Collaboration doesn’t necessarily have to mean co-writing a song with someone or being a guest musician on a song they record or at one of their gigs. Granted, what I’m about to describe is going to be a bit generous in terms of loosely expanding the term 'collaboration,' but the bottom line here really is more about always focusing on not viewing everyone else as competition.
In last week’s blog I mentioned that every 24 hours I surf the feed of the Instagram account for my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast. I was explaining in what I wrote last Monday that by only following accounts for people who’ve been a guest on the show, it helps me keep up on what everybody is doing so I can stay up to date on their announcements, releases, projects, etc.
In doing so, I have noticed something that really does my heart good, which is an amazing example of not viewing others as competition.
Before I elaborate, understand that I’m someone that does not like when people exaggerate. For example, if someone does something twice, yet someone describes them as “always doing that,” that’s an exaggeration. So, know that when I describe what I’ve been seeing, it’s from a very large sample size and not just a knee-jerk reaction to something that I saw two people do.
In fact, it is that large sample size that makes this even more pleasing.
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What I’m referring to is artists supporting one another. I can’t tell you how many times I see someone posting about someone else’s new single, new EP, or album. They’ll do these Instagram posts (or stories) congratulating the artist on this new release. There are usually kind words above and beyond just “Congrats (name).” They’ll sometimes tell people to buy it or stream it, if not at least “check it out.”
They say that when you buy a car you all of a sudden start to notice so many more of that same make and model out on the road, which you otherwise wouldn’t have paid attention to before. Now that I’ve said the above, you’re going to start realizing it too, provided, of course, that you follow enough artists on Instagram.
Why this is also particularly nice to see is because the pandemic is still going on. It has been well-documented – in my weekly blog, on a number of episodes of my podcast, and elsewhere – how severely impacted performers have been during this Coronavirus era, meaning in a negative, financial way. So, at a time when most creators would seem inclined to adopt an attitude of, “It’s everyone for themselves,” it’s almost even nicer to see this support that’s being given for their colleagues instead of thinking, “Oh no, I just have to promote my own music so that people buy my single, EP, or album.”
And while that might be what makes singers, songwriters, musicians, recording artists different, I always slide in the fact that this is a business and everyone does have their own bills to pay, so to put that aside and say, “I want to support someone else and give credit where credit is due,” well to that I say, Bravo. That attitude will serve you well and I do hope it comes back around to you. (It’s a whole lot better than karma and trying to bring somebody down.) Really so nice to see. Keep it up guys and gals.
Are you noticing this too? Tweet to me about it via @NHT_tweets or post about it on Facebook or LinkedIn. Alternatively, you can send me an email with your observations. And if you’re in need of help with your music career (or even podcasting), schedule a private, one-on-one video consultation with me.