I’ve mentioned this before, but when I was younger I could write songs all day long.  They probably weren’t the best songs in the world, but I sure could write them.  As I’ve gotten older, I find it harder to complete songs.  I can still sit around and come up with melodies and chord progressions until I’m blue in the face, but when it comes time to really say something, I often run into a wall.  This is when I just try to use brute force, and push through.  Sometimes I get a great song.  Most of the time they’re duds.  It’s like what I talked about in my last post.  Songs have to be sincere.  They can’t just be a product, or a set of words and melodies for the sake of a completed song.  To really connect, I have to say something of meaning.  I often joke that words are easy, but meaning is hard.  I believe it’s true.

When I say “will the well run dry?”  I’m really talking about the passions of my heart.  I don’t want to find myself in a place where I’m no longer in touch with what I feel.  Right now, what I feel can sometimes be fuzzy to me.  It’s like I’m trying to listen to a radio station, but I’m mainly getting static.  Every once in a while I get a really clear signal.  Other times, there’s nothing on the dial.

I’m working to fix this by spending more time putting things into my soul.  For me, that means spending time away from technology, meditating on God, reading more, and having focused time with my wife, friends, and family.  To write great songs, I really need to be more in touch with myself.  This year, I’m trying to position myself to be more creative.  I’m proactively doing things (and NOT doing things) that will help me live a more creative life.  I hope it works!

I need to confess that I am extremely insecure when it comes to my music.  I have a number of fears that I need to deal with.  I figured the best way to confront some of these fears is to write about them.  If you’re an artist, I hope these little confessions will help you push past your creative fears also.

Creating a Commodity

One of my primary fears, especially as I’ve started having more success, is that I will slowly sink into creating songs as commodities rather than creating songs because I love them.  This fear is far-reaching because if I ever start creating products, it will be apparent to the listener.  People can sense when something is insincere even if the artist doesn’t realize their own insincerity.

I think a lot of artists have the “sophomore slump”  (releasing a poor selling second album after a good selling first album) because they start trying to create a product.  Other times, they do a full 180, and try not to create a product, which can also be detrimental.  The artist gets out of their headspace.  They start second guessing what was originally a natural process.  They start interjecting imaginary criticisms as they create.  They stop following ideas.  I know this because I do it all the time. I’m trying to get out of it myself.

Now, I’m not so naive as to think that music is not a commodity.  If I’m releasing my music to the masses, I have to treat it as a product to some degree.  Unless I just decide to give it all away for the rest of my life (which may not be that bad of an idea), I have to recognize that I’m running my own business and one of the main products is my music.  I’m trying to fight my urges to treat the creative process as an assembly line producing songs in the same way Henry Ford produced cars.

So what’s the answer to fight it?

I don’t really have the answer.  Right now I’m doing my best to just avoid the idea that I’ll be selling the music.  I’m trying to get back to creating music because I love to create.  I’m finding that if the song makes me emotional as I’m writing it, it will probably do the same to the listener.  I’m focusing on that aspect a lot lately.

As society grows more and more accustomed to technology, I’m finding my world more and more dense.  I find it hard to break into a quiet mental place to think.  I find it hard to figure out what I’m even feeling sometimes.  It’s a constant barrage.

I know I’ve talked a bit about my songwriting block in the past, but I feel like it goes beyond that.  It’s become more of a complete creative block.  I think a lot of it tends to be this “noise” in my life that prevents me from examining myself, and what is truly happening around me.  I’m trying to find a way to separate myself from it all for a bit of a breather.  Get back to being human, rather than a computer that breathes.

The video below is footage of me and my wife.

This is how I am with documentaries.

I recently remembered how much I love them, and have started watching a bunch of them.  I think I love documentaries so much because I feel like I’m learning as I watch, rather than just watching for entertainment.  Soon I’ll be through the phase, and won’t watch any for a few months. Then I’ll remember again, and will dive headfirst into Netflix.  So it goes…

Here are a few I recommend:

Senna

I love auto-racing.  So this documentary just gets my testosterone flowing.  It’s just a great story, even if you know nothing about racing.

Special When Lit

A documentary about pinball.  Do I need to say more?

Marwencol

An odd, yet endearing film about a man building a play world to help himself cope with his tragic past.

I hope you like them.  Recommend some more to me!

Over the past few months, Tim Tebow has dominated the dialogue in sports.  He has become the king of the improbable victory, winning 7 games in comeback fashion.  He often performs horribly for 3 quarters, and somehow, turns it all around in the 4th quarter to seal the victory.  His quarterback play is inconsistent, yet, his belief that his team can overcome is contagious.

I understand that Tim Tebow is a below average quarterback.  Any honest sports fan has to recognize it.  Statistically, he pails in comparison to Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, or Tom Brady.  His quarterback rating was 27th in the league this season.  There are only 32 teams in the NFL.

Having said all this, I love Tim Tebow.

I don’t remember rooting for someone to succeed more than Tim Tebow.  I cheer for him, not because of what he does on the field, but because of what he does off the field.

Just yesterday, I was reading this article by ESPN’ Rick Reilly.  In the article, Reilly talks about how Tebow invites sick and downtrodden people as his personal guests to Denver Broncos games.  He provides them with a hotel room, a rental car, and a meal.  He spends time with them just before kickoff and after the game. When asked if his pregame visits are a distraction, Tebow responsed:

“Just the opposite.  It’s by far the best thing I do to get myself ready. Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. The game doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’ll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it’s to invest in people’s lives, to make a difference.”

That is why I cheer for Tebow.  His perspective challenges me in my own life.  He causes me to ask myself questions.  Do I work hard at music so that others can praise my ability?  Where is my focus?  What is motivating me to pursue the things that I pursue?

Never before has an athlete caused me to analyze my life.  It’s truly amazing.

Visit Jeremy’s blog to read the post about opportunity.

If this is true, then how can an artist make them self visible?

By being great.  It’s as simple as that.  Being great takes a ton of effort though.  Malcolm Gladwell has a book called “Outliers” (here’s a great little blog about it) that talks about the 10,000 hour rule.  The basic idea is it takes a person around 10,000 hours of hard work to become great at something.  I believe it.

At my previous job, our CEO always told me it took him 10 years before he would start to see great things come out of his businesses or goals.  Nothing came quickly.  He’s a businessman with two multimillion dollar companies.  In my own music career, I never really made a financial profit until this past year (about 10.5 years in).  Even today, I can see more opportunity slowly moving into place.  It doesn’t come easy, or quickly.

I see this in my friends’ careers also.

My friend Jeremy Larson has been working hard at music for the past 9-10 years, and he’s just starting to see his hard work pay off.  He’s getting to write strings, and produce for some great albums.  He’s also having success with his own music.  The best part is he’s controlling his own career.  He’s not owned by any record label.

My friend David Ramirez has been perfecting his songwriting for a long time also.  He lives and breathes his music.  He’s constantly performing or touring.  His music is woven into the fabric of who he is.  That’s why he’s so great.

My friend Taylor Muse is starting to see a lot of success with his band Quiet Company.  He’s been going at it as long as me.  He works hard writing songs, and his band is always recording, performing live, or promoting online.

The key ingredient for all these musicians is hard work!

So today’s lesson:  Work hard and don’t give up!

Even if you don’t feel like you were blessed with God given talent, if you pursue something passionately enough, you can succeed!

Over the past year, there has been a lot of talk about Spotify.  In case you haven’t heard, Spotify is a music streaming service that allows users to listen all kinds of music free of charge.  As a listener, I really love it.  I can browse all kinds of music without the commitment of purchasing it.  However, as a musician, Spotify can be a frustrating service.  Let me show you:

In the month of October, my music was listened to 380 times.  Seems pretty good, however, my payment for these streams was only $ 1.61.   That’s $ 0.004 per play!  Not very good.

I see a lot of musicians complaining about the small payments, and  I agree.  It’s frustrating to pour so much energy into your art, and then get back next to nothing for it.

Although I have some specific frustrations with Spotify, the service is really reflecting something larger that is occurring.  The value of recorded music is decreasing due to people’s ability to easily access music.  There’s an enormous amount of saturation in the market.  Artists could not record an album 15 years ago without dropping a decent amount of money to record, mix, and master.  Today, artists can release a full album and completely promote it digitally for minimal costs.  This means more artists can get their music in front of listeners.  More competition.

The music business is in a dramatic shift.  Record labels were the previous gatekeepers.  They peddled artists and products in stores, and were commanding top dollar because the consumer had no access to the music outside of purchasing an album.  There was a lot of profit.

Now there is decreasing revenue, and an avalanche of change that cannot be reversed.   The user is their own gatekeeper.  They can dig as much as they want to.

As I said earlier, I do not like getting minimal payments for my music.  However, as an artist, I have to come to the realization that this is the new music industry.  I can remain frustrated and keep pushing my material like it’s 1998, or I can embrace this dramatic shift and try to figure it out.   This is where I see some artists making mistakes.  They’re still approaching the music industry like it’s 1998.  They get frustrated when they don’t sell many copies of their release. They’re reluctant to give away free tracks, or stream their music.

The fact is, you have to.

In all honestly, I’m not sure if recorded music will be sold at all in the next 10-15 years.  I am more concerned with building core fans and supporters of my music, rather than trying to profit off consumers now.   It’s an extremely slow build, and a lot of hard work, but that’s why you often see me releasing my music for free download.  If people want it for free, I want them to have it.  If they want to purchase it because they believe in what I’m doing, they can do that too.

I don’t have it figured out, but I feel like I’m making progress in this ever-changing industry.  Slow and steady.  Now, I just have to drag some of my peers along with me!