So we've entered a new era in the Music Business. Restructuring, retooling, reinventing. This is old news, I know, but I must rant.
Nobody knows what is going to happen.
Everybody's nervous.
I'm not sure that it's really all that different than it ever was.
Ok, sure, people can get artist's music for free. I'm not going to waste space on the Internet discussing whether that's fair or not. It's just is the way it is right now.
But the way it's not different is that music is still about moving spirits, creating moods, challenging thoughts, and stirring ideas. It is still about entertaining, escaping and enlightening. It is still about an artist asking the question "What does the world need?", and then going out to try and provide that through the platform of music and artistry as a creative person.
The world is still a stage.
Yes, the stage is more crowded, there are a lot more voices, and you've got to really have something compelling to get people's attention.
Either that or you have to get naked.
See? Things really haven't changed that much.
So, creative people get creative, business types try to monetize, some people get taken advantage of, willingly or unwillingly. Some people hold tight to their morals & principles. Some people ignore the masses and the voices and the pundits and the critics and do something game-changing. Some of them while making the best art of their lives, even with the magic of modern media, will continue crawl along in obscurity for the span of their careers.
Over the years I've come to believe that pure creation, true art, must first be created in a vacuum. It must be planted and watered and nurtured in an environment that ignores the market. The market will always be there, but if you don't spend the time tilling the soil, planting the seed and tending to the conditions that produce fruit, you'll never have anything worth-while to bring to the market.
Being an artist still takes faith. It still takes work in obscurity behind the scenes, slugging it out, gettin' 'er done kind of effort. And you can do all of that, and nothing might happen. No-one might hear it, or see it, or appreciate it, but that's OK, because you know what it is. You know what it took. You know what it gives. You know it's value.
Personally, this "New Era" has been the impetus for a lot of soul searching for me. I'm doing my best to be done with comparison, and to focus on what I was created to do. To take what I have and make the best of it. To move forward and persevere, regardless of conditions. To "Go West, Young Man", and stake my claim.
In a lot of ways, as challenging as it can be, it's forcing me to be an artist again.
So here's to the same old same old. What an exciting time to be alive.
-pb-