An encore isn’t going to happen if most of the band has already taken their in-ears out.
It’s almost impossible to get someone to play one more game after they’ve taken their shoes off.
The cook in your kitchen isn’t going to make you an omelette after the dishes are done.
It’s not hard to put ears back in, shoes back on, or heat up a skillet.
But there’s a mental off switch that goes along with each of these. That’s what’s hard to flip back the other way.
The best artists have come to realize the power they have to serve and give the audience a great experience.
That realization is hard won. An artist starts off oblivious to it, then gets acquainted with it, plays with it, wields it for personal gain, lets it go to their head...and often times it stops there or they get lost along the way…but then hopefully there is an awakening. An embracing of it as ‘power to’ instead of ‘power over’. An understanding that all the attention they’re receiving can be used for the benefit of everyone.
»» The magic metaphor is that as the spotlight is on you, your head turns into a disco ball so we can all party.
There are artists building and sustaining careers by pumping out content around the same song for a full year.
There are also artists building and sustaining careers by posting multiple new snippets per week and releasing new songs every few weeks.
Which way is best for you or is it something in between?
It’s kinda like finding the right workout routine…which one is the best? The one that you’ll actually do.
Most people over the age of 25 have a full music bin.
They have something to listen to for all the major emotions, events, and seasons.
It’s hard to sell new music to someone with a full bin.
It’s easiest to sell new music to people who don’t have a full music bin yet.
And then some people keep a space in their bin reserved for New.
And then a few people, with some powerful magical musical electro shock experience, can realize they were missing your music without knowing it, and they’ll balance one or two more artists on top of their bin.
As artists it’s important to get mechanically proficient.
Put in the practice time, learn the moves, learn the words, know your instrument, watch the making-of videos, review all the music docs, learn how a song is put together.
But until you attach your emotion to it, with your own entry point, with your own earnest-ness, with your own insecurity…it will be just that, mechanically proficient.
»» This is typical in Nashville but sometimes it’s the other way around…all emotion and a clear lack of mechanics. Struggling to get from chord to chord is a tough way to sell your heartfelt song.
If something is hyped up and still satisfies the customer…then maybe it’s a good thing it was hyped up or else we may never have tried it.
But if, say, a waffle maker is hyped up and the handle breaks off on the first use…then the hype was a trick. It’s not a product problem. It’s now a trust problem.
When hype works, the product gets the glory. When hype doesn’t work, the hyper loses the trust of the consumer.