What is it with people in "The Business"

[Eurythmic]

Exactly. Man, I'm always five minutes away from never again picking up another musical instrument. Musicians have to be the most insanely self-critical bunch around.

But we all keep at it. Why? Well, for me, I feel like if I ever stop playing, I might as well stop breathing. Music is such a part of me, I don't really know how to think of myself as anything other than "Jason the musician".

But it isn't even about that. And it isn't about the paycheck, the TRL, or the bling bling. It's about someone taking the time to tell you that your art made them smile. Because there's no bigger thrill EVER. And it's easy to lose track of that when you're trying to hammer out a solo and you keep screwing up the 16th notes, or your voice breaks during the high part, or your latest mp3.com cut isn't catching on.

 

[brandon.w]

so...you wrote another song about september 11th...and now you're pissed because no one will give you the time of day. does this mean the point of the song was to ride the tailcoats of a tradgedy to some cash or fame with a cheesy over-done ballad that you hope people will support it because they need something to make them feel better? slick...

if you were a real artist you wouldn't be thinking about quitting because you're not making any money or getting noticed.

 

[dobro]

"does this mean the point of the song was to ride the tailcoats of a tradgedy to some cash or fame with a cheesy over-done ballad that you hope people will support it because they need something to make them feel better?"

Does this mean your question's rhetorical, sarcastic, or just unkind?

"if you were a real artist you wouldn't be thinking about quitting because you're not making any money or getting noticed."

If you were a real critic, you wouldn't feel the need to wound.

It's all done with mirrors.

 

[Fmmahoganyrush]

For those of you who understand from my previous posts what made me upset about this whole thing, Thanx. For those of you who don't get it, Sorry... ...at this point, maybe you never will.

 

[atomictoyz]

There are thousands of struggling artists in this very dilemma. I believe to some extent everyone who frequents this forum has had similar frustrations with the "Business". I believe that (and Science proves it) musicians are a different animal. Musicians all have this drive to create music, from MM to Dolly Parton, its unquenchable in my mind. Ive tried to quit, but Im down to one song a month now, withdrawls suck by the way. My wife doesn't understand, but her mother does. Her mother is Diane Lang, she is a professional violin teacher with credits up the Ying Yang, a few soundtracks jobs, and backed up Smokey Robinson and Dion Warick a few times, she can't stop. Her marriages all fail because the guys don't get it. Music is part of my personality, like some people, your hurt if someone critizes your music because its like being told your ugly, or in my case suffering from serious personality mutations. I used to be main stream metal, Then I heard Steve Vai's "Passion and Warfare". I know I will never attain the musicianship of someone who plays 12 to 18 hours a day, but I can express myself none the less in ways that the " business" could never comprehend. I put up an MP3 site and rarely get feedback, I was frustrated at first but realized its really time consuming to ask someone you don't know to sit and stream and/or download a file that takes 20 minutes or more per song. If I was smart, I would have done snippets of songs and then made CD's available at a decent cost, since my twistedness cannot be fully appreciated via the internet. I would like everyone to give me feedback so than I can improve my skills and it helps to have a second pair of good and honest ears, be it constructive or destructive commentaries. I do think you always need to be constructive and destructive in the same breath so that you improve what lacks and not screw up what works. Music is a tough business and its eats people up everyday, its requires persistance and patience. It doesnt alwayd make sence nor is it always fair, Talent is relative and luck is indescreminant(spell check please). Keep pushing through, keep improving and keep your music real to you. If every person who ever tried and was told no quit then no body would be doing it!

Peace,
Dennis

 

[BBB]

A few brief comments:

Vocal performance was good.

Very hard to get beyond the sound quality of the drum machine and synth sounds.

I personally am not a fan of songs that seem like an attempt to capitalize on a recent tragedy. Albeit, the songs may be from the heart.

 

[DavidK]

Her mother is Diane Lang, she is a professional violin teacher

I never heard of her, so I put her name (and violin) into a search engine. She played a church gig, and her stand partner was an old girlfriend of mine!! It even has her email adress. Wow, the internet is scary, the pro Stalkers dream machine. (Have a girlfriend currently, shucks)