Somebody posted an old video of the Abbott and Costello routine “Who’s On First.” After all these years, it’s still funny. Some things never get old. Some things are always great. So let me ask you a question.
What about your music?
Do you think anybody is going to be saying that about what you’re writing, say 25 years from now? Heck, are they even saying it about your music today?
Now this isn’t a put down of your music. I honestly don’t know anything about your music. But I’ll be happy to listen to it if you’d like. Just send me a YouTube link or something.
My commentary is on the music industry in general. It seems to me that there is very little “Who’s On First” quality material these days. A lot of it is pretty much here today and gone tomorrow. We’re always searching for the new thing. Old gets old pretty fast these days.
Why do you think that is? I mean just look at the Billboard charts the last 10 years. How many artists were hitting the charts in 2004 that are still around hitting the charts today?
The truth is, there aren’t a lot of acts like The Stones, The Who and Led Zep, who actually stuck around for a while. Even The Beatles, who broke up in 1970 after just 6 years of huge success, stuck around as solo artists for many years after.
But the truth is, longevity in this business has never really been the norm. Not when you compare it to the classics of hundreds of years ago that are still being played today. And no, I’m not a classical music snob. I love rock and electronic and all that stuff. But most of this music just seems so disposable.
When are we going to have a true Bach in popular music?
Maybe we won’t. Maybe that’s not the point. Maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe we’re talking about something that, because of the nature of the business itself, isn’t even possible. And as nice it would be to know that your music is still being played 300 years from now, how important is that really?
Well, if you’re going to have kids and you want to provide for their future then yeah, it would probably be nice for you to have a catalog of music that kept earning royalties for generations to come. But how many people actually have that kind of success?
But okay, let’s forget about the business end of it for now. Writing music that’s going to keep your family in furs and mink for centuries to come is probably a long shot. But what about the quality?
Yeah, I know…quality is subjective. We’ve already worn out that subject in another article I wrote. You can find it somewhere on this site.
But if you don’t care about the quality then just what is it you do care about? I mean as far as I can tell, there are only two reasons for writing music.
1) You are a musician. You don’t care about money. You just want to write the best music you can possibly write. Your art is everything to you.
2) You’re trying to make money.
Now, you can want both. These are not mutually exclusive. However, they can get in the way of each other.
Here’s why.
To make music that you can be proud of is actually very easy to a degree. You study your craft. You work hard at it. You try to perfect it. That’s how you write good music that you can be proud of and maybe other people might like. Yes, that takes some skill, but it’s relatively easy unless you simply have little or no talent.
But making money? That’s a whole different kettle of fish. See, that’s where talent and great “art” may not be enough because now you’re at the mercy of the whims of the buying public. This is where art, more often than not, takes a back seat to what’s in. Many times, if you want to make money (and I’m talking about big money) you have to make compromises. You have to cater to the sound of the era in whatever genre you’re writing for. It may even mean that you have to pick a different genre because the one you prefer is no longer popular.
Think I’m kidding?
Try writing a prog rock song with a 7 minute drum solo in the middle of it and see if you make number one on Billboard today.
So, you sometimes have to compromise. Question is, can you do that and still make great music?
Well, that’s certainly easier to do if the great music you love to make just happens to be popular as well. But if it’s not, well, that’s when you have to start bending a little.
And some people just can’t bend without breaking in two.
See, I freely admit that at this stage of my life I would write just about anything to make it big. Art no longer matters to me because my future is uncertain to say the least. I need money and I need it pretty bad. So tell me what I have to write and I’ll write it.
Oh wait, isn’t that the royalty free music biz in a nut shell? Client hires you to write some kind of tune for a video and you write the kind of tune that they want? Yeah, that’s the royalty free music biz.
Sorry to burst your bubble if you’re in that particular business and you thought you were creating art. You’re job is to get the viewer of the video they’re watching to stick around because that intro had a real catchy beat and cool synth lead.
Or whatever.
That’s your job as a royalty free music producer. It is NOT to make great art.
I have come to terms with this. I had no choice if I wanted to keep a roof over my head.
See, I’m no J.S. Bach.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim