Unhelpful Advice

You read a lot of so-called "helpful hints" all over the web that say things like "don't suck" when referring to one of the keys that will make you successful in the music business, but I think statements like that are completely unhelpful. What sounds like moving furniture instead of music to one person may be the melody of angels to someone else, so who's to say just what is bad and what isn't?

The idea of Music 3.0 is that there are and will be many more micro-genres that cater to small but passionate believers in a very specific type of music. It might be progressive polka or it might be alien space-lounge music, but the beauty of the the online world is that there's someone out there that probably likes what you're doing and will be your fan if they can find you. Your audience may not be an army, yet. But if you keep persevering you can break through to a larger audience over time. Keep in mind that your audience, your superfans, your tribe, grows a single fan at a time regardless of where you're at in your career.

Now it never hurts if you're technically proficient on your instrument and in recording, but there are plenty of examples of somewhat sloppy players with limited technical chops that have become icons because of their passion and their ability to play within their limitations really well. For a good example, check out the DVD of the movie "It Might Get Loud" featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. There are a couple of short examples on my Big Picture blog from last week. The first post is called "It Might Get Loud - And It Does" (notice the anchor text, which is the topic of a previous post), and the second is "It Might Get Loud Again - Dynamically So."

The point is, do what you feel in your heart, but do it the best you can and with as much passion as you can. The audience is out there. Finding them, or them finding you, is the hard part, but that's what this blog tries to help you do.

For more on music and music production, check out my Big Picture blog.

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