wax&wires

wax&wires tv – Episode 007: Should You Make Music You Love, Or Music You’re Good At?

Episode 007

What is it that permits some artists to crank out 5 or 6 successful albums, while other artists are relegated to the role of the one hit wonder? My theory is that artists who want to establish a career of longevity MUST create the music that stirs them, rather than trying to cash in on a trend or create music they might “execute” better.

You can’t chase trends because you’ll be one step behind. What do you do when the trend dies, and you have nothing left to copy?

There’s an intangible aspect to “legacy-type” artists that transcends their genre and music. THAT is what their fans lock onto. Not in a “star power” kind of way, but in a musical sense. There’s a unique thread to the way they compose, and no matter how genres shift through time, that thread will always be there, because it’s ingrained into who they are.

Make music that you love, THEN work hard and hope that you can find a fanbase for it.

I suppose the same theory could be applied outside of the music realm as well, into other art forms and even into the corporate world.

I threw a Wax Pick this episode too, The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love.
You can check it out here.

Leave your thoughts in the comments section, or shoot me an email: tim@waxandwires.com

Thanks!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 1:19 pm. It is filed under wax&wires tv and tagged with industry, sell out, trends, waxandwires tv. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.