Building a Repertoire, Part 2

I have already discussed several parts of developing a repertoire in previous posts.  There are so many things to consider that it can be overwhelming.  This post will take a further look into using demographics while building your repertoire.

Now how can you use the average age of the passengers to your advantage?

One major aspect is realizing the cultural differences and determining what music was popular for the majority of the audience.  This is a bit tricky because songs that were popular in the USA weren't necessarily popular in the UK and vice versa.  I know it's hard for most Americans to believe that their music isn't the most popular all over the world, or what is the hit song of a particular year isn't the hit song in al parts of the world.

Let me give an example to illustrate my point.  I just picked the year 1976 as an example, because in 2015 the people who followed music at that time make up a large percentage of the cruise passenger demographic.  Using 1976 as an example, here are the top 10 songs for that year in both the Unites States and in the United Kingdom:

USA
1) Silly Love Songs by Paul McCarney and Wings
2) Don't Go Breaking my Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee
3) Disco Lady by Johnnie Taylor
4) December 1963 (Oh What a Night) by The Four Seasons
5) Play that Funky Music by Wild Cherry
6) Kiss and Say Goodbye by The Manhattans
7) Love Machine, Pt. 1 by The Miracles
8) 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon
9) Love Is Alive by Gary Wright
10) A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band

UK
1) Save Your Kisses for Me by Brotherhood of Man
2) Mississippi by Pussycat
3) Don't Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee
4) Fernando by Abba
5) Dancing Queen by Abba
6) If You Leave Me Now by Chicago
7) A Little Bit More by Dr. Hook
8) Under the Moon of Love by Shadawaddywaddy
9) I Love to Love by Tina Charles
10) You To Me Are Everything by The Real Thing

As you can see, there is only one song that appeared in the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic in the year 1976.  That means, do your research for both.  But there is some common ground that can help you out, artists like The Beatles, Abba, Elton John, etc.  Try and do a little research into the demographic and see what songs are popular.  They might be different than what you grew up with, so it may mean learning some new material to add to your repertoire.  It would be a horrible way to start a contract by finding out that a lot of your material gets ignored by your audience.  It is much easier to research and learn new songs as home than on a ship, where you perform nightly and internet connections are slow and expensive.

Try and research some "above and beyond" things that could make you the talk of the cruise.  If you know you will be performing in front of a large number of British guests, think pub sing-alongs.  Consider doing different themes for the evening.  Again, use your strengths and your own background to your advantage.  Have a background in musical theater?  Think about adding a Broadway/West End night.  Do you know a lot of music from British rock bands?  Do a British Invasion night.  Cruise directors and musical directors will appreciate the effort and the audience will as well.

There is another thing to consider with the demographics and that is the age of the typical passenger.  This is important because it will give you insight into what songs they remember.  As a musical director, I have fielded complaints from passengers because some of the musical acts onboard play music that is either too old and dated and also music that is too current, both of which missed the target demographic.  I had one passenger (probably in their 50s or 60s) come up to me right after a show and complain that the music was from way before their time.  They said, "We might be old, but we aren't dead!  That is music for my parents and grandparents."

How can you use the average age to help build a repertoire?  Consider that most people develop their musical tastes in their junior high, high school, and university days, meaning somewhere around the ages of 12-20.  Musical tastes can change over time, but you can use that as a starting point.  Meaning if the average age of the passengers is 70, then they started developing their musical tastes around 50-58 years ago.  Since this is 2015, going back 50-58 years would take us back to 1957-1964.  That means on a cruise today with an average passenger age being around 70, I would go focus back as far as 1950s and 1960s.  What does that tell me as a musician and musical director?  1950s rock and roll and British invasion would be a good place to start for guests that are now 70 years old.  Use the same theory and if the average age of the passengers is closer to 60 years old, then jump forward 10 years and look at music from the 1960s and 1970s.  Some itineraries might have more in the 50s age range, then look forward even more to the 1970s and 1980s.

What entertainers must realize is that everything changes over time.  The cruise industry has had a tendency to stick with traditions, but in the past decade they have realized that the must start to change and adapt.  Go back to the "Golden Era" of cruising, with midnight buffets every night, chocolates on the pillows, skeet shooting and driving golf balls off the back of the ship.  When it came to onboard music, most entertainers on cruise ships focused on the music of the Big Band era.  Not that there is anything wrong with jazz and big band music, but we have to be honest and say that it lost its popularity after World War II in mid 1940s.  By the time the year 1946 came to a close, 9 of the top big band leaders stopped touring: Glenn Miller (killed in a plane crash but band continued touring), Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Les Brown, Jack Teagarden, Benny Carter, Ina Ray Hutton, and Tommy Dorsey.  After 1945 jazz as a musical form was not dead, but the popular acts were solo artists backed by a band, such as Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, and Rosemary Clooney.  Going back to our earlier formula, that means that a passenger be around 80 years old for it to be the style of music that they "grew up with."  By 2015, a person would have to be a minimum of 70 years old just to have been alive at the end of the big band era.

What does all of that mean for music onboard a cruise ship?  It is still the tradition to play jazz and big band music (even though there are no full big bands onboard anymore, it is a modified, smaller instrumentation) using the ship's orchestra, the group that plays in the main theater nightly.  But there are more and more other groups utilized to cater to the majority of passengers, such as a quartet that plays a variety of music from the 1950s to 1980s.  Big band should never leave the cruise industry, but it might find itself in more of a niche than it used to.

Figuring out the typical age of passengers is quite impossible as every cruise is different.  When I was doing the same itinerary over and over every 12 days, each 12-day cruise had a different set of passengers and could vary drastically.  There are the obvious times when there will be more families and children onboard, such as summer, spring break, and winter break.  Another good indicator is the typical length of cruise for the ship.  In general, the longer the cruise, the older the guests.  Why?  Because most 25-year-olds can't exactly take 3 weeks off of work in a row to fly and take an 18-day cruise.  Also, Alaska will have an older demographic compared to the Caribbean.  European and Asian cruises usually fall somewhere in the middle.  It is worth asking your agent or the person from the cruise line who hired you what the typical passenger is like on your upcoming contract.  Just as ai said in my last post, you shouldn't completely change what you do to cater to the guests, but there has to be some meeting in the middle.

My suggestions are to do as much research and learning before you start your contract.  Being proactive and having a game plan is always better than being reactive and being behind in the game.  But no matter what there will always be surprises.  It's best to bring song books and bookmark lyric sites so you can minimize your time online, as crew members have to pay by the minute for internet when onboard the ship.

I wish there was a magic formula to know exactly what kind of music the passengers will want to hear.  Just try and do as much work before arriving to the ship and remember to be flexible while onboard.  All musicians, whether in the orchestra, in a group, or a solo entertainer, will report to the musical director and the cruise director.  Work closely with them and ask for their advice if things aren't going as you had hoped.  You can even ask them to stop by one of your sets to observe and give feedback.  They will appreciate the fact that you care about your job.  They are usually permanent people on that specific ship, so they will have a better scope as to what might work and what might not when it comes to repertoire.

If you are heading out to do a contract soon, good luck and hopefully some of this information is helpful.  Even if you have been doing the job for many years, it is always good to take a moment to reflect and analyze the current state of your performance.

Building a Repertoire, Part 1

One of the most difficult parts of being an entertainer is building and expanding your personal repertoire to make sure you are continuing to play songs that people like to hear.  It is especially hard whenever your audience comes from from a variety of countries and cultures.  This is true for both solo entertainers as well as ensembles.

My first bit of advice is to not try too hard to please every single person.  You can never please them all.  Remember the saying, "you can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."  That saying is true when it comes to picking the music to play.  Instead of focusing your energy on that one person that leaves your lounge, focus on all the people staying and having a great time.  Most musicians I know are perfectionists so it goes against our mold to let it go, but there's no reason to ruin the good vibe you are setting just because you lost one person.  People have different musical tastes and don't take it personally if what you are playing doesn't mesh with one particular person's taste.  I've seen it happen, though.  An entertainer sees the people in their room and sometimes they notice that a small group of people is more involved in their own conversation than in listening to the music.  So what does the entertainer try to do?  They start to focus their attention on the small group and neglect the rest of the audience, making the much larger group want to leave.

Now although you may not be able to please all of the passengers all of the time, there is nothing wrong with playing music that the passengers actually enjoy.  Surprising, right?  In some of my previous posts I mentioned the typical cruise demographics.  If you can figure out the average guest (if that really exists) on your upcoming contract or gig, then you can start to personalize your repertoire.  Try to keep in mind the cultures and ages of most of the passengers that will be coming to listen to you night after night.  It will always be a balance of what you as a musician want to play and what the audience wants to hear.  Somewhere in the middle lies a happy balance.  I've seen guys playing in jazz sets around the ship and they refuse to take requests of standards because they would rather play bebop or something that they personally find more musically fulfilling.  One passenger asked the band if they could play "Take the A Train."  Simple enough request.  The band knew the tune, the passengers knew it and would have enjoyed listening to it.  Did the band play it?  No.  And why, might you ask?  Because the members of the band thought it was too basic and not challenging enough.  They would rather play 20 choruses each of "Spain" to an empty room than fulfill a simple request from a passenger.  While you can't please all of the people, just make sure that it's not just the people on the bandstand enjoying the music.

This next bit might sound a little contradictory to my first suggestions, but my second piece of advice is not to lose yourself in that process.  You were hired because of what you do best.  There will be some genres you feel more comfortable with and others not as much, and that is OK.  It is good to expand what you can offer, but at the same time make sure not forget your own strengths.  Think about it like branding, because as an entertainer or band you are your own brand.  When people see your name or the band's name, there should be something that comes to mind.  When people hear The Beatles, they expect rock and roll, when they hear John Coltrane, they expect jazz.  If you start going off in a million directions you will lose the power of your brand.  You could imagine the confusion if The Rolling Stones would come out on stage after decades of doing rock and roll and then started doing nothing but waltzes.  It would destroy all the work they put in to build their brand and their image.  The same is true in if the band isn't playing in Madison Square Gardens or the Hollywood Bowl.  For instance, if a band was put together to be a "Latin band" that performs on ships, they should focus their attention to playing different Latin styles.  They should also learn some other styles, such as some ballads, pop, ballroom, and jazz because there will probably be a time when it is useful.  But if the one band hired to play Latin styles then they should play mostly Latin styles.  If that band starts playing more rock than anything else, you can see where it would become a problem with the onboard management.

I would recommend asking the hiring person at the cruise line or your agent if you are not directly hired, and ask what need they are trying to fill with entertainment onboard.  The person in charge of hiring entertainers should know and can help you out.  Try and get an email address for the Musical Director/Bandmaster on your next ship and try and find out what they have been experiencing and ask for suggestions.  I have always been more willing to work with somebody being proactive, rather than playing to an empty lounge and not caring.  Yes, you will receive your pay no matter what, but it might be your last gig with that cruise line if the Hotel Director, Cruise Director, and Musical Director aren't happy with you job performance.

There are other factors to take into consideration as well, and some of them will be the subject of my next post.