It’s been said, “Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet.” If that’s true, I think that it’s safe to say that success is a planned event. It’s challenging to identify how to be successful in the music business. There are no clearly, carefully, concisely defined and delineated roadmaps for musicians to walk to get from point A to point B. Which means you have to do all the grunt work.
As I am writing this, I am in the middle of a campaign entitled 40 days and 40 nights of 40 songs. It’s a variation on an idea that I heard about from an independent artist named Jonathan Coulton. Coulton decided to launch something on his website that became known as, “Song of the Day.” Fans enthusiastically went to his site everyday to see what Coulton was going to come up with next. What made me decide to go this route?
1. Giving fans a chance to choose their favorite 10 songs out of 40 is an excellent recipe for launching a fan-based album. By doing this, you can ensure that the track list that ends up on the recording will be songs that fans want to hear.
2. Follow-up projects are important for career longevity. The longer you have the songs released and are playing out at live performances the more apt your fan base will probably be to receive follow-up releases.
3. It’s always better to have more than enough material than not enough. By writing 40 songs, you allow yourself the opportunity to play three or four hour shows if the situation requires it.
Granted, these are not hard and fast rules that everyone has to follow. Brainstorm. Come up with your own ideas, and trust your gut. You never know where it may lead you.