Speaking impartially with no slant in any direction..

There are more variations, but basically, there are two types of writers. There are the writers who create music designed with the population in mind and people who write only for the sake of creation in their style for the art of music. Some variations could be anything from financial motivation, to try and get finances, to create something new, build on the old and too many to list.

The reality - If any person writes for the population they are in many ways at the mercy of opinion. I doubt there is any artist, no matter how popular, who has not received at least one bad review from someone in this category of writing.

The second category, the composers who write for artistic reasons are unaffected by this. Composers who have been in this mindset of writing music for a long time are insulated, for the simple reason they only write for creation. Creation does not criticize, it's only demand is that you do something of your own for the art, so they are in many way insulated against anyone who does not like what they create, they do not care what others think.

You have a choice to make. If you write wanting the musical population area you target to like it, you have to live with criticism. So you can either learn to insulate yourself in whatever way your personality can accommodate that trait, or write only for the sake of creation and not give a shit what anyone else thinks

 

Welcome to Mission Impossible meets Star Wars hahaha.
For some of us, music was an inescapable, mind & soul pleasurable torment at an early age, so, following a natural progression, it became our profession. But before it did so, at least for me, it really felt alienating. No matter how much you might want to lead a normal life you just can't. In my many yrs of being in this and after having done anything imaginable to make a buck from music, i have come to the conclusion (which i 've said before) that the only difference between pros and hobbyists, is the amount of pressure sustained and compromises made from pros in order to make a living from their art. You don't have to be a pro, just a smart guy who looks closer and you 'll soon realize the music biz was never fine and dandy. Divided in decades, each era has its ups and downs, no need to get in details. So why or most importantly how. First of all,
You 'd know early on at a tender age, if you will ever become a pro musician because you 'd probably not want to do anything else rather than play/make music for the rest of your life. It is a desire that's deeper than the deepest ocean to quote Sade haha.
No need to speak about the bad and good tracks as they are irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant and can truly make anyone become a pro in music biz is their inner calling. In retrospect, i don't regret one bit the compromises i made or the struggles i had to endure. I followed my childhood's dream and some 50 years later at age 58-59 i'm still around doing what i love. I will argue success, although welcome when it happens, is not a deciding factor. Sustainability is where the game's at. Do you think you have what it takes to maintain just living off music in good times and bad ones too? Then go for it man.

What would you expect. A pat on the back, attaboy? I do prefer to be among these peeps, this is my kind of people right here, feels like fam, as to their majority, they are true to their selves and don't pretend to be anything they 're not for the sake of making an impression. I 'd take an honest cunt any day or night than a pretentious "gentleman". Sometimes conversations may go haywire, but this is normal in such a forum of musicians, more or less we 're all fucking insane haha. And mods do their best to keep the peace.
Cheers

 

I wasn't complaining, and I don't expect anything. It is what it is. I'm glad that you feel comfortable here.

 

'Listening to your tracks make me depressed.'

The obvious solution then = Don't listen However, from a psychological standpoint. The answer I believe would be very different. The reason being, two people can listen to the same piece of music and be affected in 2 very different ways.

One person who enjoys life, doesn't look to dissect everything with a fine tooth comb might come away from hearing it thinking, That wasn't great and then never think about it again for the rest of their entire lives.
Then you will get what you describe, and I'm not trying to be pretentious here, but to me it would seem like you might having something far more troubling going on in your life, and a song that can affect you in such a way could be merely a catalyst for it.

Apologies if I'm wrong. I'm no psychologist, I just find studying how different people react to different situations extremely fascinating.

 

I was in a London Club back in the 80's when an unknown artist handed a cd to the DJ there. He was going around handing them to as many clubs as he could. I remember a distinct Black jacket he wore that had XL Recordings on. I found out a while after that was a certain Liam Howlett who went on to be the brains behind the Prodigy!

 

there is no other point than making music as hobby

 

These are some of the better reasons people create an alias in the first place. You can still "practice in public" and get feedback that has no bias, more than any other track/song/mix would get.

 

Yeah that's me lol. Been producing years think I'm getting worse and spending more. But what else am I gonna do for fun? Play videogames? (I play videogames too) at least I have songs to listen to at work I sorta enjoy and have something to progress in outside of a job. Just try and have fun with it!

 

It all boils down to your taste, if it's good it's good, you don't eat food that tastes bad and when it tastes bad you don't need to ask around if it really tastes bad. Street musicians for example have amazing songs with tons of noise poorly recorded with millions of views. Make good songs, learn how to target the right audience and learn the business of music. If you're local area has audience for your music you can start creating a decent catalog for live performance in order to start some shit. If you live in the middle of the desert and your local area doesn't have audience for your product you need to target social media and streaming until you have a solid fan base that could open a few doors on small events around your country. Nobody supports bad songs, nobody supports bad food, if it's good and tastes good you'll find support. I worked as a promoter for trance and EDM events and many people even ask to play for free when they have no name or fan base. You'd be surprised how many nameless dudes with 1 old ass set on soundcloud from 60 years ago are still able to get paid when the organization needs to complete a line-up cuz 6 mtfkrs couldn't show up to the gig. Btw if Audio.Sx songs makes you depressed just go to reddit and you'll def learn what real depression is.

 

Last edited: Dec 22, 2024 at 11:41 PM

As Mozart himself, or it was Beethoven?, anyhow, as some sage once said, if a note falls in a symphony hall and no hears it, does it exist?
maybe it was a hearing aid advertisment, I'm thinking of, but anyhow there is the crux of it.

Everything created is eventually destroyed, should nothing be created because it will ultimately crumble to dust? Does art need an audience to be art?

Survey says a guy paid a million bucks for a banana duck taped to a canvas, then ate it.. Art is where you find it and you'll know it if it tastes good.

don't sweat the little shit, and in the end, its all little shit..
do what you will, and try to find something that makes you happy.

if you are a creative sort, that will mean creating things. and there is the joy, in the creation. the rest is bookeeping and marketing and parsing your creations into preconcieved boxes to make it understandable or sellable or discussable with the rest of the world.

if you want to go there, by all means the roads are wide open. but after a long and arduous journey, you may find nothing for your troubles but callouses and a desire to rest. still for some that journey is itself the joy or part of the joy.

the world can't make you happy, only you can make you happy.

 

Yes. Realistically, no one cares, and the quality of the product doesn't much affect the outcome because you will very likely be buried not only by the sheer avalanche of music being released each and every day, but also other forms of content and distractions being dumped on everyone.

So unless you're obscenely talented, lucky, charismatic, and have great networking skills then all of this is a hobby best enjoyed on your own terms. Creating with/for your friends instead of for the Internet (i.e. the world at large) might be the winning strategy.

AI is likely going to exacerbate this existential crisis, anyway, so come to terms with the Zen of being a tree in the forest which is and isn't making a sound.

 

Interesting, I completely come the other way round.
I make music just for myself. I don't like others to listen to it.
For me its too personal and I don't like sharing the feelings I put into it.

 

What's the point of making music?
The point is that I love making music.
I love making music because I love music.
I love the feeling my favorite songs give me. I try to recreate those feelings in my own way.

I love that process of organizing sound into emotion. And like a drug hit, sometimes it's bunk and I hate it.
But sometimes...sometimes...magic happens.

I get to close my eyes and pretend I didn't make this song I made. And it's GOOD. I get to enjoy it as a fan of music.
It's hard to get there. It's so hard to defeat the harsh inner critic. But sometimes...
And then that feeling fades too quickly. There's nothing else to do but to do it again.
Make more music. Chase that feeling. Chase that dragon.

I NEED to do it. I don't know if it's a calling. But I do know that I'll never stop making music.
I may not make money from it. But I will make music. And sometimes I'll hit on a good feeling. And I'll ride that wave for as long as I'm alive.

 

Wait! Before you DM/PM her a song!

Ask her:
"Are you one of the nice ones or one of the c*nts?"

 

There is a phenomenon of our time called excess. You have to learn to make music primarily for yourself. Don't expect anything. If YOU want to dance to YOUR music, then it's perfect. Don't copy and compare too much. Do what you think is right. Best of luck .

 

@fnord23 You could always try to look for the good or positives in anything. Everyone understands that sometimes this seems almost impossible. You made a statement about your music making someone feel depressed.

Here's another way to look at it.
Do you know how many writers and the numbers are substantial, who try to stir emotions in others? Almost everyone tries to do this because it is at the core of reaching to others through music. You managed to stir an emotion in someone. It may well not have been the emotion you intended but you did it. Perhaps instead of the natural human taking the I am offended stance, you could ask them what it was that made them feel this way so you have a point you can reverse and perhaps stir a different emotion? Music is a journey, the fact you touched someone even unintended is not a bad thing unless you allow yourself to see it that way. Leonard Cohen made a fortune depressing people.