In a post earlier this week, I talked about songwriting, especially writing songs that sell; and I mentioned the need for the song to have a hook. Although nobody left any snarky comments about that, I am very intuitive, almost psychic (not really, but still), and I could just almost feel the fur stand up on the necks of the alt-indie musician types who might have been reading it (but probably weren’t).
I imagine their response was (or would have been, if they had been reading it): “What? Hooks are about pop music! We’re not into crappy pop music! What’s this guy trying to do? Sell-out! Mother…” (I could go on, but it just gets ugly from there.)
In the previous post, we began a series called “Finding Your Niche.” We began by talking about how there are so many genuinely talented musicians who are hindered from further success because they don’t have a niche. They sound like thousands of other genuinely talented musicians, and so do not have a distinct voice of their own. Their music does not tell us who they really are.
Here’s something to make your brain hurt early on a Saturday morning: when you create music (or any other form of art)…who is the music really for?
Another way of asking this question: are we creating for our audience, or for ourselves? Or…is it art for the masses, or art for art’s sake, or somewhere in between?
This is a question that I think is always under the surface with artists and musicians–phrased in a multitude of ways, yet always there somehow. It’s a question artists have grappled with for centuries, and where they land on the issue determines the kind of art they create.
Okay, musican/artist friends, it’s discussion time. I’ve said before that one of the reasons this blog exists is to help muscians toward their success. But it also occurs to me that “success” has a lot of different meanings for people.
So…the question on the table is: what does “success” mean to you?
How do you measure it, or what is the benchmark for it in your mind? Is it when you land the record deal, or when you sell a bajillion records? Is it when you are working steady? Is it when you’re making a living doing what you love?
