Rhythm Changes turns two years old

Two years ago, I posted this:

Welcome to Rhythm Changes by me, William Chernoff. In this weekly newsletter, we’ll investigate the working world of music with a particular focus on Vancouver jazz.

Sign up now so you don’t miss the first issue.

That's right – on June 19, 2020, I wrote the first three sentences of this project. The subject matter is still the same, eh?

I didn't ring in the first anniversary last year at all, so today's a good day to reflect on a couple things.

First, an emphasis on what's probably the most emotional thing that's happened here to-date.

Then, a comparison of two periods that might be useful for your own audience-building.

Losing an enemy, gaining a friend

I started Rhythm Changes on Substack back in 2020. The key moment of that period was writing about what I called "the worst gig of my life".

One of the people in the story – though I didn't use anyone's real names – ended up reading it and knowing he was in it. He hadn't signed-up with email yet, so someone had sent it to him.

He and I hadn't spoken in years. I thought he didn't like me, and vice versa. To my friends I would jokingly call him my enemy.

But the greatest thing about my early months at Rhythm Changes was that he reached out to me after reading the story, and now I'd say we're friends.

I wish for that to be the last time I'm ever not on speaking terms with someone. I don't like that feeling.

How the first 100 people signed-up

Okay, it's my favourite time – numbers time.

I've never sold sponsorships on written content at Rhythm Changes, so I've never disclosed the number of free readers who are signed-up. That won't change today, but I can say it's been over 100 for quite some time now.

Here is how the first 100 people joined:

• 52 friends and family – I asked most of them directly via email or text to sign-up
• 30 colleagues – some people who knew of me (or knew me a bit) and took interest at some point. I probably asked half of them directly to sign-up, and the other half did it unsolicited
• 13 people who were new to me – my first interactions with them came from their engagement with Rhythm Changes, even if they had been in the jazz scene with me all along
• 5 subjects of articles that I wrote, or people who pitched their music to me for coverage

It's kind of an 80:20 ratio between how many of the first 100 I asked directly to sign-up (80%) and how many did so on their own accord (20%). I believe that's true for anything you start when you're looking for your first 100 sign-ups. Just ask people.

How the most recent 100 people signed-up

These are all different people, obviously, but let's run the latest 100 people to sign-up for the free weekly article through the same filter:

• 0 friends and family
• 6 colleagues – all unsolicited sign-ups
• 89 people who are/were new to me – my first interactions with them have been from their engagement with Rhythm Changes
• 5 subjects or people who pitched to me

There is no fixed number of readers where you switch from early days to an established thing. Instead, it happens when you flip the power law from 80:20 asked : unsolicited to the other way around.

That's a broad, general thing I've learned from two years of publishing.

But the most important thing has been that writing has the power to heal wounds and make friends. Something about the pen and the sword, right?

I've never forgotten it for a single day since.