Give Credit Where Credit is Due

The day after tomorrow we start a new chapter with our weekly show, “Now Hear This Entertainment,” which last week released its milestone 100th episode.

Needless to say, in less than 48 hours, Episode 101 will be out.  But it won’t simply be another interview with another guest.

When you write a blog regularly, you aim to not write about the same topic twice.  However, my opinion is that one exception to that can be, unless it’s reminding readers how frequently they should be thanking people.

Episode 101 is going to be a “Best Of” show, where clips from some of the shows over the first 100 episodes of NHTE are played back.  But it also contains numerous expressions of gratitude to the guests, the listeners, and the studio that hosts and edits the show every week.  In the case of the latter, it’s easy to overlook people when you’re giving your Thank Yous, so look deep into your project to see who you might be leaving out.

Did you ever wonder why credits at the end of a motion picture are so long?  They are, in a sense, thanking the people that helped out with the film.  So if one guitar player performed on one song on your new CD that has 12 songs on it, you better darn well make sure his/her name gets listed in the credits when you write them up.

A common courtesy will go a long way in leaving a good impression on someone and hopefully even working with them again.

Remember, the fact that you might have paid someone to do something doesn’t mean that the financial compensation was their thanks.  You pay them because you have to (and likely agreed to), but you thank them because you want to.

Let’s get back to the example of “Now Hear This Entertainment” being done each week at Crystal Blue Sound Studios.

When you do a project at a recording studio, there is likely work done on it at times when you are not there.  You need to step up and ask your point of contact at the studio for the names of each person that had a hand in your project, as well as what their role was.  People in general like seeing their name in print somewhere.  In the music business, however, it’s also a way of verifying résumés, so to speak.  Imagine someone wondering if an applicant really did perform on a certain CD, and then looking at the liner notes and the name is nowhere to be found in there!

Don’t ever diminish someone’s importance to the point where you think they don’t need to be recognized (another word for thanked).  Remember, some people are having careers at being what you might think is “just a backup singer.”

When you see one of the above type situations manifest itself, you can then thank me for having told you to be proactive and grateful.