A wise man once said, "You can’t do what you want. Want what you can do." You can’t turn a poodle into a championship racer. For that, you need a greyhound. But you could groom a poodle to take first prize at the Westminster dog show. There are far more people who deny the reality of limitations than there are people who accept it.
There is perhaps no better place to see this happening than on MySpace. MySpace Music has become a breeding ground of opportunity for many music artists who would otherwise have no voice. Now they can be heard by thousands who also want nothing more than the chance to be heard themselves. Myspace Music represents the power of technology and the Internet to connect everyone, but it’s also a huge playground for people who love to deny reality. Let me explain.
The writer David Brooks made a very poignant observation about all this in a piece he wrote in the New York Times about MySpace. He says, "People visit their friends’ pages and drop lovebombs. There’s scarcely a critical word about anyone or anything in the whole network. It’s just fervent declarations of friendship, vows to get together soon and memories of great times gone by." Brooks is right. Log onto MySpace and look through all your friends’ pages. You will be very hard pressed to find a single condescending or critical remark about anyone, anywhere.
One would think that Myspace Music—where millions of bands and groups host their homepages—would make room for criticism, but that’s not the case. Far from it. Even though Myspace Music is a more formal and business oriented network than regular Myspace, people are just as nice and approving of each other.
Check anyone’s page on any day. You’ll see people leaving messages like, "dropping by to sho sum luv yor shits smashin." Or, "Wasup? I’m feeling ya style…I got some sick shit." Or how about the guy who says, "Wats good my dude? You doin some big things out here, hyping that real underground hip hop! That’s wassup. I joined your mailing list because im lookin to grab your album, songs on your page is soundin SERIOUS. I let you get real by doin your thing, but if you got time, check out and comment on my newest track."
There’s nothing wrongs with comments, but the problems begin when comments become an opiate. Many people become so addicted to the affirmation and praise they get through them that they forget that most of the people leaving them aren’t doing so because they actually give a damn about their music. They’re doing it because they want them to check out their own pages to leave comments about them. People know this but they forget it very easily when getting wrapped up in the emotional absorption of reading other people’s "praise."
The result of all of this is that many people are deluded into believing that they’re better than they really are. If there’s one thing that can’t be denied, it’s the bad quality of much of the music on MySpace. But, but…there are also some very talented people on MySpace. But the law of averages ensures that most people’s music won’t be any good. Talent really is rare. MySpace just makes that even more evident.
Although MySpace is an excellent venue for showcasing music to the world, one unintended side effect of it is that it gives people inaccurate perceptions of the music industry and how one goes about being successful in the new world of music. One of the more damaging notions that the whole MySpace phenomenon promotes is the idea that the music industry is really about music.
The music industry is about business. It’s about the marketing of image and persona. Some people trying to get their music heard are aware of this but they have a very poor understanding of how media-oriented businesses work. They also don’t understand how people go about starting successful media businesses, which is exactly what a record label is. Getting into the music business requires similar sets of skills. With all its flash and pomp, MySpace Music gives outsiders the impression that there is a limitless supply of future music stars out there waiting to be discovered. The reality is far different, of course.
The fact of the matter is that even if you’re a talented music producer or artist, your chances of raising eyebrows at a major record label through demo submissions is next to nil. Only 5 major record companies dominate the relatively small industry and each receives hundreds of demos per week from aspiring artists and producers from all over the country. Many of those demos collect dust in A&R offices.
Dusty Demos Pile Up in A&R OfficesTo put things into perspective, think of it this way: There are arguably only about 10 major hip hop music producers out there at any one time. These are the people who produce most of the known music for the well-known artists, of which there are also only dozens who are firmly planted.
It’s hard to estimate how many people out there are aspiring music producers, but let’s assume the generous figure of 100,000 (2000 per U.S state) across the entire United States who actually own equipment and software sophisticated enough to produce and record music. About 1000 of that 100,000 could probably be considered good and about 10 out of that 1000 could be good enough to get a call back from an A&R(if he/she is organized enough). Out of that 10, only one will likely have a shot at true success. That gives you a 1/100,000th odd. If you’re a singer or rapper, your odds are probably in the millions. In some places you may have a better shot at winning the lottery.
For the average no-name artist, lack of connections presents a marvelous catch 22: If you can’t get your demo heard, how do you make connections? And if you can’t make connections, how do you get your demo heard? An independent music artist is much better off in this day and age if they build their own brand by themselves, brick by brick, rather than hoping for a major label deal.
That means using the power of the Internet—especially MySpace—to network with the right people. It’s much easier to do than you think. It just requires that you have a good product and in order to make your product good, you have to put a lot of effort into it.
It’s called being an entrepreneur. The new landscape of the music industry is tough, but at least the artist has control. You don’t have to sit on your hands waiting for the A&Rs to respond anymore. Maybe you won’t end up making as much money as the megastar who gets the record deal, but you have a much better shot at making some kind of money if you’re an average music artist who wouldn’t get signed anyway. It’s a much more democratic music industry thanks in large part to MySpace and the Internet.
There is perhaps no better place to see this happening than on MySpace. MySpace Music has become a breeding ground of opportunity for many music artists who would otherwise have no voice. Now they can be heard by thousands who also want nothing more than the chance to be heard themselves. Myspace Music represents the power of technology and the Internet to connect everyone, but it’s also a huge playground for people who love to deny reality. Let me explain.
The writer David Brooks made a very poignant observation about all this in a piece he wrote in the New York Times about MySpace. He says, "People visit their friends’ pages and drop lovebombs. There’s scarcely a critical word about anyone or anything in the whole network. It’s just fervent declarations of friendship, vows to get together soon and memories of great times gone by." Brooks is right. Log onto MySpace and look through all your friends’ pages. You will be very hard pressed to find a single condescending or critical remark about anyone, anywhere.
One would think that Myspace Music—where millions of bands and groups host their homepages—would make room for criticism, but that’s not the case. Far from it. Even though Myspace Music is a more formal and business oriented network than regular Myspace, people are just as nice and approving of each other.
Check anyone’s page on any day. You’ll see people leaving messages like, "dropping by to sho sum luv yor shits smashin." Or, "Wasup? I’m feeling ya style…I got some sick shit." Or how about the guy who says, "Wats good my dude? You doin some big things out here, hyping that real underground hip hop! That’s wassup. I joined your mailing list because im lookin to grab your album, songs on your page is soundin SERIOUS. I let you get real by doin your thing, but if you got time, check out and comment on my newest track."
There’s nothing wrongs with comments, but the problems begin when comments become an opiate. Many people become so addicted to the affirmation and praise they get through them that they forget that most of the people leaving them aren’t doing so because they actually give a damn about their music. They’re doing it because they want them to check out their own pages to leave comments about them. People know this but they forget it very easily when getting wrapped up in the emotional absorption of reading other people’s "praise."
The result of all of this is that many people are deluded into believing that they’re better than they really are. If there’s one thing that can’t be denied, it’s the bad quality of much of the music on MySpace. But, but…there are also some very talented people on MySpace. But the law of averages ensures that most people’s music won’t be any good. Talent really is rare. MySpace just makes that even more evident.
Although MySpace is an excellent venue for showcasing music to the world, one unintended side effect of it is that it gives people inaccurate perceptions of the music industry and how one goes about being successful in the new world of music. One of the more damaging notions that the whole MySpace phenomenon promotes is the idea that the music industry is really about music.
The music industry is about business. It’s about the marketing of image and persona. Some people trying to get their music heard are aware of this but they have a very poor understanding of how media-oriented businesses work. They also don’t understand how people go about starting successful media businesses, which is exactly what a record label is. Getting into the music business requires similar sets of skills. With all its flash and pomp, MySpace Music gives outsiders the impression that there is a limitless supply of future music stars out there waiting to be discovered. The reality is far different, of course.
The fact of the matter is that even if you’re a talented music producer or artist, your chances of raising eyebrows at a major record label through demo submissions is next to nil. Only 5 major record companies dominate the relatively small industry and each receives hundreds of demos per week from aspiring artists and producers from all over the country. Many of those demos collect dust in A&R offices.
Dusty Demos Pile Up in A&R OfficesTo put things into perspective, think of it this way: There are arguably only about 10 major hip hop music producers out there at any one time. These are the people who produce most of the known music for the well-known artists, of which there are also only dozens who are firmly planted.
It’s hard to estimate how many people out there are aspiring music producers, but let’s assume the generous figure of 100,000 (2000 per U.S state) across the entire United States who actually own equipment and software sophisticated enough to produce and record music. About 1000 of that 100,000 could probably be considered good and about 10 out of that 1000 could be good enough to get a call back from an A&R(if he/she is organized enough). Out of that 10, only one will likely have a shot at true success. That gives you a 1/100,000th odd. If you’re a singer or rapper, your odds are probably in the millions. In some places you may have a better shot at winning the lottery.
For the average no-name artist, lack of connections presents a marvelous catch 22: If you can’t get your demo heard, how do you make connections? And if you can’t make connections, how do you get your demo heard? An independent music artist is much better off in this day and age if they build their own brand by themselves, brick by brick, rather than hoping for a major label deal.
That means using the power of the Internet—especially MySpace—to network with the right people. It’s much easier to do than you think. It just requires that you have a good product and in order to make your product good, you have to put a lot of effort into it.
It’s called being an entrepreneur. The new landscape of the music industry is tough, but at least the artist has control. You don’t have to sit on your hands waiting for the A&Rs to respond anymore. Maybe you won’t end up making as much money as the megastar who gets the record deal, but you have a much better shot at making some kind of money if you’re an average music artist who wouldn’t get signed anyway. It’s a much more democratic music industry thanks in large part to MySpace and the Internet.
