The first episode of my new podcast with Nigel Risner had just been submitted for publication. Job done, you'd think.
But when I listened back to it, I couldn't shake the feeling that it needed a little something extra.
Christmas Eve in the studio
So on Christmas Eve I sat down and wrote and recorded a theme tune for the future episodes. Fourteen seconds of music. That's all it needed to be.
The podcast was called Your Best Year Starts Here, and it was about to go out on the first few podcast platforms, with the bigger ones to follow. Fourteen seconds might not sound like much. But those few seconds are what greet every listener, every episode. They set the mood before anyone has said a word.
I've been a DJ since 1987 and making music for most of my life, so it felt natural to make our own rather than grab something off the shelf. (If you want to know where all that started, it's in Bedroom decks, 1987.)
The little extra
There's a line I like a lot. The little extra is the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. It's right there in the words themselves. Ordinary, plus a little extra.
Most of the time the little extra is small. A theme tune nobody asked for. A handwritten note. Following up when you said you would, and adding one useful thing. The customer can't always say exactly what was different, but they can feel it.
It wasn't the only time
Writing the music for my own content has become a bit of a habit.
In 2016 I shot a series of short videos. I edited the originals myself and wrote the music for them too. Watching them back years later, I was a bit more shouty and in your face than I am today, but the message still matters. Start, even if it's messy. Done beats perfect, every time.
In 2022 I was building a course on how I create content. I call the method the content sampler, and it grew out of lessons I learned as a DJ and music producer. The title sequence for one of the modules needed music, so I put some together specially.
None of those projects needed original music. Plenty of people would have used a stock track, and that would have been fine. But it's the bit I enjoy, and I think people notice when you've cared about the details.
You don't have to be a musician to find your own version of this. Think about the thing you've just finished, the thing you're about to send out into the world. A proposal, a talk, a product, a post.
Ask yourself one question before you press send. What's the little extra that would make this feel like it came from me?
It might take five minutes. It might take an evening, even Christmas Eve. Either way, it's often the bit people remember.
The podcast that theme tune was written for is now on this site, starting with Episode 001: Do we need an intro?. Have a listen and see if you can hear my fourteen seconds.
