Hi, I’m Bennett from the Bobtail Yearlings! We’re hoping to find a business partner who recognizes the opportunity presented by Bobtail Method, our songwriting book. I wrote the manuscript that you see here as a proof of concept to win over the indie labels. I never published it on my own— not just because a songwriting book from an unknown band has little value— but also because it probably works best as an interactive tutorial.
If you’re an entrepreneur with the vision to understand what Bobtail Method can be worth with your investment and support, and you’re interested in partnering with us to turn it into an online app for web and mobile platforms, please get in touch!
Back when Yearling’s Bobtail was a standalone album, I sent out demo CDs and got a good response from several indie labels. But they wanted me to build a fanbase on my own, which confused me. I’m a nobody; it would take me years to reach the same number of listeners that a label can reach in one day. If the idea of a label is to make any sense at all, then my role should be to spend all my time and energy creating a remarkable work that, combined with their investment and support, can win over the public. And by making the “Ulysses of rock albums”— well, I thought I’d done that.
But okay, I tried to do things their way for a while. I tried the hustle. And… it didn’t feel good at all. I wasn’t building my talents; I wasn’t advancing the art form. In fields where genuine innovation happens, fake work that wastes your time is known as “bullshit”— I don’t like to curse, but that’s the technical term. And my bullshit detector kept going off. It kept telling me that this is the wrong way to go. So I decided not to hustle. And anyone who cares about the art form wouldn’t want me to, either.
Instead of building a fanbase, then, I wrote Bobtail Method and sent out copies of the manuscript to all the indie labels. The point was to show them that: it takes effort to compose strong melodies and chord progressions, and this is where much of my time and energy goes; I care about helping other artists improve, and I can help the ones on their rosters; and the book can promote the album, because it uses my own songs as musical examples.
I just figured that, if you’re a label, then surely this is what you’d rather see a band do. Obviously, bands should innovate; the option to build a fanbase is just a bone you toss to those who can’t. Right? Well… no. The indie labels still insisted that I build a fanbase. But I didn’t see anything wrong with my reasoning, so I just assumed I hadn’t met some threshold. If I stuck with my strategy of always trying to innovate, then eventually I’d meet it, however many years it might take.
So I invented amnesticism, a method for tonal composition in multidimensional spaces; I patented Bobtail Dominoes, a musical tile game; and I coded and illustrated an audio webcomic to go along with Yearling’s Bobtail. But sadly, the indie labels dismissed every one of these projects as well. Finally, it hit me: I’ll never meet the threshold, because there isn’t one. It’s not possible to avoid the hustle by advancing the art form instead, because the indie labels are loyal to the hustle. And because they’re seen as “good guys,” the public is on their side.
Have no fear, though. There are music fans out there who’d like to see the art form advance once again. And given that you’re here, you might be one of them!