Observation about session players / studio owners

[LiveMusic]

As a singer-songwriter, over 20 years, I have done quite a bit of recording with everything from small, local home studios to full-blown pro studios in Nashville. Quite a number of the people involved or the studio, itself, are out of business. Especially in Nashville, it got tough over the years to pay the bills.

Some session players have home studios and I would sometimes go there, just me and the player and do some stuff.

As a self-employed businessman my whole life, I have learned a thing or two about marketing and self-preservation. One of the things that has always baffled me is that no matter how good the relationship has felt with an individual in the music biz, I can't think of a single person who has ever reached out to me as a 'how ya doin' type call or email. Crickets. I find that odd. It was always me who would call and just say hey. It's not like I did some recording one time and that was it, I have done projects now and then over the 20-year period. I am sure there are a lot of people like me. So, nurturing a relationship can pay dividends.

Is it the proverbial "musicians and not good business people" mantra? That could seem logical but there are a number of them who ARE still in business, so, they've done some things right. But keeping in touch is not one of them. No Christmas card, nothing, lol.

I will also say that it could be they don't do it because they don't have to do it. But... I do know that there have been some challenging times for all I have been involved with. But all of these people are very talented people and I know for a fact that one of them told me that he just waits for the phone to ring. And it always has.

But then again, quick phone calls or emails are not hard to do.

I will end with... none of these people I am talking are shy people, not introverts, they are very engaging personalities. We've always had a grand time and when I'd contact them to say hey, it'd be a great conversation. Not complaining, just an observation. I guess the point is that staying in touch with people who pay you money is a good thing, especially, when times are tough and any cushion provided by additional cash flow can mean survival.

[tinnitus]

Onto silence one can project whatever their mind may be prone to conjure up. Nothing wrong with letting someone you value know that the door remains open even if you don't need them to do anything for you right now.

[TheGITM]

I think that the reality is that there could/would be quite literally hundreds of people that they would have to keep in contact with, and it wouldn't really generate any additional revenue. It's not like you'd get a 'how ya doing?' email from a studio owner and suddenly think 'Hey, I should go cut a track'. And if you DID want to cut a new track, if you had a good experience you'd likely go back anyway. If you didn't have a good experience, a random 'how ya doing?' email isn't likely to bring you back.

You could say it would be more courteous to keep in touch, but I don't think there is a lot of business reason to...

[Dogma]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

As a singer-songwriter, over 20 years, I have done quite a bit of recording with everything from small, local home studios to full-blown pro studios in Nashville. Quite a number of the people involved or the studio, itself, are out of business. Especially in Nashville, it got tough over the years to pay the bills.

Some session players have home studios and I would sometimes go there, just me and the player and do some stuff.

As a self-employed businessman my whole life, I have learned a thing or two about marketing and self-preservation. One of the things that has always baffled me is that no matter how good the relationship has felt with an individual in the music biz, I can't think of a single person who has ever reached out to me as a 'how ya doin' type call or email. Crickets. I find that odd. It was always me who would call and just say hey. It's not like I did some recording one time and that was it, I have done projects now and then over the 20-year period. I am sure there are a lot of people like me. So, nurturing a relationship can pay dividends.

Is it the proverbial "musicians and not good business people" mantra? That could seem logical but there are a number of them who ARE still in business, so, they've done some things right. But keeping in touch is not one of them. No Christmas card, nothing, lol.

I will also say that it could be they don't do it because they don't have to do it. But... I do know that there have been some challenging times for all I have been involved with. But all of these people are very talented people and I know for a fact that one of them told me that he just waits for the phone to ring. And it always has.

But then again, quick phone calls or emails are not hard to do.

I will end with... none of these people I am talking are shy people, not introverts, they are very engaging personalities. We've always had a grand time and when I'd contact them to say hey, it'd be a great conversation. Not complaining, just an observation. I guess the point is that staying in touch with people who pay you money is a good thing, especially, when times are tough and any cushion provided by additional cash flow can mean survival.

It is an interesting dynamic that you bring up.
My first reaction was that I have friends who are the same way. It's different, of course, because you are talking about ways to maintain business relationships, but it seems not unlikely that people are, in some part, driven by their innate instincts as well as social constructs or norms.

I know nothing about the music world you reference, except what I have gleaned from listening to various YouTube channels. I do get something of an impression that it's a small world and that people's social activities overlap with their business relationships so maybe a small-world mindset is part of what makes people feel like they don't need to reach out beyond it?

Also, I feel like people perceive their social media interaction as a significant forum for out-reach. So there's that too. In general, phone calls, emails, "old school" forms of communication seem to be going by the wayside.

[RP]

The first thing that strikes me is that the introduction of money into the relationship changes the inherent nature of the relationship. You're more a former employee than a friend to stay in touch with. The other thing that strikes me is that most relationships are situational, and once the situation changes, you no longer have that common bond that comes from working together, being former next door neighbors or going to the same high school...

[FLRon]

In my lifetime, especially in business, I’ve learned that many people are your “friends” until you can no longer do something for them. Then they go silent.
It is what it is. It used to tear at me but no longer.