July 28, 2016 10:42 am
At what point in being a professional musician is the point in which you’ve “made it?”
I think we as musicians (or any branch of art really) need to stop believing the vanity (myself included). In my experience, the only songs worth writing are the ones that convey what’s genuinely inside of me (even though sometimes you’re going to find that what’s inside of you is incredibly, well…unimpressive).
I got a couple good answers from my peeps on Twitter. Maybe you’re like Lisa here…
@chrisbjerken when it supports you and some girl in the grocery store recognizes you
— Lisa Maxon (@lisamaxon) July 27, 2016
I like the humble expectations from her point of view. I have to agree with @cletiscarr’s opinion of the age-old “OMG when I grow up I’m going to get a record deal and be famous” vibe:
@chrisbjerken still so many out there who think being “signed” is the golden egg. still believing in the cigar & caddilac a&r guy as hero
— Cletis Carr (@cletiscarr) July 27, 2016
Obviously, it goes unsaid that in 2016 the old way of getting signed is becoming more and more obsolete thanks first to the influence of Napster then Myspace then torrenting then digital streaming and who knows what next. Any John Doe can record a demo and publish it on Bandcamp, Pandora, Spotify; you name it.
So I want to hear from you – what’s the goal here? What is the point of satisfaction for you if you’re a musician, and if you’re not, what do you think are reasonable goals/expectations that musicians should have? Is it just having the personal assurance of having made a beautiful piece of art? Is it the privilege of just being able to stand in front of some people and taking something you created in a private internal place and shared it with a group of unknown appreciative strangers? Leave your comment below.