As an artist, one of the most vulnerable times are when you just leave the studio or get on stage, and it’s time to showcase your newest song. After all the time and energy it took to perfect all the parts, make the lyrics just right, arrange it, and give it that extra special something that you’re sure will make it a hit, you finally get to present it to the world and receive your first bit of real critique. I know as a composer/producer myself, how badly I always want everyone that hears my music to fall instantly in love with it. I hope to see all the heads in the room bob up and down, and smiles break across every face with the gleam in their eyes, realizing they’re hearing one of the best songs ever for the very first time. That instant relation that happens when you hear something that says everything you’re feeling, but could never truly articulate the right way yourself!

OK, so maybe I dream big, but most of you do too. That’s one of the reasons we do this. The belief that we can connect to people in a way that expresses the emotion they feel during the happiest moments in their life, down to helping them deal with the saddest days they’ve encountered. But one fact we often overlook is The Musicians Law of Average. Let me explain what this means.

In 2009, Taylor Swift had the #1 selling album of the year in the US, according to www.billboard.com, with 3,217,000 sold. 2008 saw Lil’ Wayne win those honors with 2.88 million. The Beatles, with almost 11.5 million copies sold, rank #1 for the decade. So what do these numbers show about The Musicians Law of Average? A WHOLE Lot.

First, let’s take into account that all these artists had national campaigns behind them (which of course comes with national budgets). So from there it’s safe to assume that almost every American had some form of exposure to these artists (including radio, TV, film soundtracks, endorsements, concerts, etc). So again, what’s the point?

Once you take into consideration that the US has an estimated population of just over 300 million people (www.census.gov), it shows that even the almighty Beatles can only account for less than 1% of the population that liked that album enough to buy it. Even if you include those fans that may just “listen” to them if they’re playing, but wouldn’t buy their album, you still probably wouldn’t break past the 1% point, and even if you did, it definitely wouldn’t go past 2%.

So if Super Groups can’t even get more than 1 out of 100 people to like them, how are you? You’re NOT, and that’s the point! That doesn’t mean you should quit now. That means your talent and success isn’t dependent on EVERY person that hears you liking your music (unless of course you consider the the above artists epic failures). It does mean however that your success depends heavily on exposure. And with the internet at your fingertips, exposure has never been easier (and more importantly, cheaper)!

So get out there and play that new music! If every person you let hear it doesn’t respond as you dreamed, remember you don’t need them all, just a few new ones each time. Keep pushing, keep writing, keep performing, and eventually the rooms won’t be full of people, they’ll be full of fans.