General Music Chat

Yod, why would I sign with anybody, if I'm
already having sales success on my own?

I always believe that quality music, art, literature
or guns and butter is always going to sell, and
there'll be 1000's trying to find there secret. When
the secret is practice and moving forward in your
chosen field, this has always been true, in any field.

I don't care for Mayer, or at least the image he projects,
but he's right about learning your craft, learn it better than
anyone. I didn't read the article, and I'm an avid reader,
he's not got any advice I need. I'd get better advice from a
homeless street bum, there's somebody with a different view
on life.

Anomaly Alert: This guy -
http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/05/ted-w ... dio-voice/

I wonder how long he had been telling people that he has a "God given voice"?

?It wasn?t so much the radio-voice thing, but the way he sounded when he conveyed his own story,? says McLoughin. ?He had a presence. I said to my colleagues, we?ve got to get him in here. He could be a diamond in the rough.?

How do you self package and show sales success and get "known" by any substantial degree..., if nobody ever promotes you?

like I've been saying, the cream really does rise to the top. How long it takes depends on where your light is shining, but if you "have the goods" then people will talk, and word will get around to the people who are looking for the cream of the crop. There really aren't that many who are working on their craft and getting better every day.

And getting known is only a matter of playing every available place and doing a great job at all of them. You'll get references and grow a network that keeps expanding as you are faithful to fulfill (or exceed) expectations.

Yod, why would I sign with anybody, if I'm
already having sales success on my own?
.

If they are a major distributor, then your audience is much larger. You'll go from begging to play to being asked how much money it will take to get you.

You won't make as much per unit when sold in a store, but if you have the right deal, you'll eventually make money because more are available for sale.

But even if you get ripped off by the record company like every other recording artist, once your music is "out there" you'll be playing more often and making money with concerts and merch sales at concerts.

So the secret is not signing a long term deal that gets all your publishing. In most cases, it's really just a trade-off where the label gets the money but the artist gets a career started. Then once the terms of the contract are up , it's a matter of whether the artist wants to continue traveling and promoting for the rest of their life.

Anomaly Alert: This guy -
http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/05/ted-w ... dio-voice/

I wonder how long he had been telling people that he has a "God given voice"?

It wasn?t so much the radio-voice thing, but the way he sounded when he conveyed his own story,? says McLoughin. ?He had a presence. I said to my colleagues, we?ve got to get him in here. He could be a diamond in the rough.?




I saw a full blown Documentary on this guy... The real truth behind him is that he did start out as a DJ in the 70's and got good work...had established a base and everything...But the drugs and drink... tore him down and he wound up a homeless wino-man... For a few years ..But then he'd amuse the passing traffic with his "God given Voice"
...Being at the right place at the right time one day, the right person saw and heard him...and the rest is Dj history...

How do you self package and show sales success and get "known" by any substantial degree..., if nobody ever promotes you?

And getting known is only a matter of playing every available place and doing a great job at all of them. You'll get references and grow a network that keeps expanding as you are faithful to fulfill (or exceed) expectations
like I've been saying, the cream really does rise to the top. How long it takes depends on where your light is shining, but if you "have the goods" then people will talk, and word will get around to the people who are looking for the cream of the crop. There really aren't that many who are working on their craft and getting better every day.

Yes & No... I know of guys who have been doing this for 30 + years, who are extremely accomplished at the craft... But they cant even get a mural up in the back alley for notoriety if their lives depended on it...
No matter how innovative, how good, how talented... If your craft doesn't focus on the cure for cancer, aint no doctor gonna promote your work...(Metaphorically) ... Meaning if your craft doesn't address what the market 'needs' then you wont make it.

The solution has always been the same, and I don't think Mayer is telling us anything we haven't already known before. He's spot on with his advice.

The bottom line is always: you have to have good art first. You have to hav ea good product before you can even begin to think about anything else.

Then you have to play it in public everywhere you can as often as you can. That's not the kind of "promotion" Mayer is talking about in terms of being negative either. It's performance. It's getting your product in front of people's ears.

What Mayer is talking about, in terms of negative promotion, and falling into the trap of self promotion, is stuff like Twitter and YouTube. The constant need for small doses of reinforcement and adulation. Like, I'll hastily write a new song and post it to my blog today so I can keep my 47 followers attracted to my music. Instead of taking that energy and time and putting it into writing a great piece of music and not worrying about who or when it gets heard.


The formula has always been the same. Write great music and perform it as often as possible to as many people as possible. It will get heard, noticed, and your drive and determination will win out.

It always starts with the art...

But he totally failed to mention that about 80 percent of the musicians who came ready -made ...still suck.

Completely, totally, utterly irrelevant.

You could post 100 of your favorite songs, and someone else could easily say, "80% of those suck".

There's nothing more subjective than art....

There were a lot of nuggets of truth in the articel.
.
One of the surest ways to fail is to believe that success is not possible.
One of the surest ways to succeed is to believe that failure is not possible.

But he totally failed to mention that about 80 percent of the musicians who came ready -made ...still suck.

Completely, totally, utterly irrelevant.

You could post 100 of your favorite songs, and someone else could easily say, "80% of those suck". There's nothing more subjective than art....

[/quote]



Christopher, You have a nasty habit of diminishing other peoples opinion (quite abrasively I might add...) as You Opine here like your word is the last word.. The fact is, when it comes to real art... you don't know what the f. u. c. k. you are talking about. (How did that feel bro?)

Furthermore I have heard your stuff and it doesn't even 'rate" in terms of relevance... So tell us Mr. Chrstopher If your theory about subjective art is "all that" then, why do you bother posting your work? I mean, according to you, what are the odds that what you posted falls into that 80 percent ...as in "sucks!" Why would ya post stuff that sucks? ...

I'll tell you why... Because nobody in this industry has the balls to tell you the truth... And DUDE, as self-important as you like to think you are... you aren't even in the running with Mayer. You obviously don't have 'his' success...SO Apparently. Mayer's "Spot-On" aint WORKING FOR YOU...so how can you sit there and pontificate to me about my opinion?

x2

I know of guys who have been doing this for 30 + years, who are extremely accomplished at the craft... But they cant even get a mural up in the back alley for notoriety if their lives depended on it...
No matter how innovative, how good, how talented... If your craft doesn't focus on the cure for cancer, aint no doctor gonna promote your work...(Metaphorically) ... Meaning if your craft doesn't address what the market 'needs' then you wont make it.

If someone has been playing 30+ years every time and place available, and has shown no success in any areas, then they are wasting time somewhere. My first impression is that they aren't working smart, and wasting time on partying or things that are detrimental to a career in music (assuming we're talking about someone who wants that?)

Either they aren't constantly improving, or they simply have no talent whatsoever.

If their craft doesn't address what the market needs, then they are useless since listeners are the market. And what is "the market" anyway? There are hundreds of "markets".

There are 300,000,000 people in the USA alone. If 1 in 600 people like your music, you have Gold and only need to find out how to reach those people. If 1 in 600 don't like your music, you have junk and need to find another line of work.

Yod, why would I sign with anybody, if I'm
already having sales success on my own?
.

by the way, I'm not saying that one should.


In every case, you can make more in royalties by owning everything and selling less, than by having a Gold record but owning none of it.


100% of nothing is still nothing

Christopher, You have a nasty habit of diminishing other peoples opinion (quite abrasively I might add...) as You Opine here like your word is the last word.. The fact is, when it comes to real art... you don't know what the f. u. c. k. you are talking about. (How did that feel bro?)

Furthermore I have heard your stuff and it doesn't even 'rate" in terms of relevance... So tell us Mr. Chrstopher If your theory about subjective art is "all that" then, why do you bother posting your work? I mean, according to you, what are the odds that what you posted falls into that 80 percent ...as in "sucks!" Why would ya post stuff that sucks? ...

I'll tell you why... Because nobody in this industry has the balls to tell you the truth... And DUDE, as self-important as you like to think you are... you aren't even in the running with Mayer. You obviously don't have 'his' success...SO Apparently. Mayer's "Spot-On" aint WORKING FOR YOU...so how can you sit there and pontificate to me about my opinion?

Good rant.

Misguided, but but I give you an A+ for effort.

Let's start with the premise of "80% of what's out there sucks". That's just a stupid statement any way you slice it. So if you're defending that "thought", I can't see a point in furthering a conversation here. Art is subjective (please look up the word "subjective" and get back to me so we can have an intelligent conversation).

Saying "80% of music sucks" doesn't add anything to the conversation about how to make it in the business. It's like trying to have a conversation about painting and saying, "every style but impressionist sucks". Or "every medium but watercolor sucks". It's just a dumb statement. So I don't care if you want to rip me for saying that. I stick by that statement.



But the rest of your rant at me: REALLY pointless. You totally missed the mark.

Because I don't care about being famous. I don't care about "running with" John Mayer. I don't desire fame or a music career. I have a career, thanks. One I'm good at and enjoy. Music is a passion - not a career choice for me.


You have to look at a person's objectives before you can critique them. Your comments, however harsh you may have intended them to be, have no effect on me because you don't understand my objectives with my art. Your comments, I'm sure, might have hurt the feelings of someone chasing fame. But that's not me. I have no urge to be famous or to have John Mayer's career. Far from it.

I'm doing *exactly* what I want to with my art. And for any artist, that should be their ultimate goal.

I play lead guitar in a cover band. Nope, that's not glamorous, it won't lead me to stardom, and it won't give me fame or riches. And I don't give a rat's ass, because it's fun as hell and I enjoy doing it. And for me, that's what playing guitar is all about: fun.

You want to rip me for having fun with my art? By all means. Go for it. And allow me to laugh that that sentiment for a moment... You, ripping me for having fun playing guitar. Right. Moving on...


The only other thing I do is write acoustic instrumental tunes. You asked why i post my music. Um, I hate to point out the obvious here, but that's kind of what this website is about. I post my music. So does everyone else here on Bandmix. In fact, if you've been here long enough, you know that if you do NOT post music, people give you grief. That's kind of the point of the site, yes?

I don't care if anyone likes my music or not. I'm not trying to promote my music into a career. I write for myself - that's art. If someone likes it, great! If people hate it, fine! I am not trying to get famous from it. Far from it.

I am not out writing music every day, trying to play it out everywhere, trying to make a career. Acoustic instrumental music has an audience that's about as big as my bedroom (on a good day). I'm very much a realist about my musical abilities. Do you think I'd be dumb enough to think I could forge a lucrative career off that sort of music? Give me a break...

I write those songs because they are my expression - my art. I write for myself. I don't care if you like it.

I like your song Raindrops! It has a very dark melodic feel to it! It hits you right in the gut cudo's bro!

Raindrops it's a beautiful instrumental,
Simon and Garfunkel sound at the start

Wouldn't want this song to define me on
bandmix.

Not much restating of the main phrase of
the main phrase, or motif, melody if you
like. The same notes voiced differently
with what you got going.

Simple but a beautiful instrumental.

Nice Job

Lighten up, were all human, we say things
we don't mean, and mean things we don't say.
It's a big enough world for everybody's opinion.