There are plenty of new songs out there.
But there seems to be relatively low supply of new songs we wanna put on repeat.
There’s a thousand reasons for this, but the message to the artist is…there is still a need that you can fill. We’re all dying for another song we need to put on repeat.
It takes creating. It takes connection. It takes identity and consistency.
It’s still a heavy lift to write, produce, mix, and master a song…or an album.
And once it’s crossed over the finish line and release day finally rolls around…you will be tired.
Your energy will be zapped and all the promotion you once thought these songs deserved goes out the window. You won’t want to do it yourself and you won’t want to do the work of finding someone else to do it.
That energy vacuum is coming. Know that. Don’t mistake your lack of energy in the moment for a lack of love and true excitement for your project.
Make the plan beforehand. Hire the PR, video editors and photographers before hand. Have some easy goals lined up post release to help get some energy back.
It’s a lot easier to make a tired plan before you get tired.
If you make the best burger in town you’re going to get tired of making the best burger in town.
And when you get tired of it you’re tempted to change it.
But no one who comes through the doors is tired of it or wants you to change it.
Keep serving the burger.
»»It certainly helps to like making the burger…but you don’t have to like it in order to serve it. Serving is a worthwhile motivation in itself.
If a tree branch is strong and straight and solid it can take a lot of weight. It remains unmoved even while under intense pressure. It holds its position perfectly…until it can’t. That type of branch, without any bend, is either going to grow straight and strong or it will break and have to start over from the beginning.
It’s either completely intact or it breaks.
The bendable branch is different. It flexes with the weight and the changes in its environment. So it’s much less likely to break and have to start over. But also, it also doesn’t grow in the exact direction it did when it started. The aim it had when it was first growing is not where this branch is going to end up.
It’s not going to grow straight and true but perhaps it’s more likely to grow.
It’s a worthwhile metaphor as we grow our creative endeavors.
Navigating life as a creative professional is a lot like a crossword puzzle…
There are some clues
You don’t know most of them
Getting something right feels like a miracle
It’s confusing and time consuming
You wonder why you started this thing in the first place
But in the creative world, unlike the crossword puzzle…the answers are not on page 86.