Why John Mark McMillan Walked Away From The Music Industry (#356)
I sit down with musician John Mark McMillan for an exclusive conversation about something I never thought I'd see—one of contemporary Christian music's most boundary-pushing artists stepping away from the touring life after nearly 20 years on the road.
What starts as a discussion about the brutal economics of modern music—the streaming pennies, the oversaturated venue landscape, the mounting tour costs—quickly becomes something richer: a meditation on what music is actually for.
John Mark shares about a wild night in a Belfast pub where strangers went from wanting to fight him to nearly kissing him (he declined), and how this experience crystallizes his vision for what comes next. We explore why performing the same song 50 times for 50 different crowds might be less transformative than gathering the same people in the same room week after week, why the death of the album as an art form matters, and what it looks like to trade reach for depth.
If you've ever wondered whether the music industry's evolution has cost us something essential about human connection—or if you're just curious what makes an artist walk away from the only income they've known since 2006—this conversation will give you plenty to think about.
Previous Episodes with John:
(#270) John Mark McMillan: Faith & Doubt
(#316) Redefining Success with John Mark McMillan & Thomas Torrey
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