NHT Blog

We have all heard it before: “You are a brand.” It is one of those phrases that gets tossed around so often it starts to feel meaningless, like something people say just because it sounds good. But the reality is, it is not just a trendy line—it is how people actually experience you in the real world.

A little over a week ago my brother asked me how I listen to music these days.  He immediately followed it up by asking if there is anyone (singular or plural) who has caught my ear to the point of maybe spurring me to dive into their catalog, learn more about them, and so on.

I don’t want to get sidetracked here by venturing into the answers that I was giving him to those questions that he posed.  But suffice it to say, if the song “No More Saving You” by Zy Smoke had come across my screen sooner, I’m sure I would’ve mentioned that in our conversation.

You’ve heard that expression, right?  It shows up a lot on social media.  Someone let me know if I’m wrong and it has been around a long time, but I feel like it’s maybe more of a 21st century thing.  “It costs nothing to be nice to someone.”

But let’s take that a step further.

There are so many expressions that people throw around, almost without sincerity, that messages and intent almost seem watered down.  Sadly.

Notice how many times people will use the expression, “Thoughts and prayers” when someone is going through something difficult.  If you haven’t been through it yourself, you don’t realize that even if you honestly are thinking about and praying for that person, that saying has gotten over saturated at this point.

More than 15 years ago, when I was working in the Olympic Movement, I attended an International Sports Press Association conference in Turkey.  One of the speakers was the head of media for the International Olympic Committee.  He implored the attendees, “Let’s stop saying ‘new media.’  There’s nothing new about the Internet anymore.”

Do I really have to explain the benefits of collaborations?  It has become such a regular part of music business lexicon and a common practice that I have to stop to wonder if it’s just being acknowledged but not actually activated.

Make no mistake, we all certainly see plenty of examples, but my challenge to you today is (here’s that expression I so love to use) to do a self-audit to assess whether you’re taking part and, if not, why you haven’t jumped in with both feet.

One can go to Barstow, California, for as long as they want. It’s just too bad that you can only spend 3 minutes and 47 seconds with “Barstow” the song, though.  Well, until you put it on Repeat, that is.  ((wink))

I was thrilled to take a detour this week from the usual blog content when I heard this new track, grounds for a review post instead of what readers here have grown accustomed to.  And the artist is quite noteworthy as well due to the high profile she has already achieved in the arts.

I have made no secret that I am a big fan of using the Shazam app for music discovery.  Often times I will find myself out eating somewhere and a song catches my attention for all the right reasons.  These are instances where I want to hear the song again – in an environment where there’s no competition from conversations as well as dishes and glasses and silverware clanging.  Thank you very much.  I just added another entry to my personal Spotify playlist.

Six days ago was the 12-year anniversary of the “Now Hear This Entertainment” (NHTE) podcast.  Some might call it stubbornness, but quite frankly I am extremely proud to have never missed a week once since the first episode of the show was released on February 17, 2014.

You have news to share, and you have treated it like it matters. You have spent hours writing, rewriting, and fine-tuning every line of your press release. You have debated the headline, polished the quotes, and checked the details one more time than necessary, just to be sure everything is perfect. This is the announcement you are excited about. The one you believe people will care about.