NEW SINGLE – “Undivided w/ Tyler Hubbard”
Tim McGraw released his very first single to country radio, “What Room was the Holiday In,” in 1991. Since then, a lot has changed about the music business and what is required or necessary to be a successful artist. Social media was definitely not part of the equation. Facebook and Twitter weren’t a thing until 2006. There were no live-stream concerts or interactive online chats, and streaming services like Spotify and Pandora didn’t launch until the mid-2000’s. 30 years into his career, which is as hot as ever, Tim says, “It’s been a learning art for me, and sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes I don’t. I think really, the through line for me, through all of the madness and the changes and all those things, is knowing yourself as an artist. Knowing who you are as an artist and knowing what you do well, and even more importantly, knowing what you don’t do well, that’s the consistency that you have.”
No matter what technology comes along or new platforms or new hoops artists have to jump through to stay current and relevant, Tim is okay with the knowledge that change in the music business is a constant thing. “The business models are gonna change, the types of music that people want to hear is gonna change. All those things are gonna change,” says Tim, “but if you’re consistent in who you are and you know yourself as an artist, you know what you do well, you know what you don’t do well, and then you sort of pick up things that are happening along the way to stay relevant and stay on top of the ball, with having that core base of what you do as an artist, then I think that’s all you can do, and then the chips are gonna fall where they’re gonna fall.”
Fortunately for Tim, he has navigated through all the change quite masterfully and continues to create great music and big hits. As for the rest of the business, he says, “Those other things you learn as you go along, and I try to learn as much as I can about it, but basically, when it comes back to it it’s about the music to me.”
Tim McGraw – evolution of the music biz :52
“Social media I’m not crazy about but that’s part of what you have to do. And it’s been a learning art for me, and sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes I don’t. I think really, the through line for me, through all of the madness and the changes and all those things, is knowing yourself as an artist. Knowing who you are as an artist and knowing what you do well, and even more importantly, knowing what you don’t do well, that’s the consistency that you have. All the other stuff’s gonna ebb and flow. Things are gonna change, the business models are gonna change, the types of music that people want to hear is gonna change. All those things are gonna change. But if you’re consistent in who you are and you know yourself as an artist, you know what you do well, you know what you don’t do well, and then you sort of pick up things that are happening along the way to stay relevant and stay on top of the bal,l with having that core base of what you do as an artist, then I think that’s all you can do, and then the chips are gonna fall where they’re gonna fall. All those other things you learn as you go along, and I try to learn as much as I can about it, but basically, when it comes back to it it’s about the music to me.”