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why no one cares about your music

5/13/2016

21 Comments

 
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Have you ever had the experience of writing what you’re sure is an amazing, masterpiece of a song, only to find out once you release it no else seems to agree?  Have you ever poured your heart and soul into a song or an album, that you’re convinced is an earth shattering, ground breaking piece of art that is sure to move people all around the world, only to find out that no one really seems to care? 

If your career has been anything like mine, you’ve probably had a few of these moments along your journey.  It’s a humbling experience to pour so much of yourself into your work and realize that it’s maybe not as great as you thought it was.  Of course, maybe what you’re doing is actually great, but you just haven’t figured out a way to market yourself successfully.  Either way, when you give something your all and it falls short of your expectations, it can be a little discouraging, to say the least.

In today’s post I’m going to explore why so much music that is being made fails to gain any sort of traction.  Is it all bad?  Does the public have shitty taste in music?  Are musicians just bad at marketing themselves?  Is there just too much music out there?  These are the questions I’m going to explore in today’s post.

Let’s get started….

Is Your Music Any Good?

Let’s start with an obvious question, which is, how good is your music?  Often times musicians get so caught up in the experience and emotion of making art, that they convince themselves they’re creating something that is far better than it really is.  Making music is fun and incredibly inspiring.  I’m sure we’ve all had moments where we’re so immersed in working on our music that we fail to retain any sort of objectivity about what we’re creating at all.  It’s hard to be objective about art as it’s a pretty subjective experience in the first place. But we have to have some way of gauging whether or not we’re doing has value to anyone other than ourselves.

When you’re working on something like starting an internet business or building a company or trying to get a job, it’s much easier to be less emotional when things don’t work out.  When I release a product for example on my website that doesn’t sell well, it doesn’t really hurt my feelings.  I just take it as a sign that perhaps I misread the market and use that feedback to create something more aligned with what people actually want. I may experience frustration when things don’t go as planned, but I don’t take it personally.

However if someone criticizes one of my songs, it hurts on a different level.  I tend to take it more personally.  Almost as if they’re criticizing me.  Of course, if you think about it, this isn’t really a rational response.  Either people like your music or they don’t.  It’s cool to pretend like were just making music for ourselves and that we don’t really care one way or the other.  But if you’re trying to make music as a way to make money and support yourself, then you have to care what people think.  Your success depends on it!

There is an enormous amount of music out there.  More than there ever has been.  There is more music out there than the public has time to listen to and much of it, isn’t really that good.  It’s not surprising then, that if you release a song that is in reality, pretty mediocre or average, that it doesn’t set the world on fire.  Your music needs to be amazing to rise above the barrage of mediocrity that’s out there. 
As hard as it to be objective about your own art, ask yourself if what you’re doing is really special.  Does it really compete with the best of the best in today’s market?  Does your music get lots of positive feedback on social media from people that aren’t your friends?  I think most of us know, deep down, when we’re on target and when we’re not.  If your music isn’t ready, that’s fine, it just means you need to keep working on your craft.  But don’t fool yourself into thinking your music is better than it really is.

Does The Public Have Bad Taste In Music?

I think Jon Mayer summed it up best when said, “The public is never wrong.  In fact they’re right 100 percent of the time.”  What he meant was, the public always simply gravitates to what they like, for whatever reason.  There’s no point in endlessly debating whether or not the public has “good” taste in music.  They just like what they like. Are you trying to be popular and sell a lot of albums?  If you are, you need to figure out how to appeal to the publics’ sensibility.  If you don’t care about being popular and just want to attract a small, devoted following, that’s cool too.  But don’t be disingenuous about your goals.  If you want to be the next Beyonce or Jon Mayer, own that and go for it.  Don’t blame your lack of success on the public’s poor taste in art and then pretend that you just want to be an obscure indie artist, when you’d really rather be selling out stadiums.

Are Musicians Bad At Marketing?
As someone who listens to a lot of music as a part of my job description, I can tell you that, fortunately, there is a lot of really great music out there.  Unfortunately it’s not all being heard.  Although it’s true that there is a lot of really mediocre, average music being made, there is also some incredible unknown music out there.  Not all great music gets discovered.  Some musicians are great at writing music, but not so great at marketing and business.  Some musicians give up way to soon.  Some musicians simply haven’t had their break yet and need to keep going in order to reach greater levels of success and exposure.

One of the keys to making it in the music business is building a team of people that all play critical roles in helping you move forward.  Managers, publicists, publishers, producers and so on, all play a key role in the careers of musicians.  It’s very hard to do it all on your own.  In fact, it’s close to impossible.  There are only so many hats you can wear and there are only so many hours in a day.  The musicians that I know that are the most successful, all have a network of people they work with who have helped them build their careers.  No man is an island in the music industry.

Is There “Too Much” Music?
Sometimes it seems like there’s just too much music out there and that the public simply doesn’t have time to digest it all.  There’s probably some truth to this idea.  There is an enormous amount of music in the world and we each only have 24 hours in a day.  Determining exactly how many songs exist is difficult as it doesn’t seem like there’s a consensus on how many songs are out there. According to my research there are anywhere between 97 million and one billion songs in existence, with new songs being created every day.  There are over 4 million songs on Spotify alone that have never been played.
But I don’t think there will ever be too much great art.  Some things are just timeless and will never get old.  Take movies for example, there is also an enormous amount of films that exist, but the movie business is thriving.  A lot of films are simply rehashed storylines told in slightly different ways, with different actors. Yet, they still find an audience.  Good stories will never fall out of fashion.

In the same way, great songs will never stop moving people.  New generations will always need new artists and new songs.  Music will never get old or fall out fashion.  Of course, with so much music out there, artists need to find ways to keep things fresh and interesting, to get the attention and leverage they need to attract listeners.  But it’s preposterous to think that there could ever be “too much” music.  Too much bad music perhaps, but not too much music.
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The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that with so much music out there, and so many musicians making music that isn’t really that great or original, you need to do something really good and/or interesting to stand out.  You need to somehow rise above the barrage of mediocre music and lackluster marketing that’s out there.  There’s still a huge audience of people that are waiting for the next great artist and the next hit song and someone is going to step up to fill that role. The question is, will it be you, or someone else?

Speaking of songs, here's a new one of mine called "Sweet Little Thing".  Is it any good?  Fingers crossed.
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21 Comments
Courtney Hamilton link
5/13/2016 01:37:33 pm

Great blog post & song Aron!. -CDH #FullCourtMuzik

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Aaron Davison
5/13/2016 01:46:40 pm

Thanks Courtney!

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Lynne Balzer
5/13/2016 02:16:17 pm

Hi Aaron -

Yes, I think your song has a lot of potential: good arrangement, well produced with sincerity and emotion. The guitar part is superb.

The thing I hate most about putting my songs out there is being ignored. If someone listens to one of them and doesn't like it or thinks it could be improved, I'd like to know why and how. But I never hear anything. I just get silence, and that's the worst thing of all, because my imagination runs wild about what could be wrong with it. I can't improve it unless I know what's wrong. I certainly wouldn't be offended if someone gave me constructive criticism.

For instance: https.//soundcloud.com/melodyfirst/beacon

Is it loud enough? Is the mix okay or does it need to be improved? What about the timing? This is just an instrumental. Maybe that's the problem. I really need to produce my songs that have lyrics.

Thanks for your insight and encouragement. /Lynne

Lynne Balzer
5/13/2016 03:20:08 pm

Hi again!

There's a problem with the link I gave you for Beacon: very small difference, but to computers it means everything. It should be:

https://soundclout.com/melodyfirst/beacon

Steve Winogradsky, who wrote a definitive textbook on music publishing said he wouldn't be able to recognize a hit that crossed his desk. As far as the public's taste in music, if people think that louder is better, that tells me something. Do people want to go deaf?

Many top publishers now are saying everything sounds like everything else. There isn't enough originality. They are looking for something fresh. /Lynne

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Good song, simple, right to the piont, shows emotions and nice guitar part to open song. link
5/13/2016 04:49:21 pm

Try singing the same part, the same way as the intro guitar riff on the beginning of the song. Whether it is a Doo, doo, doo, La, la la or a lyric. Just an idea. Still a good song.

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Aaron Davison
5/14/2016 10:11:13 am

Hi Lynne, I tried both links and neither one works for me. Please double check and email me at aaron@howtolicenseyourmusic.com

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Randy Matthews link
5/13/2016 06:58:04 pm

I can picture this song being used in a movie where the hero is churning over the consequences of having thrown away a good woman because he thought he wanted (was chasing ) something (someone) else. For me, the lyrics fit what your blog is about (getting movie/commercial spots), but for me (If you listen to my "stuff" on the bandcamp website) I can't (or haven't been able to) write such a rhythmic chant. The music is very soothing, which maybe makes it the perfect juxtaposition to the scenario I wrote of above. Thanks.

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old t bone jones .james jones link
5/13/2016 08:51:02 pm

randy is correct also there are many other way,s to use the song and the music t,v adds car sales baby programs etc unlimited ,I sent my songs to 25 studio,s 60% no interest at all ,so I rewrote the lot 25 with a perty smart lady co writer new submition bang 2 contracts from Nashville in one day .I correct format of each song ,added words by savannah moreaux .re lynne b comments .100s of hit songs have been passed over for year,s or a short while until a creative person see the potential in a song or music track .a new arrangement of music a change of some lyrics and u have a number one hit .also why how when who takes an interest in your song or track 1 a quick dollar ,and promise the world by record studio or publisher so your trumped out a conman snake oil salesman millions in the music industry world wide ,or genuine the real deal .how many publisher,s are singer song writer,s and or musician,s ----c,est la vie -new music and lyrics -idea by ol hank Williams senior your cheatin heart .yrs old t bone author 28 books 46 songs so far

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Aaron Davison
5/14/2016 10:03:10 am

Thanks for listening and for your feedback!

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Gary North link
5/13/2016 07:24:26 pm

I like the song a lot. Reminds me of something Lennon would do post Beatles (still my fav) really enjoyed it !

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Aaron Davison
5/14/2016 10:03:34 am

Thanks Gary!

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Tolu link
5/14/2016 12:46:01 am

This is lovely, a perfect way to begin my Saturday. Loved it. Thanks for sharing.

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Aaron Davison
5/14/2016 10:04:56 am

Thanks Tolu, glad you liked it!

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Bill
5/14/2016 05:50:48 am

Very pleasant...instant connect...great Saturday morning tie-off...I like it...thanks for sharing, Aaron

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Aaron Davison
5/14/2016 10:12:00 am

Awesome, thanks Bill!

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jeff dennis link
5/14/2016 07:02:16 am

not bad..cool, calm & collected...nice piece of work...other than posting on the internet book yourself onto large venues & play to your hearts content.....the audience will catch positively...If things are not working to your expectations check out mysticalrockny.com ..This is a miricle site to know & be part of..And it works!!

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Immo stax link
5/14/2016 07:09:30 am

The public is wrong quite often actually.

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Aaron Davison
5/14/2016 10:12:44 am

Wrong according to who?

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Tara Eberle-Drouin link
5/14/2016 02:49:04 pm

Interesting read Aaron. Thanks for sharing. Your song has a nice vibe to it. I enjoyed it!

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Nishi
12/19/2018 11:14:05 am

Who the hell is Jon Mayer?

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jessica
8/7/2019 09:48:03 pm

i hope i don’t come across as an asshole
the only thing i don’t like about this song is that (some of) the “ohhhhs” sound flat. it seems radio-friendly though and i really enjoy the guitar “ad libs”, i don’t really know the term. honestly, i think there are three parts to have a hit regardless of the type of the song. i think any song can be a hit.
1. at least one part of the song needs to be sing-alongable or catchy enough to get stuck in your head
2. the song needs to not sound like it was recorded on a potato
3. (MOST IMPORTANT) people have to almost be forced to hear the song over and over and over again. it has been proven that people like songs more and more when they hear them over and over even if they did not like the song at first. (i guess that’s where marketing comes in, doesn’t it?)

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