I've been on internet forums for music production and more recently in Facebook and Reddit groups for more than 20 years now. I now know enough to see patterns and I noticed that there is a skill missing more often than not.

In a recent email about piracy, I made the mistake in my title, instead of writing "Does piracy hurts software developers?" I wrote "Do piracy hurts software developers?".

Right away, I got not-so-nice emails from some musicians who thought it was a good idea to use my mistake to put me down.

As a developer, I have a number of high-profile musicians who contacted me about my plugins. Some of them are idols of my youth. One thing that struck me with their message: they were always very empathic.

And here is the missing skill so often lacking by internet musicians: empathy!

I suspect that the high-profile musicians which whom I had a chat are successful in part because they work with people, not against them.

They don't try to be right, they try to build something with you. And it shows in their interactions.

One of the reasons why my website is so popular is because of the generous amount of freebies. When I create a plugin or a library, I try to think of things I could do that would be useful to other musicians.

That's how French Violin and Nu Guzheng were born. Some musicians consider them as the best free plugins in their respective categories.

By being empathic with the people in your community, you help it thrive.

Have a great Friday!

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