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A Little Chat | Overwhelm
As much as I love my work, I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. During the pandemic, I was working non-stop for my clients because—SUDDENLY—everyone needed everything online.
I went for about 2 years with no days off (not even weekends). I was doing the entrepreneurial “hustle” and becoming increasingly stressed out and unhappy. And to make matters worse, my dad passed away unexpectedly (not COVID). It was a lot to handle, you know?
A Little Chat | Celebrating the Moment
Dave and I recently launched the Album Accelerator, which was a heavy lift. It was 35 gigs worth of information and six and a half hours of curriculum, so you can imagine the effort it took to put it together.
When we finally finished uploading everything, we were elated! But guess what happened next?
Do You Have What it Takes?
On today’s show, I share the 8 things I think it takes to be successful in the production music industry, with the understanding that most of these I’m still working on myself!
Plus in my Year of Taxi update, we’re going to check in on any returns or forwards and take a listen to this week’s submission which is a Lo-Fi/Chill Hop cue, and I give my thoughts a dark, mysterious cue written by 52 Cues Community Member, Claudio D
The 4 Stages of Competence
When you’re just getting started, you don’t even know what you don’t know, but when you learn a little then you know. You continue this until finally, you know what you know, you know there’s more to know, but you’ve stopped thinking of what you know because now you know it.
This is the path to learning any new skill, and on today’s show, I’m going to unpack each these four stages of competence and discuss how they correlate to the production music process.
Town Hall Meeting
Join us for this community-wide meetup where we'll recap the year, talk about the community plans for the 2023, and answer any of your questions!
Coming in 2023: The Year of Taxi, The Briefing Room, Album Accelerator Experience, Workshops, and added benefits for all membership levels!
Happy Holidays!
Holiday Schedule
December 19-22: All the usual 52 Cues Events, Coaching, and Feedback Videos are available.
December 23-30: We'll be celebrating Christmas & spending time in family. Time for some rest, some video games, and some self-care! You can still book coaching sessions or feedback videos for the new year.
January 2: We're back, refreshed and ready to tackle the new year!
The Thai that Binds
Some of our 52 Cues tribe had a meetup at a Thai restaurant after registration at the TAXI Road Rally in Los Angeles. Dave really enjoyed the face-to-face hang time!
5 Ways to Stay in the Creative Flow State
When we’re composing, we strive to maintain this creative flow state, but some days that feels harder than others! So on today’s episode, I unpack 5 things you can do to help keep you in that flow state, feeling more creative, and more productive.
What’s Luck Got to do with It?
How big a factor is luck in our careers? On today’s episode we turn to the research of Dr. Richard Wiseman, Professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and we examine the 4 Principles of Luck and discuss how they might apply to us as production music composers.
Jon Meyer & Dave Kropf Chat About Community
Dave and John took a few minutes to hang out at October's Production Music Association Conference. They have some great things to say about finding your musical community. Check it out!
Who Are Your People?
The first part of success in the music industry is definitely working on your craft, producing cues of higher and higher quality. The second part of success is relationships.
31 Tips To Boost Your Mental Health
31 tips to boost your mental health, from morning coffee (yes!) to philosophy from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.