Recording Artist Advocate: It's not about talent, always...

You play and practice. Put together a tight set list, and try to put on a good show. Heck, a great show. But people who don't play as well, or even write as good make a lot more money.

What is the difference? What sets the high earners apart?

The most successful performers are entertainers. In addition to everything else they truly surprise and entertain and basically work their asses off in front of a crowd.

But they do more.

Surprise is good. I've talked about how your brain loves to be suprised and how you can open your audience up and really get in their heads. Do all that, but you still have to do more.

OK. I won't drag it out anymore. You need to attract an audience. That's the bottom line.

It's bodies through the door or tickets sold or downloads or views. That's it. If you can deliver an audience you will get paid.

So look at yourself. Look at your band. Do you stand out or blend in? Does the crowd root for you or do they even know you from the rest? Find that connection and use it to build an army. That's what it takes.

Reach out to them and thank them for joining. "Send us an e-mail telling us where you saw us play and we'll send you an mp3"or "Send in your pictures showing how great a time you had at our show" Do things that only visitors to your website (and their friends) can know about. Gain their loyalty and don't let them down. Create the club they want to be a part of.

What could you do if just a thousand people really liked your band?
What if it was ten thousand? or 50?

Are you starting to get the picture?

Recording Artist Advocate: An Exclusive Club...

I overheard some dads talking about their sons and their sports teams. It wasn’t the sort of talk I expected. They talked about how each son had to grow as a person as they got better at their sport. More than just learning the nuances of the game, they talked about how humbling it is to do everything right and still loose. It was how their sons reacted to those set-backs that made them proud. They also talked about kids who didn’t handle things so well.  

As a musician you will have good days and bad days. It’s how 
you react to the bad that sets you apart. An immature artist will 
look for someone to blame and throw fits. It can destroy a band.

Be realistic. If someone was consistently going to the wrong 
chord or coming in late, decide if you need to practice together 
more or if you need a new person in that position. 
If it was you having a bad night, do the same thing. 
You can spend all your energy blaming someone else 
or you can man-up and work on getting better. 
When you’re immature it’s the hardest thing to do, but 
working through it is the best choice you can make.

There is a very obvious dividing point between someone who 
plays an instrument and an artist you’d want to work with. 
The immature member of a band stands out and is like a 
heavy weight the rest of the group has to drag along. 
But, when you get a group of artists together that have 
gotten past that, there is no limit to the success they’re capable of.

Hold yourself to that higher standard. Don’t make excuses. 
Own up to your skill level and work on improving. Do the same 
with the rest of the band. Hold each other to that standard. 
The immature part of you will fight at every step. Push through 
and you can go from being just alright to being great!

It isn’t easy. Some people will never let go of their childish 
impulses. They will only make excuses. Get as far away from 
them as quickly as you can. Don’t let them drag you down.

You can be the artists successful people want to work with. 
You can be the band people want to hire, and at a higher price. 
Pros want to work with people like themselves.

It's a pretty exclusive club for good reason; 
the people who make it don't stop working to get better.  

Recording Artist Advocate: So Gay, or Straight, or Whatever…

Recently, I talked about appealing to your audience and really connecting with them. They change as they grow and you do too. Some artist follow and some lead their listeners. They only have so much time to give you, so you better make it count or they’ll listen to someone else.

It’s a delicate dance because you don’t want to push them away 
but you don’t want to be thought of as pandering. 
My advice has always been, “be yourself”. That is; know who 
you are and find where you can connect with your audience. 
There are universal themes that transcend ideology and politics 
so I’ve always advised artists to explore in those areas.

But…

If you’ve decided to be in a niche market, you better be all in. 
There are a lot of niche markets where the niche is so narrow, 
there are only a few bands doing that music. 
It’s a small slice, but they get all of it.

If you go to white power rallies and want to get on stage 
you better be the most racist person there. 
If there is a gay genre of music, and I think there is, 
you better be super gay.

I’m not equating these niches. I’m saying that a niche audience 
wants to be validated by someone who they can connect to. 
You better be real or they’ll reject you.

That reminds me; does anyone remember when Ellen Degeneres 
had a TV show? Not the daily talk show. It was a situation comedy 
at night. As in life, the character she played was gay. 
The writers made the mistake of focusing on that one thing. 
It just got old and the show fizzled out.  

Ellen found success when she showed that she was 
a complete person who can connect with a wide audience. 
She could have gone the other way and filled a niche, 
but I think she made the better choice.

If you’re quirky, that’s OK. Be yourself. But be 
the quirky person people can still relate to. 
Then you can blow em’ away with your talent.  

Between a niche and relatable, I choose relatable.  
But you have to choose for yourself.

Recording Artist Advocate: The overly talkative waiter…

Have you ever had a waiter that talks too much? They want to appear friendly, but it usually just comes across as someone trying too hard. The only thing keeping you from saying, “I don’t really care” is the thought of what they would do to your food.

You can tell that they aren’t picking up the social cues that make up 
a conversation. They just talk, and talk…

In an interview it’s hard not to do the same thing. You’re asked a question 
and just talk till they ask another question. Instead, try to treat an interview 
like a conversation. You definitely want to get in your plugs for shows 
or a new project, but use conversation skills like eye contact, expression, 
and pauses. You can build tension with a pause and relieve it with 
a knowing smile or unexpected answer. The best can even turn a hostile 
interview into something good for themselves and the interviewer. 
Make them look good and they’ll usually take good care of you.

I saw a 70’s TV star being interviewed by someone who was trying to make 
him look old and out of style. The interviewer was almost saying, 
“When was the last time you did anything relevant”. The guy kept his cool, 
even seemed to relaxed a little. 
He said, “You know so and so. We worked on his project together.” 
He started turning the interview around as if to say, “You are relevant 
and plugged in, and we know a lot of the same people.” He did it so well 
the interview seemed like friends talking by the end.

Also, he said just enough to make his point, used eye contact 
and was friendly. He treated the interviewer as an equal 
and never lost his cool.  

Practiced speech comes across better than trying to wing it. As musicians, 
you have a lot of down time, so practice interviewing each other like you 
practice playing. All practice makes you better and a good interview 
can be a great boost to your career.

Recording Artist Advocate: Old and new…

The old model for musicians was to write good songs and play for the right people to be discovered and get a record contract. Then you played the part of a “Rock Star” till they were through with you. There were a lot of one hit wonders. Some artist had long careers. But most were around for an album or two before fading away.

The lessons from those artists with long careers are still relevant in 
today’s music industry.  

First, their music connected to their audience. The most successful 
spoke to the larger population and wrote the songs that 
defined their times. They were good business managers, 
or hired good ones. They made the most out of their fame. That is, 
they made as much money as they could, 
from many sources, while they could.

In the past the record labels made the most money and artists 
came and went. Today you are your own record label.

Even in the past there were artists who took control of their careers. 
Ray Charles created his own company to manage his recording rights 
and booking. Elvis had management offices at Graceland.

It’s been done before. You can do this now!

But, don’t fall for the lie that rock stars can just do 
whatever they want; sleep all day and wait for the offers to roll in. 
You’ll work hard and you’ll work a lot. You’ll have to make 
hard decisions. You’ll have to plan and then change your plan. 
Make the most of the time you have.

Know you’ll do a lot of things wrong. 
That’s how you learn to do them right.

Don’t let drugs or alcohol or someone’s selfishness derail you. 
Be careful who you hook up with. It’s hard to tour with someone 
back home calling and texting; trying to get you to come back. 
If the person you’re with isn’t behind you, move on.

Play everywhere you can, but don’t play somewhere if it doesn’t 
fit who you are, or if it doesn’t feel right. Trust your gut.

Watch what you say on social media. If in doubt, don’t hit send. 
If you choose a side politically, you’ve turned your back on 
about half your audience. 
Your views will come through in your music, but be subtle. 
You don’t have to hit people over the head.

On the other hand, if you play to a niche audience, go all in. 
(I’ll do another article on that)

Keep at it. One day you’ll look up and realize you’re living 
the life you wanted.  

Recording Artist Advocate: Your filter...

I want to expand on what I wrote last week when I encouraged you to dig deep and put into words what you are, so that you can make certain you’re on the right track.

I talked to an executive who said he was progressing in his job 
but hit a wall. He just couldn’t advance into management. 
One of the higher-ups came to him and said he needed to 
make some changes.

He was told to think out every action to see if that’s what an 
executive with their company would do. 
After work, even though he was on his own time, he would be 
representing the business. How he dressed and acted then was 
just as important as while he was at work. From his clothes and 
car and how he carried himself, it all mattered all the time.

He began to study himself and compare that to the image of a 
successful professional in his industry. 
He was back on track within a year. 
Now he’s the president of the company.

He didn’t just have to jump through some hoops to impress 
his bosses… who he is now the boss over. He had to “be” 
a manager in the eyes of everyone he met. 
Before long putting him in the big office was just a formality.

So, what do you want to be? How does that person act? 
What do they say? How do they move through a crowd? 
How do they connect in an interview?

Study the people who have made it and compare that to the 
image in your mind of the person you want to be. 
Now go about being that person, 
weather you’re playing to a few people or a stadium.

Recording Artist Advocate: Leaving your mark…

The pyramids let us know something about the people who built them. They were brilliant mathematicians and they were great at building complex large structures. If not for the pyramids, would we even care about those people? It’s the same thing we did when Mount Rushmore was carved out of a mountain in South Dakota. Even though it looks good now, the carving was made so that it will still look good after a thousand or more years of erosion. Both of these monuments are like a message from the past saying, “We were here. We were smart. We were good at doing hard things. We were pretty cool.”

What do you want to say that will outlive you and may 
even speak to future generations?

Really think about that. It’s not about trends or something that 
will be out dated in a few years. Are you fair? Are you strong? 
Do you have a strong belief or faith? Write it down. Look at it 
in a few days and rewrite it. When you get it right put it on your 
mirror or write it on the wall where you see it every day. 
That is the filter everything has to go through. 
When someone comes along asking you to be something else, 
you can say, “That doesn’t fit with who I am… or that exactly 
fits who I am.”  

It’s you, and it’s what will be remembered about you 
if you consistently do it.

I have my own filters in my personal and professional life. 
It keeps me focused and usually out of trouble.

But, it doesn’t do you any good if you don’t know yourself, 
or if you don’t apply your own.

So take the time to do it and then use it. Your life will be better 
and you will be happier.

With that focus you’ll write better songs too.