This week I'd like to wax philosophical about pointless futility, or "making it big" as people trying to grind you for cash like to call it. Making money at music is like trying to teach a pig how to sing. It's a waste of time and irritates the pig. I've mentioned before that the definition of a successful song is one people like. Success in the music business is an altogether different endeavor. Music and business have absolutely nothing to do with each other. The polar opposite of art is business. They don't even cross over once in a while. In business art is a product, nothing more. In business, music is no different from a Slap Chop food dicer thingy they flog on infomercials. Linguine, fettuccine, martini, bikini. Being successful in the music business is the same as being successful flogging Slap Chops. It's all marketing and strategy and throwing money at stuff. Except harder because it's a digital file, easily copied. If you could hack a digital slap chop off the net they wouldn't have bothered. I suspect the only reason the music business continues to exist in this digital wasteland is because it's sexier than selling Slap Chops and there's still a chance one might get laid. Ya the chicks dig me. Add to the digitalien nature of music one more factor in the biz: Nobody knows what a successful song should sound like. Not producers, not A&R people, nobody in the business of music, not even the writers and players of music know. All anybody knows is what they like themselves. One person's gold is another's crap. A good tune doesn't have to be played like a virtuoso, or recorded brilliantly, or anything at all. In many songs the imperfections are part of the honesty. This is what levels the field and fuels the dream. It's kind of important to one's self esteem to understand this difference between business and art. If you write a song people like and never make a nickel off it you still have a successful song. Where you failed is in the business of music. Most musicians tend towards humility and sensitivity and have trouble selling themselves. To them I say, do what you do best and screw the rest. If you want to chase the marketing as well, learn and go. Just know that time spent marketing is not time spent learning how to become a better writer or player. Don't kid yourself, marketing is a full time gig, and so is music. Being good at something requires aptitude and hard work. It also requires 100% of your effort if you want to rise above the rest. It's all good to put yourself out there on youtube and put up posters and whatever, but that's barely marketing and takes little of your time. There comes a point when you as an artist need to let the music speak for you. If it's sellable someone will spot it. If it doesn't get discovered screw it. Keep playing. That's the fun part. As I sit here in The Room Of Pain agonizing over unheard masterpieces for the Great Unwashed it becomes apparent I have little business sense. I was a player long before I started all this studio nonsense. For me, making money at music eludes me endlessly. I have no aptitude or interest in the business of music. The reason I spend hours in The Room Of Pain agonizing over a crappy kick drum sound, or trying to comp 16 takes of my shitty guitar solo, is because I love it heart and soul. That is the only reason. If I get lucky and make some dough, awesome. If I don't, also awesome. Having fun either way. I know I have neither the skill or the aptitude to sell my stuff. I be okay with that. I'm happy that between playing and recording I manage to pay the rent occasionally. Just please don't tell Long and Mcquade where I live. Living the dream. A fellow I know wants to put up a half million to set up his brother and I in a fancy ass studio. He know sales, and has had much success in business. Hence the half mil. He can't play a note and knows nothing about studios. First thing he said is "When people walk in to our studio I want them to feel like they just got famous." Zackly. He say's it's all about what it looks like when you walk in. Doesn't give a rat's patootie about the gear or the engineer's skill. Having a pretty receptionist is more important than the gear, and much more important than some ratty looking, bug eyed, hyper-caffeinated engineer furtively scrabbling around under the desk like Gollem on crystal meth. Doubt it's going to happen. I don't do that dangling fame sales thing very well, which I suspect would be part of the gig. I don't like that most studios big and small will exude the fame dangle every chance they get. They walk around their studios with that beatific smile of the truly indoctrinated thinking they're some kind of launch platform to fame and riches. It's a little psycho part of mine. No studio anywhere at any level has anything to do with the financial success of your music. Whether or not that fame dangle helps the recording is another story. Might well be, in which case my psycho part is misplaced and mooted. But back to my rant.... Chances are huge you won't make much being a musician. I mean vastly holy crap way huge. Even if you do get lucky it doesn't last. I know guys who've played arenas for 80,000 people on massive tours world wide who are today working regular jobs and playing weekends. They're quite happy people. Not because they made it big but because they still get to play every weekend. So really, all I'm saying is don't do it for the money. Stop irritating the pig. Or maybe you'll get lucky and sell something as a backing track for the next Slap Chop infomercial. WTF do I know.
cosmictunes7