john

Hi Getting your music on playlists is now a common task for artists. I thought a poll would be useful to get an idea of how our members approach playlist! Please take part in the poll! If you have any advice for your fellow artists about getting added to playlists, please add a comment, replying to this post. Cheers John

“Oh wait. Before I forget. Someone on SC "dared" me to Tag someone random as "proof" that we have active members. No problem. Here. This is @Jim622. Sorry for tagging you, dude. You probably have NOOOOO idea why you have been tagged, especially at the bottom line of the entry, where you`d have to go through all of... THIS, just to make sense of things. I`m sorry though I do hope you enjoy the read. My Blog is a bit of a roller coaster at times. If you like this sorta content, your welcome to share your insights. I remember you!” Dared? Now that’s just weird. There are some strange people out there.

2021 has been a hell of a year. I almost died twice in February with COVID. In hospital the guys in the rooms either side of me both died. That was an eye opener. I’ve spent a lot of time and money reworking my home studio and started to record my music again, moving towards 2 planned EPs in 2022 along with some stand alone songs. I have also started drawing and painting again. Mainly portraits. I’ve been reworking Songstuff so I can take what’s in my head and turn it into something that helps Songstuff become self-sufficient at a minimum. We’ve been slowly building SSUK and the Independent Music Stage as future assets for independent music and specifically Songstuff members. Plus preparing the way for Red Circle 7 (RC7) as a media company incorporating label, publisher and PR activities. It will represent Songstuff staff and eventually offer services to Songstuff members. Did I mention I had been busy? 2022 is full of promise. It’s taken a lot of time and effort to set up 2022 to be a slam dunk of a year.

I guess I am so used to wearing so many hats I just don’t think of it any more. Nowadays the vast majority of serious artists in most non-pop niches inhabit this zone, and almost all unsigned artists no matter the genre. Some dive in and swim, covering as many bases as they can. A small number pay for services, but for many it’s simply beyond their means. Many don’t believe they can do enough on their own and opt out of a lot to avoid being overwhelmed. There are certainly an increasing number of services pitched at unsigned, but most entry level services I’ve seen aren’t worth the cost. Automated mass mailing PR services for example. I guess it’s no different to the more traditional industry in that respect. There’s always been suspect actors in the industry, especially on the periphery. They are often the first to fill voids, and the mainstream industry left a huge void for too long. In ways it was empowering for those with some knowledge, a hunger to learn, a good work ethic, a willingness to engage their creativity on more than just their music and enough available time and energy to engage in a broad spectrum of activities. What has evolved is a variety of alternative ways to make a living from music. New income streams evolved while much more familiar income streams withered. There has never been a broader range of options and possibilities. At the same time, it is so accessible, and with the current fashion for making your mistakes in public, that the issue is more standing out from heaving masses of people clamouring for attention with often sub-par product with an entitled, jaded audience. Twitter audiences, particularly, have been spammed by independent artists with most Indy artist followings being 80%+ other Indy artists. There are numerous courses that still teach pretty mainstream perspectives on making a living from music, but there are a whole bunch of ways not taught in college courses. Artists are creative and new ways of building and monetising audiences keep being created and exploited. New income streams replace the old and they all require you to learn and invest time. The trick is to minimise that investment while maximising returns. Many aspects of the industry always evolved. Now it’s the business model itself that keeps evolving. Faster, more radically. New ideas come in like waves, you either ride or pass. One thing is certain, where we tread water, we stagnate and slowly sink. It has always been that way. A former member, now passed away, used to run a Jazz label with 18 artists on the roster. When first Napster and piracy carved a hole out of record sales, and then settlements between PROs, RIAA and Google (owner of YouTube) and other streaming services went with public opinion against labels, publishers, artists and songwriters… misinformed by search engine preference for articles supporting the point of view that meant more money for streamers…. that killed his label. He was working 3 jobs trying to keep that label afloat. People were bombing out the industry like never before. Many pros went semi pro or amateur, taking on other jobs to make ends meet. Engineers, producers, session musicians, songwriters. It was carnage. I am sure you knew many that had such experiences. So much skill was lost from the industry. So many, used to time devoted to their craft found themselves with part-time hours and no energy. My point is, “many hats” has been around for a long time. If you were only now having to confront the reality of the blunt end, you have been pretty lucky. It isn’t pretty. I am sure you’ve been dealing with it for a long time. Personally, I don’t think it is as bleak as it may seem. Change means opportunity. Fans still mean income, if you can leverage your brand. If you can grow your fanbase, you can find ways to monetise it. The reality is that income streams are being removed or massively diminished. It’s been that direction of travel for a while. Releasing records is not the direct money spinner it once was. If we don’t replace those disappearing income streams, the outcome is inevitable. Indeed, for many now, music is a loss leader. Money was made from tour receipts and merch sales. COVID wiped out the former and a lot of the latter, for most artists. You know all this. I really wish there was a magic wand. I do know the genie is out the bottle. I don’t see a way back to how it was. Governments are unwilling to pass meaningful legislation because online businesses are “the way of the future”. We either adapt or we go extinct. The fact is, that if we want to continue to turn out a professional standard of product and make a living from our music, we have to wear many hats, or at least take more of an interest in who wears what hat on our behalf, and how well. The issue will not simply go away. We have to find a way to make the number of hats we wear manageable. I sometimes hear muttering of the E word. Engagement. The thing is, what is engagement for? Several things. It helps build rapport. It absolutely helps build momentum. Funnily enough artists often miss something that sales people do all the time. They miss the opportunity to find out what fans and listeners actually want from them. Often, these days, it isn’t simply music, or even coolness by association. It’s to have an experience of some kind. Yes they want music and coolness and a bunch of other things… but collectively they look for experiences. What experience? It varies, in part by demographic. Artists need to have that conversation with listeners and fans. Then, artists can focus on those activities that feed their income streams and true benefits, and stop investing loads of time, energy and money in things that eat loads of those things and return virtually nothing. That may or may not be you Clay, but a lot of Indy artists fall into that category. Mahesh can attest…. I do his head in going on about leveraging efforts. Minimum input for maximum return. Do something once, use it many times in many ways. Use processes to streamline your efforts, particularly in fulfilling tasks that are not your core competency. If you can, be smart about automating where it makes sense. There is no doubt, if you try to do it all manually, or without some thought invested to do things as smart as possible… then it is very, very easy to be overwhelmed. I always pushed Mahesh. Work with what you have, and make what you have, work. Last thing I will mention. Teams and collaborators. Work with the right people. Trade skills. When I say collaborators, I am not talking about songwriting or music creation. I mean other artists etc. you have skills they don’t. They have skills you don’t. With a little thought and planning, together we can be smarter. Much smarter. It’s part of what we are trying to build through Songstuff. A bunch of assets that collectively helps cut through the sense of being overwhelmed. Much as @Mahesh talks of being overwhelmed, much is changes in lifestyle, even more is that he piles being a member of staff at Songstuff on top of his roles as a songwriter and artist, and the many hats directly associated with that. I think Mahesh would also say that he has a load of very real opportunities to develop as he goes forward, but working with others has become key to taking advantage of those opportunities and to cope with the workload while still leaving him enough time and energy to be very active with his music. The days of being active musically while being passive elsewhere have more or less evaporated. The new reality is just that. Reality. Sorry to have droned on. It is a hugely important topic… and one with a lot of positives and a lot of negatives and traps. Hopefully I haven’t wandered too far. Cheers John

Thanks Greg.

Hey Willow Welcome to Songstuff! Great to have you with us Where’s life without the occasional weird instrument? I love trying new instruments out to see how they play, what sort of sound I can get them to create. I look forward to hearing your songs. Cheers John

Ok, so… late again lol Here’s a quick scribble of the guitar idea for a new track that will be more or less guitar + vocal. It’s already changed since recorded, in the intro phrasing there are pauses after every 4th beat. There are also some improvements in the guitar melody and clarity. The scrappy bits are tightened up to have more purpose and direction and less guitar mumbling lol I’ll be working on this through this week and will upload updates. I need to write some words. I have a vocal melody at least!

You are very welcome!

Hey Rene I enjoyed the your interpretation of the song. A pity the vocal was right channel only. You’ve got a nice voice with a warm natural tone… if a bit too heavy with reverb. It has a nice lilting melody which suits your voice. There’s a couple of points I thought the backing could have benefited from adding a 7th… if I recall you were playing a C at the time. The bridge could have been more of a departure, perhaps reprised at the end after the guitar melody, and your vocal could have evolved a little more through the song. It has that kind of flat emotional dynamic that is quite common in some country songs, but I think it would really benefit from a bit more of an emotional journey, both in base emotion and intensity. In the spirit of helping more generally: On a performance level you did pretty well though I didn’t really feel it. Trying thinking about the emotion of the song before the performance, even if for 5 seconds, and the meaning of and emotion behind the words as you sing them. Songs are all about connection. Putting some of yourself out there comes back in dividends. On that note, position yourself a little closer to the camera, and more central-line positioning of your head really helps with making connection with listeners, as does looking at the camera more frequently. Nice one, and thanks for sharing! Cheers John

I was planning to record something for it, if I get a chance this evening. Last Friday my wife was taken into hospital which tossed my plans for taking part out the window, and pretty well any chance of recording through the week out with it. Thankfully home now, but as you can imagine getting time to record isn’t easy. Tbh, I need to practice performing the piece. It’s meant to have words, but I still need to write them!

Hey there Rene, great to meet you. I look forward to checking out your songs. I’m excited for you. It’s a great journey to be on.

Erik Mongrain - Raindigger

Adrian Legg - Cajun Interlude

Sticking to acoustic for now… Jon Gomm - Passionflower

Hey Gang I thought it was about time we had a thread for awesome guitarists and guitar performances…. So, um, this is it! I thought I’d start with this: Followed by a ted talk by the man himself… Cheers John

Hey Gang Engaging fans is a critical part of building your fan base. Neglect them or take them for granted at your peril. Please fill in the poll AND answer the questions below! What do you do to engage with your fans? In what areas do you think you have issues with engaging your fans and / or building your fan base? What are the issues? Cheers John

Hey Well, I definitely wouldn’t call it a cover. It’s a remix. Apart from Copyright breeches, in all honesty, it’s not a million miles from the original, because it is built around the original recording. Ok some EQ, a few stock effects and a too loud guitar… As a remix it needs more creative ideas and more distance between this version and the original, including some elements that really help to set it apart. I would guess you might hope for more complimentary comments. In saying that, if you post something that is mainly someone else’s work, it gets difficult to know if people comment on, or like your work, or the original song… which makes improving very much harder. I definitely don’t say the above to be cruel or offensive. That’s not the point in critique. More than anything critique is about progressing and learning. It’s about helping. That means looking at what works and what doesn’t. It means being honest with ourselves and with each other. If people only like a remix because of the original artist, the original song, the original performance… then what did you bring to the party? What new elements do you feel you brought to the remix? Otherwise I would ask: What are your goals for your music? How do you plan to move from where you are just now towards achieving your goals? Understanding the answers to these questions helps target more appropriate advice. It also help with forming an expectation. I really hope this helps. Cheers John

There have been loads of long song titles. A few I am aware of: “My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (The Inner Life as Blazing Shield of Defiance and Optimism as Celestial Spear of Action)” - The Flaming Lips “I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me” - Fall Out Boy and a lot earlier than either of those… who can forget this Roger Waters’ track from 1969, on Ummagumma: “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” - Pink Floyd

We have critique boards for lyrics, draft songs/1+1s, recording(+production), even cover song performance, video etc. I don’t know how familiar you are with the critique process and I don’t want to assume anything. The boards are quiet just now but they are like that from time to time. Still, you will get critiques. We recommend you perform some critiques too. Not only does it introduce you to the members, and greatly develop your own skills development, but in peer based critique there is some expected offering critique too. That aside critique is a discussion, not a simple review, so I encourage you to respond to everyone who critiques your work and seek to understand the basis of their observations, analysis and suggestions. Please ask questions. Staff and members are helpful and we all share a love of music and at some point we have all been new here. Ok, when I was new here I was alone lol So my experience is a bit different from most! Cheers John

Hey Jody Nice to meet you! I’m a fan of finger style playing, so looking forward to hearing your tracks. What sort of influences do you have? Cheers John

It’s certainly longer than most. For some, the genre of your music and your target audience can affect the language you use, the complexity of the lyrics, the topic and the title. The fact that you are asking has you questioning it as a choice. I suppose you could look to remove unnecessary words? For example “together”. You already have “we” which can imply together. “Once” could be removed. It places it as past tense, but so does “laid”. That would give you “We laid on the grass, looking at the sky” It is a little bit shorter, a little bit snappier.

Awesome tiny tunes Mahesh! It’s a great way to quickly explore ideas, genres, style and production.

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