I can still remember it like it was yesterday, turning on those loud amplifiers and cranking out some guitar licks. The sound of the drums beating in my chest and the sound of the bass guitar hitting me so hard it almost knocked me over. Those sure were the days. If you wanted to be in a band you first had to learn your instrument well. Then you could do one of three things, find a working band looking for your particular instrument, find a band just starting out or start up your own band. You had to work at it and get good. Not just anyone could be in a band, it took something very special. You had to be very creative and you had to know how to really write a good song. It was a lot of hard work. Music today and the way its created is so very different than what most of us are used to. Those days of having something special are gone. Sure you must be a good singer if you’re going to sing a song, and you must be a good performer if you’re going to perform. In today’s music world there are still Producers just like there were many years ago. They just play different roles. Many years ago, a group would sing a song for a record company that the group wrote. If the company liked the song they would record it and release it. It would get radio play; it would sell, everyone made money. Today things work a bit different.
At any time during your car ride home from work you might put on the radio and hear a new song from an artist. You might think how good the song is and how talented the artist must be to write a song like that. The truth is most artists of today don’t write their own songs. Most artists of today will pay a producer to make them music. They then either write the words for the song or the producer will write the words. Once the song is recorded and the Producer is paid, that artist now has a song.Artists buy music and songs also from producers and companies,Its very different than how things once were. Music is mostly made with machines now-a-days and computers. It is usually not really the drums you are hearing on a song, it is usually a computer made replica of the sounds of drums. Now a day’s your looks play a much more important role in becoming an artist. If you have a good look and are young and hip with a great song, your chances of becoming a star are much greater than if you’re older and are over weight. You must have what they call the “complete package” in order to sell albums. A lot of times record companies already have a potential hit song waiting to be recorded, they just need to find a good looking hip performer to record the song and be the next super star. Where does this leave the talented musicians of the world? Is there still a place for them? This blog post doesn’t mean that no artists of today are talented. Some can sing very well and dance very well. Some are good writers. But if you want to become a super star today, talent is not the first word that pops into ones mind. Maybe all you need is a good Producer with a good computer who knows how to write a song. It makes me sad when I see a young girl or guy on stage, who is dancing and blurting out lyrics to a dance track. I can’t help but think what it would be like if that performer on stage were to pick up a guitar and play with some of the great talents of the world. I believe it would be a mess, because chances are that performer on stage really doesn’t know the theory of music. They are nothing more than an entertainer dancing along to a song that they didn’t write. .
A lot of exceptionally good rock bands never made it out of the garage or the basement. They never made it up on the stage. Some of the best guitar players in the world were never discovered. Some did make it on the stage only to play a few shows and give up. Some went further and played a few thousand shows all over the country, yet still never got their "big" break. On the other hand some dancers were given a song to rap over and made it big. Some of these performers made millions of dollars with songs that took no talent at all to create. Is this just a matter of being at the right place at the right time, or maybe knowing the right people? If this is the case I wish you all well and I am happy for your success. Let’s just not forget about the guy who works Monday-Friday 9-5 and spends his weekends on-stage performing for the night club audience. He probably has more talent in his pinky finger than most millionaire celebrity status artists of the world.
This blog post is in no way intended to put down the artists of today. It is not intended to say that ANYONE can do what they do, and it certainly is not saying that it doesn’t take hard work to be an artist in today’s world. It is just simply a comparison of how music was when I was young, to what it has become today. If you are an artist that dances and sings to a dance track and you play the piano or guitar and you know how to read music, I applaud you. If you do not know music theory I challenge you to learn it and understand your art. Learn the piano and the guitar. Learn how to write. It will only help you as an artist. I believe if you’re going to make your living doing something, you should know it well. If you’re going to be an artist then truly make art. Let’s bring back the talent.
