thinks’…is often hailed as a climactic psychological moment…and artists use this phrase all the time when talking about their latest creative project. But it’s a self centered and selfish sentiment. And maybe they don’t mean it that way…
I hope what they really mean is, ‘I know whose thoughts I care about’. This phrase is incredibly powerful, and a useful way to move forward in careers and relationships.
Not everyone in the world gets a say in your life...but someone, a few people, certain people, or a certain audience need to have a vote.
Not caring what anyone thinks is a lonely place.
Popularity Timing
If you already had a popular album when record stores started getting popular…record stores needed something the feature on the aisle end cap…so they put the yours there because that’s probably what people wanting to buy.
Similarly, when music streaming services were becoming the norm around 2013, if you were already a popular artist, that’s what’s going to be most popular on the platform…and that’s what’s going to get on the digital end cap. And because streaming services are still the norm, artists who had a big arc back then are more likely to ride it longer.
A friend of mine sent me this Rick Beato video, where he brilliantly goes into more depth on this…highlighting that the average age of the top twenty five Spotify artist is 36.