Conformity

Is it any wonder the world has been taken over by nerds?

It's the nerds who are outcasts, the nerds who are bullied. If you're everybody's friend, chances are you're not making a difference, at least not artistically.

Once upon a time, during the baby boomer era, being different was a badge of honor. Yes, that's one thing the boomers got right. But their kids, brought up in an era where you got trophies just for participating, are afraid to stand out, they're all about their network of friends, they don't want to be ostracized. And that's one of the reasons music is so bad.

What?

Yes, music is best when it's spearheaded by outsiders. Certainly not suits who believe they know best. The Beatles refused to do another's material and insisted on doing their own and "Please Please Me" went to number one. They weren't afraid to go their own way.

Don't confuse this with believing you know better. Like a child who thinks he knows more than his dad. I'm talking about questioning authority.

Everyone's afraid to lose friends. Everyone's afraid to stand out. Everyone's afraid of criticism. Hell, kids don't raise their hands in class because they don't want to be seen as different, as know-it-alls, better off to play dumb.

Was John Lennon dumb?

John Lennon spoke the truth, that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Religious zealots freaked out and burned their albums, but that's how big the Beatles truly were.

Oh, today we've got acts that get in trouble with the law, but that's not the same thing.

We're looking for the new and the different and if you don't have people dropping their jaws, chances are you're not going to last, you probably won't even be big.

Furthermore, just because no one likes your music, that does not mean you're on the right path. The key is to be different AND liked. Nothing previous sounded like Kraftwerk's "Autobahn," but it was a huge hit. Steely Dan was twisted, but they were embraced by a public that believed it hated the jazz influences Steely Dan was selling.

And if you're ahead of the game, expect to be excoriated.

All those people who believed they'd never listen to music on computers, that CDs were best... Try taking away their iPhones, their Sonos systems. No one complains as loud as a Luddite, remember that.

So if you're not experiencing resistance, if you don't find people trying to rein you in, chances are you're not shooting high enough.

Dare to be unpopular.

Because that's where the germ of true popularity begins.


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