Happy Friday!  Let’s go through the rundown today.  We talk about; the cloudy economy and how to thrive in it, an excellent new documentary from Jonah Hill (yes, that, Jonah Hill) and his therapist, we teach you guitar, recap an interview chat with Jools Holland and splash you with music news and laughter in our best “joke of the day” style.  Today is going to be Friday!

Now that the election cycles have tamped down, we are moving on to economics all the time.  2023 is setting up an interesting dynamic; social media companies dependent on advertising will have to convince companies who pull back on marketing and advertising when the economy starts to retract.  Layoffs have been announced for some of the largest social media companies; Facebook, Twitter, and Snap.  The layoffs haven’t been specific to social medial companies or traditional media companies like CNN, Netflix, and Amazon.  Our quick research turned up many companies we didn’t even know were laying off people, including Tesla and Ford. 

If you were around in 2007 or 2002 and lived through a contraction, you might be better prepared for 2023.  You may even grow when other companies are forced to reduce.  It depends on how fast you can move your business or job into the areas likely to contract.  As larger companies pull back, smaller companies with good balance sheets and funds to move will be able to find marketing and advertising opportunities not available when the market is selling high.

Like the housing market, when interest rates are low, and everyone wants a new house, inventory will struggle to keep up, and prices will increase.  Turn that around; interest rates, fees, and inventory go up.  In advertising, you are selling on a dynamic scale; adding buy in 2021 could cost X based on demand, and in 2023, it could be less than half of that based on need and abundant inventory.

The two places “Big Co” always cut in a downturn:

The two places we have seen the most significant gain during a downturn:

We say with legs, meaning; consistent experience, durability, and growth potential.

Get Growing!

We realize as we are writing this up that it sounds crazy.  Jonah Hill released a documentary he did with his therapist, Phil Stutz.  The transparency and vulnerability Hill and Stutz portrayed on screen were terrific.  Hill wants to get the message about therapy and The Tools, which are some of Stutz's processes when working with his patients. 

This is one of those documentaries we will have to watch a few more times, but it’s inspirational, and we want to highlight it now.  We will report back later after we use some of the tools described.

Newsweek has an article that talks about Phil Stutz and his practice.

Phil Stutz Wrote a book and created a website talking about his process. The book is called The Tools. He also has a website with more information on The Tools. Here is a link to more information on the Netflix documentary - STUTZ.

In a highlight for us, Stutz talks about Part X, a story you tell yourself.  Hill relates it to the villain in your hero’s journey.  Stutz says Part X is the “voice of impossibility.”  See the documentary.

[New Section on Mindfulness]

Have you ever wanted to play the guitar?  Here are a few tips from LOUDWIRE for all beginners.  If you have thought about it but never picked one up, there has never been a better time.  Let’s play!

The article goes into ten considerations for beginners, our top three include:

Many things have improved in the DIY musical instrument learning arena.  YouTube being the top, you can watch anyone learn almost anything.  The electric tuner is also a big plus, and finally, the easy access to a metronome.  You can download many free metronome apps for your phone or device; the sooner you use a metronome, the better you will be. 

Popular music is simple, and that’s by design.  The music is simple; the creation of the simplicity is not, or as we like to say, “it’s simple, not easy.”  You can start learning how to play the guitar by playing simple chords first and then move on to understanding the fretboard and individual notes that make up a chord.

Another common video on YouTube is professional musicians practicing simple, repetitive exercises no matter how good they are at the instrument.  We watch Travis Barker playing on his practice pad all the time.  Our favorite guitar finger exercise is the Spider Exercise; you go up and down the fret board hitting each note on the guitar.  Again, simple; doing it every day for a year is not easy.

LOUDWIRE also links to a program called Fret Zealot, which has a lot of great-looking practice ideas.  We have not checked this out yet, but it looks promising.

[Music Notes]

Not exactly, but it is the first time Johnny Marr and Smiths bassist Andy Rourke have recorded together in 35 years. Fifty percent of The Smiths, we will take it. The track is called Strong Forever and will be on Blitzvega’s upcoming album.

The Killers have played with Marr several times over the last couple of years.  Check out a fan video of the collaborations below.

The band Placebo has asked fans to “be in the moment” and not take pictures or videos during the show.  In some posts on social media that have been showing up, they explain that constant photos and videos hurt the connection they are trying to make with the audience.  It will be interesting to see how this will look over the next few months.  We think that ship may have already sailed.

The Guardian did a live chat with Jools Holland.  We know Jools Holland from his long-running show, Later with Jools Holland, a BBC show we see clips of on YouTube.

You’re on a spaceship that has had critical damage from an alien attack. Two escape pods are available to bring you back safely to Earth in 365 days; the only issue is that the CD players are broken. One plays Up the Junction on repeat 24/7 and the other plays Tempted. Which escape pod do you choose?

On Amy Winehouse

"Good question. I have been incredibly fortunate to see some of the greatest singers the world has known over the top of my piano. In my view, Amy was one of the greatest ever. She had a natural voice that made you fall in love with whatever she was singing. Like the great blues singers, she sang from the heart and told the truth. And like Édith Piaf, there were elements of vulnerability. She'd listened to Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan but reinvented everything they did. She had a great knowledge of all that had gone before her, which she used to create a new path for herself. She's one of the greatest losses to music."

He was in the band Squeeze

PS my most important bit of advice is to make sure you've got a piano.

Watch Jools Holland on Later with Jools Holland on the BBC, or like we do on YouTube.

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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us!

With A Shout Team