Matinez

𝗗𝗼 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 I spent two hours listening to the podcast "And the Writer Is" featuring @jonbellion. I was surprised that, in spite of the social media-driven culture of short attention spans, I gave two hours of uninterrupted time to it. My phone wasn’t even with me as I watched. What held my attention was the level of authenticity that Jon brought to the podcast, and that resonated with me. Here are some of the highlights: 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 Jon paid for his latest album project – he was both record label and publisher. He did so to retain control and to pass on a bigger share of the royalties to his co-writers than they would ordinarily get from bigger labels. According to Jon, he was tired of complaining about how songwriters are treated by labels and decided to put his money where his mouth is. 𝗕𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 I liked that Jon admitted he had underestimated what labels bring to the table, and that he would probably end up losing money on the project. But the flip side was that he might learn a better way for labels to make money. He was willing to pay the price for innovation. He also gave credit to the stars who take the brunt of public adulation while making music popular. They give up their privacy while songwriters earn royalties and get to live a quiet life. 𝗗𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 Jon chose to shoot a video in Iceland, paying for the crew to fly there. He said he could have used AI, but at some point, there is fulfilment and meaning in actually getting your hands dirty and doing hard work – just because. Fans can tell when an artist is authentic, and will reward that. 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 Jon chose to pre-release some videos via direct file sharing with his fans, sacrificing online engagement in doing so. But he said that, at the end of the day, the social media algorithm only reaches 2% of his online audience anyway. So, he’ll reach more people by just using his mailing list of real fans. I feel like that is Substack’s advantage over other social media. You get to talk with people who engage with your stuff directly. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 According to Jon, he does better work when he’s in a room full of other brilliant creators. There’s an exponential creativity that’s unleashed, with everyone bringing something of value to the table. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗢𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 I think what ultimately got to me while watching the podcast was this – work on things that truly matter, not just the daily drudge of mindless activities. Do something you truly care about and will sacrifice for. #WakingThoughts