commercial success or artistic fulfillment?

A

aprilchangedme

New member
what do most of you persue with your songs? Writing something and thinking "people will buy this" or writing something and "buying" it yourself? I know that my prelim. recordings are nothing incredible, but many of the mp3s on this board seem to have a gaudy and dishonest approach. i am not trying to say i am better or worse than anyone else, but i was just curious; if consious of your motives at all, which category do you fall into? i have always felt a responsibility to try my best to advance "music" and the sounds which pertain to it (whether i am or will do this or not is debatable) rather than circle around whats "proven" or what "works".
 
artistic fulfillment

If you write for the masses, you're letting non-musicians decide what good music is.

We don't want that to happen.

What?...

...You're kidding?!?!

Really?...

Guys in Suits?...

...N'Sync?!?!?!?!?!

Shoot me!
 
" many of the mp3's on this board seem to have a gaudy and dishonest approach..."

First of all what do you mean by this statement? I like to think that an artist remains true to himself no matter whether or not he or she is writing to fill a need to create or to earn a living creating for the masses, or a combination of both. I don't believe it has to be one or the other.

I derive pleasure doing both. Some want to be pioneers by creating their own music regardless of whether or not other people want to buy it or even like it, and that's great! It's also great if you can make a living at something you enjoy whatever it is.

If creating music ever becomes something I dread doing every day then perhaps I need to find another outlet for my creativity. On the other hand if you write to the country music market like I do, there are still some inescapable " format guidelines" that have to be followed in order to market the music to the audience that enjoys that music. I don't in any way feel that my creativity is held ransome by the demands of these guidelines so to me they don't matter.

But I digress :D

JMHO

Limoguy
 
limoguy perhaps honesty wasnt the right term? i guess i just meant that the music (not even the lyrics so much) did not sound very thoughtful, or soulbearing, or "individualized?"...
 
hmm...both! and in no particular order! I have many things that I've written/recorded, where Ive gotten to the point of saying "this just isnt working for me" and archived it.

Ive also written things that I emediately think "yea! I could hear that on the radio!" and suddenly get stars in my eyes...

But I cant recall ever writing something, thinking "this just isnt working for me, but I could hear it on the radio"


always conscious of the fact that Im still at a very early stage in learning to write music
 
aprilchangedme said:
what do most of you persue with your songs? Writing something and thinking "people will buy this" or writing something and "buying" it yourself?
Click to expand...

Have you heard the garbage that most people buy?

I write music that I would like if I was listening to a CD or the radio. What I like may not be what anyone else likes, but I don't care. I am definately in this for artistic fulfillment.

Cy
 
I have always tried to write "good songs". Something that tells a story, uses reasonably cerebral lyrics with out getting too abstract (with good rhymes), a good musical hook and a chord pattern that hopefully has more than 3 chords (or at least uses some decent passing chords). Something that follows some type of logical verse/chorus/bridge structure.

Ironically, out of the many songs I've written/recorded the very few that achieved "commercial success" (ie: were published/placed) were also what I considered my best songs (artistically satisfaction).

I'm not that convinced that commercial succes and artistic satisfaction have to be exclusive of each other - although admittedly, I've heard some overly simplistic pop material and needlessly offensive "rap" material (at least offensive to my sensibilities).

That being said, I have written some musical landscapes that perhaps do not follow the "proper rules" which accordingly are not too "commercial" but the process did give me artistic satisfaction - however, I don't really consider that "song writing" (probably more compositional vs. song writing)..
 
There is something of myself in everything I do, whether its targeted for a commercial pitch or just something I'm doing totally for myself. I think that setting narrow limits for myself is the kiss of death. I believe a good writer ought to be able to write in a variety of styles and for a variety of reasons. I've written pop, rock, blues, country, folk, R&B, techno and bluegrass. Even a little jazz. Some of it is commercial and some isn't.

At the moment, I am writing some things specifically geared for country radio. The parameters are narrow and its a bitch. Its commercial all the way, but if I don't like what I've done, I doubt that anyone else would either.

Too often, I think we use the term commercial in a negative sense as a reaction to hearing something that is successful that we don't like, but there have been a ton of great songs that were also commercially successful. In other words, if that favorite song that you wrote becomes a major hit, there is nothing BAD about that. No shame. You haven't sold out. Believe me, its cooler than hell to have a hit. Whether you strive for commercial success or not, the odds are with the house. Its not easy to get even a great song cut these days.
 
good point about composition vs. song writing, i never looked at the difference between the terms like that. maybe i should be a composer? hehe

i definately agree with the point about a song not being good or bad simply based on it' s commercial success, too. Of course you cant judge a song by its status among listeners, but rather how it sounds to yourself;

and as for what mikeh said, i guess the trick is to find the perfect combination, or to let the perfect combination find you.


lol...it only takes one hit to move an album in many cases, anyhow, so maybe patronizing your audience with some catchy hit and then forcing your artistic integrity down their throats for the next 14 tracks is the way to go. ;)
 
For better or worse, I guess I'm beyond the point of trying to write commercial (music for radio) songs. Some people would say that rather than having gone beyond, I've swerved off the road and crashed.

I had the brief educational, humbling, depressing experience of being a staff writer and really have no desire to return to that kind of work ethic ( or lack of work ethic), at least not in the current atmosphere in Nashville. There are a number of writers I respect who have been able to walk the fine line of commercialism and artful writing, such as Darrell Scott and Gary Scruggs, but it's a fine line to walk and I usually stumble.

I'm to the point in my life (over 50) where I write what I write and try to do the best job I can. I pitch songs all the time, but not with the same fervor I did in my 20s. I don't expect to have a hit and figure I'm doing real good just to be able to pay my rent. If for some unknown reason someone makes a hit out of one of my songs, I'll smile, cash the checks, and say thank you, but I'm not moving back to Nashville to spend my time networking; I'm networked out.
 
crawdad said:
I've written pop, rock, blues, country, folk, R&B, techno and bluegrass. Even a little jazz. Some of it is commercial and some isn't.

Click to expand...

Don't forget hip-hop/rap MC Crawdadyo ;) :D

To the original question. Why not both?

Here's my take as a rank amature. I do it because I like it. I try to write as good a song as I can and I am learning. I would love to do it for a living (pipe dream) so I am in the process of learning the "rules" which are many, daunting and broken all the time in the world of Country music. But I do need to learn the "rules" or I'll never have a shot.

I endevor to write songs that say something with deep meaning. That is the artistic side. However, I think very talented writers can do that and make something commercially viable at the same time. I typically like message songs that mean something to humanity in general. I generally don't care for songs that are so internal that only the writer knows what the lyrics are about. Hey...some folks do and that's cool. That's just my personal taste.

So I guess to make a short story long :D - I would like to do both. Not every song I write will be commercially viable. That's cool. Sometimes I may have something to say for me. But I do want to try to write good songs that are commercial as well. Plus I need to give myself permission to lighten up in my writing once in awhile and write some happy whimsical music. I have a hard time with that. I'm stuck in a drinking and death rut right now :D (last 3 songs touched on these topics in one form or another :D)

Well...I guess that's my opinion. I respect folks that have commercially successful songs. If it were easy to write one and get it cut, everyone would have a hit song. It isn't, so we don't. I also respect folks that say something good that doesn't quite fit on the radio (crawdad and a couple others here have some of those that I really relate to, but may not be radio friendly). I also respect people that just do it because they love it. This is supposed to be enjoyable, right?

Plus...I don't think most would have sustained commercial success without the artistic fulfillment.

Aw crap...am I done yet? Someone take this keyboard away :D
 
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