If You Can't Sing...

If you can't sing, you'd better be able to write.

And if you can't write, you'd better be able to sing.

And you're best off if you can do both.

I'm constantly scratching my head, wondering what is going on in the brains of these people who send me their material. Forget production, when the vocal comes in and it sounds like the singer might just qualify for the high school Glee Club, I'm flummoxed. Do these people truly expect virality?

Maybe you're living in olden times. Where you believe it's about publicity. Maybe you think a media outlet can make you a star.

But that's just not true anymore.

I read the "New York Times" religiously. I've never ever checked out a record after reading about it in the paper. They review records incessantly. But where are they coming from? In an era of media overload, I'm only interested in trusted filters. And when it comes to music, the "New York Times" is not one of mine. Which I'm sure blows the writers' minds. Because once upon a time the paper DICTATED! If you weren't reviewed in the newspaper, it's like your gig didn't happen. Now, the last place you'd go to find out about a gig is the paper, because the writer is just not aligned with you, the fan. We don't want to know what an independent observer thought about the gig, but what a FAN did!

That's what the Internet is, clusters of fans.

And to jump from cluster to cluster is almost impossible.

Kind of like this Bowie album...

Let's not talk about its quality. Let's leave that out of the equation. Once upon a time, if radio and MTV played Bowie, he had a hit. But now no radio station with any power plays Bowie music and MTV died and the only people who care are diehard fans.

It's an old wave marketing campaign for a new album.

But it's not only albums, it's books too. It's seemingly everything in our society. It comes, and it goes. And you get to the point where unless you're truly devoted, you tune out. I gave up reading the movie reviews every Friday. Do you see how many flicks are released? You couldn't see them all even if you wanted to! To a great extent, I've stopped going completely. But if I do attend, it's as a result of consensus, when everybody says something is good, especially my peers.

So don't look out, look in.

Do you have any fans?

If not, you're going to find it very hard going.

How do you get fans?

Not by dunning them. That's old school. They're overloaded. You reach fans by being insanely great.

Once upon a time the above was not true. There was a limited amount of recorded music and you made it by convincing the gatekeeper, the radio station, the promoter, to exhibit you. Now there's a seemingly infinite amount of music and you can listen to it everywhere. Do you really expect me to focus on something mediocre?

I want what grabs me instantly.

Or what my network tells me is worth my time.

Network television hasn't gotten the memo. It's clear from cable that you create an edgy show, believe in it, and wait for the word to spread, which could take YEARS! If you're trying to please everybody, instantly, you almost always fail.

Wall Street may not play for the long term.

But in the arts, that's all we've got left.

For all the complaining about TV talent shows, no one kicks back and admits that they're all but meaningless in the music sphere. They're about ratings, commercials, not creating stars. There's Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and...and...and...huh?

Computers may have eviscerated complete industries, but in the arts, we're like cobblers. Dedicated to our craft for life. Dependent on being fantastic and word of mouth. Do you think anybody in Los Angeles cares about your fantastic shoe guy in Boston? Then why do you think they care about your mediocre band?

But don't get depressed.

You're probably great at something.

But it probably isn't music.


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