Is "Good Enough" Good Enough?

[ggalen]

From the 2nd article Mojobone posted: "The biggest obstacle to commercial fulfillment for all but the few genuine stars will not be the music business, but the wants of the people: the cruelest, most fickle and most generous boss of all."Yup. As I was saying. It's the music buying public that decides what kind of song is a hit.Jazz has always been a niche...even though it is some of the most artistic and sophisticated music there is. Same for classical.

[t4mh]

Oh man! Great thread!First of all, MOJO, great post on the financial workings! You always have the story! VIKKI, your words and story are always inspiring! GLEN, wonderful guitar work! I'm not a fingerpicker and am always a bit green of those who are. BTW is there anything you can tell us about that strat?Is good enough, good enough... I'm probably not going to say this well but here goes.There are two things that I have learned in life that I hold to be true in all cases. 1st - I'll bet that MOJO, VIKKI and GLEN, maybe some others, will back me up here by virtue of their experiences and the paths that they have chosen. "Chosen" being the operative word. There is no use in trying to be someone that you are not. It won't work. Not for you or for anyone who listens to your stuff. That being said, YOU have the power, the only power, to change YOU.ART always has been a means of communication. The really great artists have always been really great communicators. The "art" is merely a means, a device, an instrument that establishes a link between artist and audience. It doesn't really have to be "artsy" to communicate. The music that sells today communicates to the people who buy it regardless if its artsy or not. And regardless of whether we agree with what it communicates. It was the same thing when I was a kid. In the film/tv world, the very best scenes are when that music and video work exactly together and establishes that link. You all know what I mean and have experienced these things. I choose ( that word again ), perhaps being a bit naive, to try to write that music. But, I believe that communication is the key. In other words you must have something to say. There are lots of elements in putting a track together that all have to be polished to an extremely high degree these days. I am not the greatest engineer or guitar player in the world and don't pretend so. I'm learning all the time. If you think of your track as a communication, you would want it to be correct in all aspects and to be exact or concise. Having something to say and having said it, then all else should follow in its turn. We can talk all we want to about business and technological vehicles to success and they should come in their own time, but, first and foremost, I respectfully submit, you must have a product...2 or second - The next thing that I have learned in my life is that YOU CANNOT POLISH A TURD.... Meaning that if this is not for you, if you really believe that you cannot make a go of it in the world of commercial music then you should get out. If money, not art, is your grail, then maybe we should consider a job or some other career. I've already spent most of my life so far, going down that road and found that I was breaking rule #1 above. Michael Laskow gives us a ( lack of a better word ) "spiel" in deciding to join or stay with TAXI when he talks about getting paid to do what you love. The real question here is what is it exactly that you love?My sister has just gone a horrible round with cancer and has a high probability of re-occurrence. I thought I was going to lose her and may still. I took off a couple of months to be with her while she went through the treatment. My take away from this experience is that what we do with the time we are here IS IMPORTANT. So don't waste your time trying to polish a turd. For me, I'm going to write the best stuff I can with what I've got to work with. If its good enough, it'll survive on its own. But in a larger sense, good enough is beside the point.Good Luck!Keith

[wta]

The second report sounds closer to reality but I'm sure the first happens too often and has several very important pitfalls to be concerned about. I know band that got stung with the "letter of intent" and got shelved so they could compete with the act that was already signed with high invested dollars backing them... Thanks business though, its about money, its about the bottomline and money and friendship relations don't mix.

[heinsite]

hey Mojo--you absolutely have me convinced (i was ALMOST before) that you are one VERY smart dude, reverand or not. you always support your thoughts with stuff you pull outta no where man, (whoops, already done..) and it's always right on (IMHO).yeah, the public decides, but i'm having less and less faith in them, but i'm a liberal, AND a humanist if i'm anything, so i'm screwed. i hope nobody's saying the public is RIGHT about the music, or many of us can leave TAXI and the thread's as well. for me though, i keep hope alive. even my kids once in awhile like a song or two of mine--hell, they LOVE that gaunce dude, the heavy metal stuff that's posted, and of course the "whitest" kid's fav is the occasional RAP/hip hop...well add an "E" to hop...that's all i got.wh

[ggalen]

Keith,You are exactly right! You cannot be someone else. You'd only be an imitation.They got lucky that their "self" was interesting to enough people to make them a success.Now you have to take the same chance, and it's always a low percentage game. VERY few make a living at popular music, regardless of their talent.And absolutely right: you have to have something interesting to SAY. Typically with a unique twist, so it's fresh.I honestly think the detailed discussions and rules about how to write "great" songs are often subconsciously just a way to want to be in control of our success.YES, we can all learn how to write better songs. And increase our chances.But NO, we can't control whether the buying public will want them. What did the article say? Even experienced A&R professionals are wrong 2/3rds of the time about what's going to be successful!By the way, that Strat was bought at Guitar Center for $439 in 2006. It's solid, but it's nothing special.It's the best proof I have found that all you need is a basic good guitar, and then it's all up to your effects unit settings, your creativity, and your fingers to get a good sound. I use a Boss GT8 with a setting I came up with, fiddling around to get what I wanted. I kind of stumbled onto it. It's basically a delay and a bit of reverb, and a setting where the volume knob on the Strat is at only 3, and I use an effects preamp setting to bring the volume up, which "colors" the tone into what you heard.Hard to explain, but it works for me and has become my own "sound".Thanks for your kind comments on my playing. Believe me, there is a lot of practice behind it.

[mojobone]

Great post, Keith, and you're absolutely right, for an artist there can be no faking; reason one, the public is marketed to with such relentless ferocity that they develop an excellent bullsh*t detector, eventually. (see Osmonds/Jonas bros comment above) Reason two, any rewards that come your way, be they fame, honors or cash, will be utterly empty, because you'll know you're a fraud. On the other hand, there's a danger in living the role you play on stage too deeply; you don't want to end up like poor Janis. However, I think there's a good deal more wiggle room for TV/film music, we can put on a sombrero and play mariachi for an afternoon and be just good enough. Now, where did I put that turd polish.....

[mojobone]

Sept 2, 2009, 6:40pm, ggalen wrote: Jazz has always been a niche...even though it is some of the most artistic and sophisticated music there is. Same for classical.Well, no. Or only in our lifetime, Glen. Jazz was pop music from the twenties through the forties, when it morphed into swing, then jump blues, giving way to rock by around '57. But just like with rock, the hardcore stuff never went mainstream, IMO. You are absolutely right about who sets the bar; is now and has always been the public-it matters not a whit if you have a $600,000 promotion budget for a tune nobody wants to whistle. You need the pumpkin as well as the wagon; I think the horse goes in front.

[simonparker]

Well Mojo - just to add to the brilliant articles you provide about how labels make money and how artists get nothing....Regarding Letters of Intent (LOI), I've heard this from a trusted music industry person, though I cannot independently verify.Let's say you've got one label, say Label Alpha that signs band that is on the bubble to stardom. Let's say the band is Perl Jahm. They sound new and fresh. They start gaining momentum and the label records and releases CD that sells off the shelves. New band let's call them Near-vanna, they have very similar sound to Perl Jahm. They have large fan base. They're being looked at by Label Beta. Label Alpha gets the number crunchers together and determines that if Near-vanna signs and is heavily promoted, it will effect their monopoly on the Perl Jahm "franchise sound". So, in a pre-emtive strike, Alpha gets Near-vanna to sign LOI with them, thereby beating Beta to the punch.Because Alpha wants only Perl Jahm to be so huge and be exclusive with their sound, Near-vanna goes into the studio but never gets to release their CD nor do they get much support from the label in advertising for a tour. In other words, a label will sign a band so they can shelve them, if they feel the band is a threat to their revenue stream.

[BraveNote]

First I would like to express my appreciation for this forum, TAXI and all who contribute to this thread especially. My eyes have opened wider since I began reading what you folks have been saying here. And that alone is worth the three hundred bucks I paid to join. It's a real privilege. Nope.In an ideal world maybe, does the public control the music that gets promoted and there-fore popularized. This is not an ideal world however gentleman. You're actually living with the premonition that we're democratic here.. Nothing can be further from the truth especially where it involves the music business. [Big corporate money that supports ensconced family and friends in whom, know themselves to be entitled.] The good guys don't always win in reality. And to believe that the public has command over what gets distributed and promoted (in our Pop/Rock culture) anyway, well, may be a little off the mark if not naive. Nope. Democracy, good hope, fairness equal rights, all that warm & fuzzy stuff associated with political campaigners and keynote speaking go directly out the window when it's time to make tough decisions at the smoked glass board room table.Many of us want to believe in Santa Claus too. And, still hold on to the concept that one actually exists! "Making it" in the music business on what you know and play is a crap shoot. You can stand in line all day long and never get your number called too. I would never put the fate of my music in the hands of even what the public say they want from an artist, let alone what the A&R say the public wants.OK so, I'm the villain/black sheep on the threads today in that I may have busted a few assumptions about "Father Music Business". "Good enough" for what though? That question still twists and digs at the core of my boyhood demeanor. The seat of creativity and all that inspires me to make music. Happy or sad. I render only comfort and solidarity from the history of the business in general and it's dealings through-out the last 75 years. I read the biographies of famous men and women in all the fields of art. Music, painting, literature, sculpture, architecture etc.. and what they speak of and believe to be necessary in their calling. Why they're doing what they do goes far beyond what Lennon and McCartney said on the Ed Sullivan show. ("We just want to make a million dollars") That "Making it" part is (I believe) what the rc's have manipulated and taken advantage of from the artist for profit sake only. Theirs to be specific. That hasn't changed in 75 years. Those who call themselves "artists" and put themselves on the market's chopping block may well get left behind. Those who have an honest and potentially explosive social commentary via their music get ignored for reasons of appearances or embarrassment to the RC the artist is signed to. And those who just like to strum a little with-out rocking the boat seem to get exploited. With few exception like Maria Carry and others that fell through the cracks. Real talent does fall through the cracks now and then to become universally accepted.

[mojobone]

I don't think anyone in this thread has put forth the notion that the public decides what gets promoted-it's decidedly not the case, though record companies, or more accurately, entertainment conglomerates use lots of surveys and focus groups to see which way the wind blows.The point is merely that the public ultimately votes with their wallets. Go out and play on the streets; do this in an area where other musicians do the same, watch the people react to the performances, and see who draws a crowd. Try to analyze why, and I'll bet you'll learn something you didn't know before. Of course a musician can be undeniably great and never reach an audience; that sucks, but that's life. We can deal with it or make changes.