Has your art suffered in the last decade? Mine has.
It’s my own fault, I know. I could be better. I could know more about music. I could write better songs. I could be a much better producer.
I guess my biggest fault is spending hours and hours trying to reach people, whether it’s designing webpages, sending out emails, creating press releases, or booking shows. I’ve definitely put the time in. I can book the hell out of a tour. I can design some pretty nice websites, and my emails are the bomb. But on the cusp of the big 3-0, I ask myself, what about the music?
I think I’m one of the lucky ones. I was an early starter. I was banging things in a musical way thanks to my parents at age 2. Be it the piano or the violin. Eventually, I holed up in a practice room for the majority of my high school years, up until 1999. The year I recorded my first project that was to be offered to the masses. That’s when it all began. It started with designing the album. Then it came to selling the album. Getting the reviews. The mailings, the press releases. Then came the tour. Once it was made, the music was at the bottom of the list.
If you’re an artist, be it any type of art, does this not sound familiar?
I think further in the music realm, at the “Do It Yourself” type mentality that arose in the last decade. People complain about record sales. People complain because there’s no live music. My favorite complaint is the people that whine about places to play, and clubs not paying. To be frank, it’s because if you’re a DIY musician, you’re probably not that great. The public has spoken, and would rather watch a TV in a bar instead of seeing a mediocre musician sing mediocre material, and put on a mediocre show. It’s not your fault. We get caught up in HOW we’re going to get a piece of the ever shrinking public eye. We worry about email blasts, tweeting, status updates, video blogs, and of course…draw.
It’s true, people don’t go out to shows. I generally have to force myself on many occasions, and I make music for a living. It seems to get anyone out to a show these days, they need to be family, friends, or other musicians that YOU went out and supported, and they feel OBLIGATED to come see you. There are some people that get folks out because the music moves them to a point where they sign up on a mailing list. They keep up to date on when you’re playing next, etc. It’s not about how great a poster looked, how great your email blast was written, it was about the music.
I’m sick of vying for attention. I’m sick or reading these marketing people’s thoughts on how to get yourself out there. ESPECIALLY sick of watching them profit on all these DIY musicians that just want to make this their living.
We are all human. If you can reach someone’s soul, it doesn’t matter what your website looks like, how incredible your flyer looks, or how witty your tweets are.
Here’s hoping every artists remembers their art is what matters in the decade to come. I can’t wait to hear and see what we all come up with.
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