04/09/2009
Playing My Heart Strings
I’m worried about making a living from my art. The economy aside, I think there is something more sinister at work. It’s something that I really have no control over and it’s no fault of anyone in particular. This is the ironic part of my story, and probably a lot of others, the shift in the consumer’s mind set about music is something to be worried about. This shift is what concerns me the most.
There was a time when songwriters were looked upon as a different breed. Lifted up high in the clouds by their adoring fans. And for good reason, the artist provided what no one else could, an incredible release from ones present circumstances. At this time, there was also a sense of wonder about how a song was created. We didn’t know a lot about our favorite artist back in the day. You had to get info about what was going on from the news or gossip mags.
And I liked the fact that I didn’t know how many times a day Elton John went to the bathroom. I didn’t want to know that much about his daily reality. I wanted to stay in the clouds and let his music take me away. I was willing to spend money for the joy he gave. And this brings me to my point, it seems that the art has been brought down to a common denominator.
No longer do you have the great barrier between the artist and the fan. The fans are now on the same level as the artist. Just look at the mindset that “Guitar Hero” has created. Technology has taken the skill and work ethic out of music creation. P2P and illegal downloading has shifted the field to the exent that the thought of stealing someone elses creative work is not an issue, it is the norm. These and a whole slew of reasons have created a mindset that says, “It’s just music, I don’t have to pay for it.”
Music is not special anymore and that is reason enough to not honor the artist with compensation. So now the industry is scrambling, out of necesseity, to find alternate ways of staying afloat. It is coming to the point that Music will have to be given away for free just to bribe consumers to hopefully but your songs in the future. This will kill the average studio based independent artist, like me.
