If promoting your music makes you miserable, read this

Step into the pulpit.

If you’re a musician, then you’re a spiritual person.

You may call yourself an atheist…. or an agnostic…. or Frank, whatever you prefer.

But you’re a spiritual person nonetheless.

Because according to the definition that I just made up in my head as I typed this, spirituality is anything that aspires towards the truth.

Now, you may say this isn’t your goal. You may even be openly running away from problems in your own life. You may even believe that life is inherently meaningless or absurd.

But in music, I am certain you are seeking the truth.

Even you, my jaded friends, the very fact that you’re reading this post is because somewhere in you……….the ember of belief still burns.****

(***Just a heads up, if you aren’t resonating at this point, this will be a very uncomfortable read for you…)

“Now Michael, how do you know I’m seeking the truth? You’re just a man I don’t really know very well…”

I know because I feel the exact same way when I make music.

But the moment the recording light on my phone starts blinking (is that a thing?), whatever truth I aspire towards slips through my fingers.***

(****For those not picking up on this vibe, really appreciate you giving it a shot but this Substack is probably just gonna be more of this… so thanks for coming out!)

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The other day, I tried to film a YouTube video.

I was gonna talk about music business news and give my thoughts, and in my head, it was beautiful.

I was funny but serious. Authoritative, but also kinda in on the joke. Post-ironic and good spirited.

Me and Preston (who lived in the podcast studio for a brief period of time to get this label off the ground🫡) set up the cameras and got the set looking nice.

I was going to talk about the Universal Music and TikTok dispute. I had some hot takes I wanted to share, and I was ready to spit some facts.

I figured a series talking about music business would be a cool way to align my interest in business with my passion for music. Our parent company (long live the mothership, Mastering.com ⚔️) has a large following on YouTube, so they offered to help me launch the new series.

Preston (🫡 ) printed the earnings reports and had them on my sick looking executive desk (actually $40 on FB marketplace). I even bought those swinging clackers (or Newton’s cradle for chumps) to make my desk look extra slick.

I turned to Preston, and said “let’s rock and roll” or something like that.

Preston hit RECORD.

I took off at a casual but lively gate. I hit a well timed planned joke early and I was hand-gesturing at a steady clip.

I had prepared what I would say a few times in my head… but pretty quickly I started having a hard time stitching the ideas together.

A stumble, a recovery…….. a joke, a nervous laugh! ….a thought about the nervous laugh, a thought about the thought about the nervous laugh….blank…..blank……. darkness……

And before I knew it, whatever truth I was about to bear down on the world evaporated above me.

After about 5 minutes, like a car steaming from the hood, I pulled the show over to the side of the road and shut her down.

I turned to Preston (🫡) and said “oh my gosh this is boring as sh**”.

I was like Walter Cronkite without the believability, charm, or dashing good looks… I had all the pizzaz of an (unsalted) Saltine cracker.

Anyways it was very bad, and I knew it.

And not in the self-pity way… it just clearly wasn’t my thing. I have an interview podcast which felt pretty natural from Day 1, but for some reason when I’m talking to the camera I couldn’t relax.

I knew it would be very bad for a while until I improved.

Now…. I believed I could get good at it if I just put in the time and the effort. But “being good on camera” was never something I wanted to get good at.

I just wanted to be myself and share (what I hoped) was the truth.

I turned to Preston (🫡 )and I said:

“This was a failure, I must go home now.”

A man of my word, I went home and I told my wife what happened, to which she replied:

“yeah I could’ve told you that you would’ve hated filming a YouTube video.”

She was right. She’s always right. And I mean that sincerely.

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After the sharp sting of a failure wore off, I re-examined how I could promote Mad Records in a way that aligned my interest in business with my passion for music (my original goal with the YouTube video.)

And that night, I started this Substack.

I talked about the UMG / TikTok dispute, and it felt really natural. I was able to write freely, make edits, take breaks, and strive for the truth. I even got to hang out with my sweet 12-year old Maltese queen, Katie, while I wrote it. What a joy.

(You can check out that post here after you finish this!)

And unlike my crushed YouTube aspirations, my article turned out pretty ok - which was a good enough starting point for me.

SO WHAT’S THE POINT?

If you feel like your “content” isn’t capturing the deep, spiritual truth you’re aspiring for with your music, then you have two options:

1. Give yourself the time to improve. Be patient and expect no results in the meantime. If results happen, then congrats, you’re now good at that thing.

2. Give yourself grace for falling short of your vision, and find a different medium/method that captures it. Nurse your wounds with people who understand what you’re trying to accomplish.

There is always a way to share your creative vision in a way that aligns with your values.

You just have to build up a pain tolerance for failing publicly.

However, for the love of all things holy, please like and subscribe to this SubStack…. I can’t fail again I have plans this weekend.)

Long Live Mad Records ⚔️

- mike