When You Can't Keep Track Anymore

As an addendum to yesterday’s post…

We want to find markers of success that are easily measured. The number of streams, ticket sales, t-shirts.

But an interesting marker is having a big enough impact to where you can’t keep track of your impact anymore. Not being able to measure it is the marker of a certain level of success.

For every email or comment of support there are a bunch of other people who think the same thing but didn’t end up taking the time to send a message.

For every listener streaming your music, there might be one or a hundred people with them listening too.

For every person who comes to a show, there is someone who would have come but just couldn’t swing it.

It’s not easily measured and that’s the best thing about it.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

The People Listening

If you open up your Spotify artist app you can see how many people are currently listening to your music.

It might be one or three or thousands. But when it’s low numbers it’s a bit more tangible…let’s say two people are listening. I wonder who those two people are doing? Are they smiling? Staring off in the distance? What kind of headphones? Are they driving? What’s their favorite cereal?

It’s two real, specific people. It’s fun (and probably helpful) to come up with stories about them.

»» And worth noting that if you always have two or three people listening, you probably have ten to fifteen thousand monthly listeners.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

iPads. Guitars. Flowers.

iPads can be sold to everyone.

iPad cases can only be sold to people with iPads.

Guitars are for everyone.

Guitar strings are only sold to people with guitars.

Flowers are for everyone

That little green packet of powder needs more people to buy flowers.

Are you selling the main thing or an accessory?

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Learning The Gig...

Is different than being good at the gig.

It takes a while to learn the notes, chords, transitions, steps, lighting cues, and memorize the setlist. But with a handful of rehearsals and shows it’s no problem

But being good at the gig is something beyond learning the gig. It’s what you do with the learning. When you don’t have to put energy anymore into focusing on the mechanics, what do you do with that energy?

»» And if you’re the one offering the gig…

You’ve put time, energy and resources into bringing in someone new, teaching the mechanics of the gig. And you might find out after all that, that they’re not good at the gig. It’s tough to let go of those sunk costs. Not only are there actual sunk costs, but you want to be right about picking who you picked.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Reduced To A Click

First Monday of the month means a new Hum Love playlist on Spotify and Apple

You spent all that time getting the kick drum to sound just right. Whether you were mic’ing it up or scrolling through sound banks and carving out EQ and getting it to thump just right in the mix…you got it dialed in. It sounds great in the mix.

And then someone, a new listener, listens to your song on their phone. No headphones, no studio monitors, no cranking it up in the car. Just half volume on phone speakers. All that work on the sound of the kick drum has been reduced to a clicky sound on a phone.

All that time you spent was still worth it.

You have some control in the creative process and very little in the consumption process.

That’s the deal.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Learning From The First One

When you try something for the first time you can learn a lot from it.

But before dwelling on it and eeking every last bit of learning you can out of it…go do it again.

Twenty more times.

Then you’ll be able to see some things.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple