Never apologize for your art & don't listen to your audience

[innerstatejt]

This is a recent blog I posted. It's 800 words, so you won't offend me if you skip it, however, I've receive some great feedback on it so far. I hope some of you enjoy it!

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STOP LISTENING start shouting

“We are the music makers & we are the dreamers of dreams” – Willy Wonka

All of us who make music, want it to reach an audience. The goal is to reach the largest audience possible while keeping our creative integrity. While we have the greatest opportunity in history to reach an audience quickly, there is a flip side of the equation that is making it more difficult in this day & age.





Attention

More than any other time in history, our attention is spread incredibly thin. The power to get attention is now in everybody’s hands but most of us are really bad at it. We have a hard time managing our own attention let alone that of others. Everyone is throwing art & opinions in eachother’s face on a never ending basis. Some of it might be good, but when people are bombarded with so much of it, even the good stuff fades into the background.





Playing it safe

In an attempt to get people’s attention, artists & musicians have traded their creative individualism to become marketers. Unfortunately not the good kind. They do research, trying to find out what people are already buying & then put their creative focus on delivering that in an attempt to ‘cash in’. From a business standpoint this can work, sometimes really well, but from an artistic point of view, this is suicide.

Artists are not meant to survey their audience to find out what they want.

No no NO!

We tell them what they want! We do it loud & we do it proud!

Artistry is about changing the way people view the world & making your mark, not about conforming to the world as it currently is. Art is meant to move society forward, to show them the way, to carve out a new path. A great artist doesn’t give a damn what you think and she shouldn’t. She knows more about art then her audience. This is why she has an audience in the first place!





The consumer

The consumer is constantly screaming “give me what I want!”, while inside they are really thinking “inspire me”, even if they aren’t consciously aware of it. To give the customer what she wants is everything that is wrong with music today. Popular music just continues to get more & more dumbed down. The consumer doesn’t know what she wants, plain and simple, and if you ask her, she will likely regurgitate something that has already been recycled, filtered, over produced & watered down for the masses.

Why is so much popular music watered down?

Plain & simple, it’s safe. It doesn’t offend people (except the minority that wants to turn things upside down). It’s middle ground music that has appealed to the masses in the past, but is now wearing a different colored t-shirt to appear new.

If you listen to your audience, you are going to fall into mediocre, middle ground music that people love to ignore while it plays in the background like a buzzing refrigerator (which can often make a much more beautiful sound than what is currently on the radio).





Make you mark

If you want to make a mark on the music scene, fitting in is the best way to disappear. There is just too much ‘decent’ music that all sounds similar. Why would anyone care about more of the same? You are just one of millions of people trying to sell or give away your music.

Although we all love music, there is just too much to consume. It’s being thrown at us from every direction. Why would I stop & listen to you, especially if it’s just the same ole stuff?

Take a look at the best bands throughout the ages. Which ones really stand out? Are they the safe, middle of the road bands or the ones with a huge “fuck you” stamped on their forehead? The ones that bent and broke the rules. The ones that spoke from their soul. The ones that were an assault on what we previously thought music could be. The ones that shouldn’t have made it, but somehow were too good to ignore.

They were unapologetically themselves. If you are unapologetically pop because that is where the art in you takes you, then in my eyes you are still a rebel. Erasure is unapologetically pop & they are brilliant! This is because they know who they are & they don’t listen to what anybody says or survey where the market is going. They just do what they love.

This isn’t the fucking stock market, people. If you are only looking for a quick cash cow, don’t make art. Get into banking instead.





One of these is not like the others

My goal for you is that your creative voice gets so loud that it drowns out the chatter of the masses. Stop listening to opinion of others & start your own journey. When you are different, you attract the attention of people who care about art in music. When you are not like the others, you interrupt peoples brains because you’ve just given it something unexpected that it doesn’t yet have a clear definition of how to categorize it. It has to stop & think, instead of the automatic “define & file away” pattern. Sure, this might not lead to sales in the millions, but if you consider the successes that came before you, that have stood the test of time, it’s a damn good strategy! Plus, you maintain your artistic dignity & that has to count for something.

What can you do today to become more like you & less like them?



Unapologetically happy music making,

Jason

[starving student]

i agree whole heartedly with the sentiment!!!!!!
as long as you don't mislead anybody you don't need to apologize for shit!

[doghouse]

What can you do today to become more like you & less like them?

Play the bassoon

[ian_halsall]

If you can't get your hands on a bassoon you can try the pink oboe.

[Fat_Stanley]

Nice work and well worth the read I sometimes wonder how much great music is being made by artists whose work I'll never get to hear because labels won't (/can't) take the risk putting it out.

[trevox]

I think it's really funny that you used "she/her/hers" instead of "he/him/his" - I know it is the new PC way of writing things these days, but it kinda seems like you are pigeon-holing girls as the type that like airy fairy pop music!! Of course, being very PC myself and I would never suggest such a thing!

Good blog by the way - agree with your sentiments, though feedback from sources/friends that you know are open minded and honest in their assessment can be a good thing.

[ian_halsall]

it's important to at least get it done and copy it to a few places

even if nobody every listens to it while you're alive at least you did it and you can be happy(ish) with yourself

[wotnwhy]

Nice work and well worth the read I sometimes wonder how much great music is being made by artists whose work I'll never get to hear because labels won't (/can't) take the risk putting it out.

This is why I think Soundcloud is so super awesome ;D

[ian_halsall]

yeah but try finding some original music on soundcloud that you like - mostly it's imitation dubstep or late 90s trance or people posting other people's music

it's still hard to find stuff - that's the problem in a way for music labels as well - cheap computers and super cool sequencers have made everyone into 2 unlimited

so it's almost impossible to see the wood for the trees

there's just so much out there

[3dot...]

YES !!!! I completely subscribe to that op...

[trevox]

yeah but try finding some original music on soundcloud that you like - mostly it's imitation dubstep or late 90s trance or people posting other people's music

it's still hard to find stuff - that's the problem in a way for music labels as well - cheap computers and super cool sequencers have made everyone into 2 unlimited

so it's almost impossible to see the wood for the trees

there's just so much out there

Totally agree.

Years ago, it cost a lot to make electronic music and therefore you had to have a level of dedication and passion to warrant investing that amount of money. Not saying that all music was great then or all music is crap now, just that the mindset was very different. Nowadays, most people own laptops and if they are so inclined, get cracked software and can essentially do it for free. Therefore, I would question if that same level of passion is there (I am generalizing here - I know there are a lot of talented laptoppers out there with that passion now).

I used to go into record shops and pick out at least 10 records to listen to, knowing I could afford a couple and I would always be left with a tough decision as to what I was going to buy. The market is so flooded now that I think I would struggle to make a selection of 10 and struggle even more to find 1 or 2 I wanted to buy. With the overload of bad electronic music, it is simply too hard to find the good stuff, so I rely completely on word of mouth these days and buy everything online. It's kinda sad, but I guess you have to move with the times.

I try not to be bitter and twisted, and I think it is great that people have the opportunity to write music without the huge costs, it's just unfortunate that the result is that quality music struggles to make it in place of multiple versions of whatever the current fad is.

[Hermanus]

great "reminder" in some way!
huge thank you for sharing.

Listeners secretly love to get surprised, that's right.
And this is what pushed me in making music, being so amazed by some great tracks that my curiosity was actively appealed.

[oblique strategies]

A few quotes I've collected over the years:

"Every gain I ever made in getting someone's attention was achieved through unorthodox & illogical behavior. If you do too much by the book nobody will notice you. Do the wrong things RIGHT. Be your brave, bad self. Remember people's names, be courteous, but never toe the party line. A truly original idea is what everybody wants, but everybody is afraid of."


"Do listen to the place where your music comes from. DON'T listen to anyone else!"


"Play the music that is true to your heart & they'll come to you. It may take 10 years, but they'll come."

[kitekrazy]

yeah but try finding some original music on soundcloud that you like - mostly it's imitation dubstep or late 90s trance or people posting other people's music

it's still hard to find stuff - that's the problem in a way for music labels as well - cheap computers and super cool sequencers have made everyone into 2 unlimited

so it's almost impossible to see the wood for the trees

there's just so much out there

It's hard to reinvent the wheel anymore.

[ian_halsall]

I saw this installment of mythbusters where they were looking at square wheels and whether there was any use for them - hilarious watching the car with square wheels grinding itself into the dirt and making a huge hole.

I think mythbusters is crap science anyway.