Some old rocker on YouTube….
It’s not hard to find old producers and rockers out there saying everything is over. I bet it feels like it to them. They’re facing their ends and music isn’t the same as it was when they hoarded all the profits from it.
Folks don’t understand that music was never a money-making proposition for everyone. But it was for a few. Rarely was it up to the musicians, but how valuable they were deemed by suits. Nearly everyone in music made nothing, even studio musicians. Shit, Willie Nelson reportedly tried to sell “Crazy” when he was impoverished and moved to Houston, for 10 dollars. And still couldn’t do it. Enjoy a fun article about that. I would give Willie a hard time but I don’t hear him complaining about shit, enjoy the 25 million, I guess.
The hardest 6 dollars I ever “earned”. (But the music was amazing.)
Back in the mid-90’s, my band got a gig opening for Cracker in San Antonio. We plastered the strip with flyers. When we came the next night to load in, Tori Amos’ folks had put her flyers directly on top of ours on every pole. We made 6 bucks for a full house.
There’s luck involved. (Fight me).
When someone is aging, and they’re refusing to admit how lucky they are, and instead they’re full of a mindset that claims they “earned” millions of dollars on the backs of others and fans when life was fair, they aren’t being realistic. What’s realistic is they were lucky and selfish. No one has “earned” being a famous rock-star, even great ones I like. But sure enough, old rockers on YouTube talking about “earning” their fortunes are clearly unaware of how rare that is, not just in music. They’re clueless as to how lucky they were.
Rockstar old dudes online talking about how awful music is today are happy to spend time in front of a camera. Most irrelevant folks are. They’re still lucky.
Music is not Capitalism.
Folks think if you pay your dues and put in the hours, you’ll get somewhere. That’s capitalism. It’s not really how music even works. Anyone, age, any skill, any background, any race, any religion or no religion, any sex, ANYONE CAN BLOW YOUR MIND WITH MUSIC. As a producer for fun and my own work, this is actually my favorite thing about working with other musicians. I have been honored to record with ages 17 – 72, many genres, all kinds of folks all over the world. I’m happy to report none of that stuff matters. It’s the noggin’. I call that trait, “elasticity in the brain.” Have to have it.
Be good, but not too good.
Even if you’re good, there’s no certain avenue to grant fame and fortune. In fact, I’d say being good at music can hamper one from those specific goals. Most of my favorite musicians are not very popular relatively speaking. I think it’s because they’re too good. Wrote a song about one like that. Too Good | The Kintners
Old folks talk about the end a lot, I imagine, because they think about it a lot. I’m only 48, I think about it every day. I imagine as I get older, I’ll probably talk about death more. But I hope I can limit it to my end. I don’t really know about anyone else’s and I don’t see it in music, yet.
Stereotypes and Misperceptions.
Most folks are poor. Everywhere. Maybe you don’t see it. Maybe you live where poor folks are swept under the rug. Maybe you’re poor yourself but because you aren’t black, you don’t feel poor. (Reagan played a trick on poor white folks back in the day to get some votes. It worked.) See “Welfare Queen, Reagan.”
Make cheap songs, it’s fine.
Making songs is cheaper than it’s ever been. And, get this! The “pros” on the radio still can’t do it. They can make nice sounds, but the lyrics are nearly always awful and the progression is stale. It isn’t how “easy” it is to make music that matters. It’s intelligence. It isn’t necessarily education, but every good songwriter I know has a mind for it. They learn things. They decide. It’s all in the head. They’re clever. The reason songs on the radio suck is because stars and labels are not interested in what they bring to the table. So the music on the radio gets cheap, unchallenging, like a commercial. At least it’s finally priced accordingly.
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