What Difference Does It Make?

O

Oweh

New member
This is something Ive put alot of thought into the past few years. Im interested to hear your folks opinion on the matter.

Let me tell you my story:

Ive been playing in a few different bands for well over 10 years now. It always started out in good fun, but at some point everyone decided that we needed to be heard. That was the ultimate goal. Print albums, go on tour, get our tshits on their backs, (usually) loose money in the process. Offer free downloads to those who were too broke (or cheap) to buy. All to get the music heard. At some point I started to study how music marketing works, how copyright works, all the business side of things. All in an effort, to increase our chances of getting HEARD.
Im sure this is a familiar story to many...


Well, In the last few years, I began to feel very burnt out from playing "the game". So I quit. The bands I was in, either disbanded or announced hiatuses, and I walked away. I was a noob "engineer" for years during all this, and once I stopped playing, I started focusing on recording and mixing, as an effective way to waste my time.
At some point during all this, I started a crappy solo recording project. 50% because I wanted to explore a particular genre, 50% because I wanted something to hone my mixing skills on.

Last week I started working on my 9th album for the project. I never had expectations that it would come this far, and I still enjoy the hell out of it. I think for one particular reason: Ive never shared it with anyone. Asides from playing it for a few close friends, I have given it ZERO promotion. Ive never printed an album. Never once made a facebook post or a youtube video. Ive never worried about writing a hook, or wether or not a lyrical pattern is effective, because Ive never been concerned if someone else would hear it. Im simply CREATING, and Im doing it for myself. Granted, there are alot of songs that arent very good, I have a few that I consider my "gems"...
And im ok with all that.


Lately, the music scene where I live has grow substantially. Many bands, many friends Ive toured with and shared many a beer, are starting to find a decent level of "success"... Theyre being heard. Many of these people are also doing (IMO) questionable things to get heard in the first place.
Theyre travelling 1000's of miles to record with the greats. Paying more than they can afford for better sounding albums with big producer names on them. Theyre paying these promotional companies that exist now, top dollar to spread a good word about them when they go on tour. I know people that have offered So-and-So large amounts of $$$ to get introduced to the big names in marketing, to get their foot in the door of labels. Joining "bandwar contests" and spamming their friends for votes, so they can win and play a huge show somewhere for better exposure.
Most of these people could have put a down-payment on a house by now with all the "promotion" theyve hired. And these people arent stupid. Theyre well aware of how things REALLY work. Everyones heard the story of the artist who sold 100.000 copies and could barely cover their rent.

The point Im making in all of this is, what difference does it make?

We all started out on this path for the same reason. Because we had the fire inside.
Were you concerned with facebook likes when you first picked up an instrument or a paintbrush? Of course not.

Of course its natural for an artist to want to share their work.

What length do you go to, to be noticed?

And in the end, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?


Thank you.
 
In a slightly similar situation, I've not payed a dime for advertising for any of my typically underachieving mediocre works and like you, their intent is for personal pleasure and engineering skills refinement. I'm probably not as experienced or knowledgeable in 'the biz', but have seen my fair share of gigging and false hopes/dreams.

Your question poses a bigger question - what difference does asking what difference does it make, make? If you're enjoying what you're doing, then continue doing it.
 
This is why music sucks now. No one does it for fun, everyone's creativity is tempered by "what will the listener think"? and "how am I going to make it"?
 
What difference does WHAT make?? Spending money to get heard?? I suppose for your friends, it is making some difference. They are getting a name out there and enjoying a decent level of "success"... .
 
Oweh said:
The point Im making in all of this is, what difference does it make?

We all started out on this path for the same reason. Because we had the fire inside.
Were you concerned with facebook likes when you first picked up an instrument or a paintbrush? Of course not.

Of course its natural for an artist to want to share their work.

What length do you go to, to be noticed?

And in the end, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
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I think a better question is what difference can it make.

There is no guaranteed difference. Promoting yourself and sharing your work may have no impact whatsoever.
On the other hand it might land you a lucrative sync deal and you could end up rolling in cash.
 
Your an artist, and its in your blood to create.

Now.. what difference does it make.... wether or not somebody notices what you do?

I think most people will say: none. I create because I love to.

But everyone LIKES to be noticed.

And alot of people seem to take extraordinary measures to have that happen.
 
I'm 53. I have no real musical talent, but I pretend to. :D

This is what I tell kids ( < 21 years old), there are exceptions to this, but this is basically for 95% of people.

Nobody is going to pay you to have fun. Period.
You like to take walks in the woods, and love nature? Become a Forest Ranger. The application line is a mile long, and the job doesn't pay very well.
You like to play music? Join a band, but nobody is going to pay you very well.

If someone can teach you in 10 minutes to do a job for money, then they can teach anybody that job in 10 minutes, so it will never pay well.
Fry cooks, theater ushers, furniture movers fit into this category (all of which I have done in my youth).

Being the quality control officer in a house of ill repute maybe fun, but will probably never pay well. ;)

If someone takes 4 to 6 years to learn a skill/job, AND people need that skill done (both are very important), then you should be paid well, especially if the job isn't fun to do.
Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, etc. Fit into this category. You need their services and are willing to pay top dollar to keep from dying of Cancer, Going to prison, and being able to chew your food painlessly.

Now, here is the good news. people will pay you to do interesting work. Find things you are interested in. For me it was computers.
there is nothing worse than a job you hate, because the day will grind by soooooooooooooo slowly... However an interesting job, the day will cruise by.

For the 95 percent of people fun things are called Hobbies. You work to afford hobbies.
For the lucky 5 percent who have fun at their jobs, god bless you. you are the luckiest people on the planet because if you love what you do, you will never have to work a day in your life.

Years ago, I ended up getting into a disagreement with a distant cousin. Photography is another one of my hobbies. He was a professional artist/photographer. He found out I took a photo that ended up on the cover of a local phone book. I didn't get paid for it, just name recognition. He blamed me and people like me for helping hurt his financial livelihood. I told him I was having fun, but he didn't see it that way, as if I should be in some sort of "union" where I should have charged $400 for this. Needless to say, my photo wouldn't have made it on the cover if that were the case because they weren't paying. But the point really was, he was trying to earn a living in a business that many people treat as a hobby and do for nothing.

I just paid someone $200+ to clean my septic tank out. Now, I'm reasonably sure that nobody would come along an volunteer to clean it because its their hobby. Its also something I had to have done. This job maybe the exception to my 10 minute training rule. :laughings:

Lastly for the kids, pick a career before one picks you.
 
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Like a few others, I've never spent a dime for promotion, just word-of-mouth and word-of-internet. I make music, write songs, and record them because I want to and enjoy it.
Every once in a while someone will hear one of my songs and make a nice comment about it - that's good enough for me!
 
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jokerone said:
Now, here is the good news. people will pay you to do interesting work. Find things you are interested in. For me it was computers.
there is nothing worse than a job you hate, because the day will grind by soooooooooooooo slowly... However an interesting job, the day will cruise by...

Lastly for the kids, pick a career before one picks you.
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Your post pretty much summed up my professional life. Milled around for a few years doing crap work (restaurants, painting, retail, etc). Finally got in a position to take a break and go back to school, except I instead 'retooled' and got formal computer training and a certification. 14 years later I have a job I don't loath going to, it's even fun sometimes, and it's in a field that's at least stable and I seem to have eek'd out a professional niche.

Had I not made the decision and stuck with it to go back to school/get trained in a new field, lord knows what sort of jobs and life I would have ended up settling for as a result.

Thanks for what turned out to be (for me) a very reaffirming post.
 
Pinky said:
Your post pretty much summed up my professional life. Milled around for a few years doing crap work (restaurants, painting, retail, etc). Finally got in a position to take a break and go back to school, except I instead 'retooled' and got formal computer training and a certification. 14 years later I have a job I don't loath going to, it's even fun sometimes, and it's in a field that's at least stable and I seem to have eek'd out a professional niche.

Had I not made the decision and stuck with it to go back to school/get trained in a new field, lord knows what sort of jobs and life I would have ended up settling for as a result.

Thanks for what turned out to be (for me) a very reaffirming post.
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Very cool. Happy to. Glad things worked out for you.
After the Marines I fought the tug to go college, but all the factories were closing, and I had no uncle or someone putting me in one of those coveted spots. Now I'm so glad I did go to school. Most of my friends I ran around with got trapped into those good paying jobs, bitter and resentful of the company and management as things slowly turned bad and everyone passed them by, now the last of those jobs are closing up shop leaving my friends who stayed with nothing.
 
My boss just surprised me with frozen venison steaks! Big benefit of working at a small business - you aren't just a fucking number. Suck it corporate mob! :p
 
Pinky said:
My boss just surprised me with frozen venison steaks! Big benefit of working at a small business - you aren't just a fucking number. Suck it corporate mob! :p
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My boss surprised me with more work.. :laughings:
 
For a while I tried to find local musicians through Craigslist. I specified that I just wanted to make music for the joy of making music and was not interested in extensive gigging or becoming rich and famous. Know one was interested. Luckily, every summer I get to make play euphonium in the Southern Kentucky Concert Band and have a great time making music. Other than that I am own my own musically.
What difference does it all make? If your life and happiness is tied to a successful and public music career then it makes a difference. If just making music is what brings you some measure of happiness then who cares what others think.
 
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