NHT Blog

There are all kinds of celebrations happening these days for yours truly.  In fact, the first of them began exactly one week ago today.  As much as it could have been my weekly blog that day, there is a reason I held it back until this morning.

While two days ago it was my birthday, the occasion that we are celebrating today is International Podcast Day.  Ten years ago, it began as National Podcast Day and over the years has grown to a worldwide celebration every September 30th.

I recently woke up one morning to a notification filling the entire screen of my phone, showing that an update was ready and asking me to install immediately or schedule it for later.  I don’t know why, but, for once I actually read the overwhelming majority of what was included in it.

You won’t be surprised when I tell you that a lot of what was in there had to do with AI features that they were adding.  It amazed me how the tone of the writing was rather presumptuous, both that us users had wanted these features and that we, of course, would be using them.

I felt for a while there like I was saying “The right ‘co’ word – collaboration – instead of the other ‘co’ word – competition” far too frequently on my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast.  And wow, just like that it's actually noticeable by its absence!

As a performer, of course your focus is going to be on putting on a great show.  Similarly, if you’re an author, your priority is to write a terrific book.  Heck, even if your craft is podcasting or being a YouTuber, that’s where you are putting all your energies and making sure you’re delivering a top-quality product with each release.

On the episode of my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast that comes out the day after tomorrow (on September 4th), you’ll hear Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, guitar player Eric Hirshberg talking about wanting to get the best musicians and letting them do what they excel at.  The person on drums should be the best drummer.  Whoever plays keyboards should be the best keyboardist.  And so on.

Just over five months ago I wrote a blog about not ditching someone, saying that, with the way things are in 2024, you will get busted.  And some recent occurrences and observations have made me realize that there are some related situations playing out that you can learn from so as to avoid.

You can appreciate that as the host of the weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast, I not only look at a lot of bios, websites, and EPKs from artists that I interview, but even more from those that I end up passing on booking as a guest.

I almost stopped myself from writing this because I thought, “Didn’t I write something fairly recently where I said that even though it’s not Mental Health Awareness Month (May) anymore, we still need to take action to keep ourselves on the right path that way?”

I remember many years ago when I worked for, well, let me politely say a senior.  He would often be heard saying, “We don’t want to confuse people.”  As much as a co-worker and I would kind of giggle about it, thinking it was misplaced, his message would have some relevance today.

In this creator economy, it’s easy to get distracted by something shiny.  Or, as some people would want you to believe, pivot.

Nowadays people like to say that “Everybody has a podcast” or “Everybody has written a book.”  You might not have done one or both – yet – but could very well be thinking about heading in that direction.  In 2024, a lot of people are using one or both of those to enhance their brand and expand their reach, regardless of what field they’re in.