Too Many Hats

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

The digital age has me adding and performing many new functions.  This is exacerbated by my current low level of income requiring me to perform duties for which I used to pay others, many of which I am not trained in doing.  The immediate list is:

• Writer
• Producer
• Recording engineer
• Instrumentalist
• Legal registrations (LLC, Trademarking, Copyrighting, BMI)
• Business & tax records (accounting & filing)
• Distribution (Distrokid, SoundCloud, BandCamp, Audiomack, ReverbNation, Youtube)
• Promotion (Public Figure Facebook page with ads, Google ads, Instagram, Spotify, email lists, soliciting bloggers & influencers)
• Crowdfunding
• Art creation
• Webmaster (creating site, updating, SEO, Google Webmaster & Analytics)
• Research reading

 

This is in addition to my regular life.

• Wife, friends, and family
• Household comptroller
• Maintaining house and yard
• Daily meditation
• Working out

 

This increased workload has begun to impact my virtuosity as a musician.  So I am now having to go back to committing at least 30 minutes a day to simply playing scales on a guitar.

 

When I was learning my profession I used to devote time every morning before work to playing major, minor, and diminished scales up and down the length of the neck.  Then, after I reached the level of proficiency and accomplishment to not require a “day job”, I took up piano and did the same on a keyboard.  After that I was playing enough and popular music is so structurally simple this was no longer necessary.

 

Now, due to the time requirements of everything else being added, I simply don’t play enough so I have to return to scale practice.

 

Does anyone else have similar issues of becoming overwhelmed?

[Mahesh]

On 12/19/2021 at 9:10 PM, Clay Anderson Johnson said:

The digital age has me adding and performing many new functions.  This is exacerbated by my current low level of income requiring me to perform duties for which I used to pay others, many of which I am not trained in doing.  The immediate list is:

• Writer
• Producer
• Recording engineer
• Instrumentalist
• Legal registrations (LLC, Trademarking, Copyrighting, BMI)
• Business & tax records (accounting & filing)
• Distribution (Distrokid, SoundCloud, BandCamp, Audiomack, ReverbNation, Youtube)
• Promotion (Public Figure Facebook page with ads, Google ads, Instagram, Spotify, email lists, soliciting bloggers & influencers)
• Crowdfunding
• Art creation
• Webmaster (creating site, updating, SEO, Google Webmaster & Analytics)
• Research reading

 

This is in addition to my regular life.

• Wife, friends, and family
• Household comptroller
• Maintaining house and yard
• Daily meditation
• Working out

 

This increased workload has begun to impact my virtuosity as a musician.  So I am now having to go back to committing at least 30 minutes a day to simply playing scales on a guitar.

 

When I was learning my profession I used to devote time every morning before work to playing major, minor, and diminished scales up and down the length of the neck.  Then, after I reached the level of proficiency and accomplishment to not require a “day job”, I took up piano and did the same on a keyboard.  After that I was playing enough and popular music is so structurally simple this was no longer necessary.

 

Now, due to the time requirements of everything else being added, I simply don’t play enough so I have to return to scale practice.

 

Does anyone else have similar issues of becoming overwhelmed?

 

 

I've been feeling this a bit too lately. It's been almost a month since I moved out of my parents' house and to my own place. As much as the excitement, a LOT of time goes in household activities (even when you're sick which is atm). And then there are the vocal lessons that I take to make rent. I do love teaching very much but using your voice for hours straight really drains you out and I've been having trouble putting in time to just practicing & playing the guitar for longer periods of time let alone sit to write songs and work on existing projects. I'm sure things are going to settle a little bit with time but man, has it been overwhelming! 

 

I need to REALLY set myself up some routines including certain activities that may require me to pay attention only a couple of times a week or month. When the days are passing like this in warp speed, it feels like you're doing a LOT of work and yet not a lot getting finished. And that bothers me big time. My meditation practice has not really been solid either. I hope to really transform my use of time and the results that it may bring this coming year. 

 

Anyways, we may have differences in the way we're overwhelmed with all that's going on but wanted to let ya know, you're not alone!

[john]

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

[Mahesh]

33 minutes ago, john said:

Work with what you have, and make what you have, work.

 

Absolutely. I remember resonating with this so strongly as a teenager when you told me so the first time over a decade ago. And it still applies just the same and as effectively! There's no point waiting for better days nor is there any use in waiting for better circumstances. Progress that seems 'small' in the demanding 'eyes' of the desiring mind can be very significant in setting a strong path ahead in all the goals you may have for yourself. 

 

I can't keep count as to all the things we do with Songstuff alone, let alone everything else. But every bit of it has helped me become better each day in what I want to do. You're right @john, as I'm contemplating it while writing this post - as much as I'm overwhelmed with the new changes in my life, I am excited to find ways to organise, prioritize and work with em more than anything. I can't remember when I've not been on my toes. But there have been times where I've handled some better than others. 

 

All the stuff I do at Songstuff has become a very important part of my training in building a career in music. Looking at it the same way, I guess this month has been a good lesson for me to discover as to how I should be dealing with the time available and how I effectively utilize it across all fronts. 

 

On that note, time to hang the whiteboard in my room...   

[haim shim]

On 12/19/2021 at 5:40 PM, Clay Anderson Johnson said:

The digital age has me adding and performing many new functions.  This is exacerbated by my current low level of income requiring me to perform duties for which I used to pay others, many of which I am not trained in doing.  The immediate list is:

• Writer
• Producer
• Recording engineer
• Instrumentalist
• Legal registrations (LLC, Trademarking, Copyrighting, BMI)
• Business & tax records (accounting & filing)
• Distribution (Distrokid, SoundCloud, BandCamp, Audiomack, ReverbNation, Youtube)
• Promotion (Public Figure Facebook page with ads, Google ads, Instagram, Spotify, email lists, soliciting bloggers & influencers)
• Crowdfunding
• Art creation
• Webmaster (creating site, updating, SEO, Google Webmaster & Analytics)
• Research reading

 

This is in addition to my regular life.

• Wife, friends, and family
• Household comptroller
• Maintaining house and yard
• Daily meditation
• Working out

 

This increased workload has begun to impact my virtuosity as a musician.  So I am now having to go back to committing at least 30 minutes a day to simply playing scales on a guitar.

 

When I was learning my profession I used to devote time every morning before work to playing major, minor, and diminished scales up and down the length of the neck.  Then, after I reached the level of proficiency and accomplishment to not require a “day job”, I took up piano and did the same on a keyboard.  After that I was playing enough and popular music is so structurally simple this was no longer necessary.

 

Now, due to the time requirements of everything else being added, I simply don’t play enough so I have to return to scale practice.

 

Does anyone else have similar issues of becoming overwhelmed?

 

Hi Clay. I've been overwhelmed by some of the things on your list many times. But I think the more you get used to it, the easier it gets. I totally understand you, and sometimes, or a lot of times, life as an indie musician can be extremely challenging. Wish you success with all those hats, Haim.

[MikeRobinson]

SongStuff is a very important internet resource, and I have been sometimes-more sometimes-less involved with it over these many years.  It represents a place where musicians can gather, "talk shop," present their latest works for serious critique, discuss whatever markets they are in, and so forth.  In stark contrast to the chatter that is called "social media," SongStuff is a forum.

 

One niche that I have lately begun trying to develop – very much still learning at this point – is work with video producers, ad agencies  and the like for so-called "process music."  (A good website that is very much targeted at this is taxi.com.)  This is the music that you don't listen to as you watch the show.  But, every production needs many "yards" of it, and producers don't want their work to sound like everybody else who has tapped into the same royalty-free stock source.

 

(Vince Guaraldi, of Linus and Lucy fame, used the term "yards" to refer to "seconds of music."  He would ask the producer, "how many yards do you need?" then go home to his piano and make it. Producers need music that coincides exactly to the length of a particular "cue.")

Edited January 3, 2022 by MikeRobinson

[GregB]

While never a master at anything, I've always enjoyed doing LOTS of different things ... it's the spice of life for me and stops me going down dark spirals.  Sure, it can wear you down at times, but the variety means that you can turn your hand to almost anything as the mood/necessity grabs you.  It also give you options ... I can achieve things THIS way or THAT way.

 

By extreme contrast, if you were only good at ONE thing, how boring/frustrating would life be?  

 

Greg

Edited January 4, 2022 by GregB
Typo

[john]

47 minutes ago, VoiceEx said:

 

But I will touch on one subject which I think many artists do not take into account: no matter how good you are or how smart you are - nobody can do everything by themselves. Don't allow your pride or fear to stop you from reaching your goals because there is no shame in asking for help and sharing responsibilities.

Artists focus too much on artists being in competition with each other. They don’t like to admit they approach it that way, but actions speak louder than words. It’s true to some extent, but far less than is allowed for.

 

The fact is, it has been this way for a long long time, and the modern world only accentuates this…. Artists get far far further when they focus on working together with other music artists, but also when they work with other kinds of artists too (photographers, videographers, clothes designers etc.). 
 

Think of it this way, the modern music industry started focusing on discovering new bands in new cities. The Beatles were the catalysts of the Mersey sound in Liverpool. Oasis and blur in Manchester in the 1990s. True, we tend to remember one or two big acts by the end of it all, but at the time these cities are a launchpad for a load of artists.

 

It stands to reason. A lot of artists create a bigger target. It is easier for an entire local scene to be noticed than an individual band.

 

In truth it normally starts with a few core bands working together on some level. Perhaps they share a manager, or their managers are smart and collaborate. When one wins, they all win. That is the attitude that works. Once those bands work together they collectively generate more newsworthy moments. If for no other reason, that turns industry heads. Journalists, A&R, musicians… they look towards the brightest lights. That is true for fans too.

 

That is why cross promotion works so well. If we work together then your fans and my fans discover something new and finally my music gets the chance to shine in front of some new fans. If WE win, then each of us has a far better chance.

 

A good way to visualise it is imagine each artist is a star in the sky. Fans (and industry peeps) are drawn towards the brightest lights because those are the lights easiest to see from a distance. If you and your fellow local bands pull closer together then from a distance you look like one much larger, brighter star. And so they head for you to check you out.

 

However, it is only when they get closer that they realise that that one large light was in fact several smaller lights next to each other. By then of course it has done it’s job. Plus, often people are fascinated that you could be so close to each other and they want to know more. Now they are close enough to appreciate you… and that’s what you want!

 

To a degree this is what we hope for both Songstuff and Songstuff U.K. If we can use the size of the community and collab work to attract attention, and we are actively shining the light on our members, then hopefully we can really help get a bunch of you really noticed. 
 

That’s the thing, working for mutual gain as a priority doesn’t mean you lose out. One wins, we all win. Of course, Songstuff is nit a fellow artist. More like a venue.

 

You help us shine and we help you shine.

 

In the star analogy… if you don’t band together then it is you, on your own, trying to get noticed in a sea of millions of stars. By working together with say 100 bands, then your collective light is 100 times bigger and brighter than all those single bands. Once people get closer, now you have to stand out from 100 artists…. Which is a lot easier than standing out from a million artists, no?

 

Just like Songstuff, this works for other artist types. If their stuff gets noticed, then the chances of you getting noticed increases.

 

This goes on to actively promoting your fellow artists, and supporting people and platforms. You might say that sounds dodgy, but there are ways and means.

 

The king of this approach? Ed Sheeran. He not only actively gives shout outs for other artists, but he features on records for other people, he writes and produces other people. He is a prolific writer. In the 2 or so years before he was signed he released about 11 EPs. He wrote for others, had them guest on his songs, he guested on theirs (cross promotion)  and they name checked him more than anyone else. This was hardly a new concept. Prince did the same thing. So did Bowie.

 

So, don’t think of it as a cheap trick. It’s about playing to your collective strengths. It’s about wanting good things for each other and knowing others have your back just as you have theirs.

 

The modern age of the internet just raises the need to do this and presents better tools to do it with. Never before have so many stars been so visible to the naked eye. Never before has there been such a need to work with others as there is now.

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

9 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

nowadays there are many people out there, an entire generation perhaps, that`s growing up in a world without ever experiencing what its like to both physically and mentality 'be' there.

 

This is something I have also noticed as a prominent shift in people's mentalities and perceptions. I was always used to working with other people playing live in bands and working in studios for other people.

 

There were expectations, not just from your side, but from the people you worked with or for. There were professional standards. This included not only command of your instrument and professional conduct but also having a repertoire to perform and the ability to learn, then play material on the spot.

 

When I first started playing bars you had to play 3 sets a night with different material each time. This means between 25-40 songs. There was one club in Dallas, The Cellar, where there were 3 bands and you went on every third hour until 6:00am. If you were the headline act you went on at 11:00pm, 2:00am, and then 5:00am.

 

Many of the people I see posing as musicians today are not only dilettantes but musical children. They are doing well if they can make it through the 1 or 2 songs they wrote themselves putting together a recording at home.

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

35 minutes ago, VoiceEx said:

many musicians don't even bother looking at anything besides what`s trending in 2022

It has been the norm for a long time that most bands or performers start stylistically either with what is happening now or what happened in the decade before which is still fresh in people's minds. 

 

The really powerhouse bands which are the creative breakthroughs either have roots deeper into the past or are more avant-garde. Steely Dan is an example of the first who based their music on Bebop translating it into the Rock idiom. Talking Heads is an example of the second who in the era of furiously passionate Punk Rock took on an aura of detachment and irony.

 

In the '60s The Beatles were pop cultural trend setters while it was The Rolling Stones who reached farther back into the past to the Blues which eventually influenced more musicians. Once again the same paradigm is there. One was slightly ahead of the moment while one reached deeper back into the past.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Clay Anderson Johnson

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

11 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

what would it take to make modern music push their creative boundaries? what is your guess?

 

 

This is a question I cannot answer. No current trends indicate that happening in the near future. The people who believe they are doing so appear to be simply trying to recreate the dissonance initiated by Stravinsky electronically although I doubt any one them would actually recognize him by name or association.

 

All I can tell you is a lot of people have accurately pegged my work to a '70s sound. This is a conscious decision not so much to copy anyone as to take elements from that era I like. This was a period of extremely professional musicians pushing their limits. I also use elements which stem from John Coltrane and Miles Davis not in an imitative way but more as a stylistic homage.

 

I produce and record in almost exactly the same manner as Davis created Bitches Brew. I use snippets recorded at different times to create what sounds like a performance although for the most part the continuous performance never actually existed. If I were playing with a band rather than alone I would most likely use some of this technique combined with more traditional track by track recording of instruments.

 

Having worked in a studio setting where the norm is first a rhythm track, then drums and bass, then the rhythm track is replaced to sync with the drums and bass tracks, then other supporting instruments, then the lead instrument, and finally the vocal, I actually like the piecework snippet approach better.

 

I never, except for demos, worked in the old style where a band was recorded playing everything live. I think it probably would have been a more exciting experience. It certainly would have been more edgy and spontaneous.

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

one day even the most devout technophobes will all get on that train, because.. one day 'just music' may not be enough

 

Even though I prefer the sounds of traditional instruments for my own work they are created electronically.  I certainly don’t consider myself a technophobe. I have a certificate in Web Development from Cal State Northridge from 1999 and took classes in writing Java at UCLA.

 

I view the situation differently.  Science advanced and developed in many cases primarily because of warfare, but that does not make warfare Science even though it uses its tools.

 

Technology does not drive Music but is an advancement in possible forms. The basic concept of Rhythm remains in place, so does that of Melody.  What people create, like to hear, and accept as entertainment are what drives changes in Music.

 

The Metaverse may be a looming event but what really changes in the real world which still exists?  People seek happiness however they define it by many means.

 

One of the most prescient and imaginative TV series of the 1990s was TekWars created by William Shatner.  In it police in the future of 2045 battled technology (Tek) which had taken the place of drugs as the major social problem.  It pretty much foresaw the Metaverse in its entirety. We already have cell phone addiction which has been shown in research to alter mental states and shorten attention spans.

Edited January 25, 2022 by Clay Anderson Johnson