I remember when I first heard the album “Invasion of your Privacy” by Ratt. I thought it was awful. I was young and knew nothing about music. I knew all the songs from “Out of the Cellar” so well and I was certain that their new release was terrible.
A week later I absolutely loved “Invasion of your Privacy”, The guitar leads, the Stephen Pearcy vocal sound was all there, I just wasn’t listening.
I thought it was interesting that my perception is the album changed after I played it for a week. Since that time I began listening to music more closely and repeatedly before deciding if I like it. I found that it’s easy to see the a quality in almost any song if you listen enough.
The idea behind this post is that many people will reject your music. I’ve mailed out many CDs to radio stations and I bet many of them have been quickly shoved in a CD player for a few seconds and thrown in a trash can. I know that if the listener heard the song more than a few times they would start to remember parts of it and it becomes familiar. The human mind likes things that are familiar, things that we can predict and anticipate whether a story in the lyrics or a catchy guitar riff.
I always send a lyric sheet when I submit music thinking that it might encourage the listener to read the words while the song is playing in turn getting them more into the idea behind the track and the story. Maybe it helps, maybe not. I see so many great songs from various artists out there that aren’t on a playlist and hardly have any plays and it amazes me because if people really listened they would probably love the track.
I’t like hearing a song on the radio when it’s new and the station plays it so many times that you become so familiar with it that you anticipate the melody, song changes and grooves. Almost any song can become a hit if you play it over and over on the radio.
Need more proof?
Here’s an example: A Spotify user that I have never spoken with and do not know added my track “Wherever You Go” to their playlist titled “FavMusic” and placed it between The Beatles and Justin Beiber. This is means so much more than impressing a radio DJ, or record excutive with my music. This is a real interaction and it doesn’t matter what a playlist curator or A&R rep. things of my tracks. It proves to me that if one person likes the track enough to put it in favorite music playlist that if other people gave the song a chance they might like it too.
Don’t give playlist curators so much power over the way you feel about your songs. It may be that they just didn’t hear it long enough for it to become memorable. Curators are human beings and building a playlist is simply opinion based. Not only are they opinion based, they are often created with blinders of hype and expectation to hear the familiar. A new track isn’t familiar and will often be passed over with any thought.
Coffee & a Playlist 