Five things you would like to see change in the world of music.

brianlux

HughFreakingDillon said:

brianlux said:

You make a good case in discussion, HFC.  There is no simple answer and I'm not sure subsidizing is the answer.  Fundamentally, the issue goes deeper- to things like who gets paid what in the process, and what do we value in our society.  Most promoters and managers make more money than the musicians themselves.  The same is true in some other fields.  Education, for example, where the administrators often make more money than the teachers and who sometimes are people who believe "we could get some work done here if it weren't for the damn students" (I helped teach in a college where this is exactly what one profs said to me about administrators).

You said, "I love the arts, and it should be publicly funded. but not to the point of putting musicians on civic salary just so they can do what they love. I'd love to do it, but honestly, I highly doubt my songwriting is worth it."  I get it.  I love to play guitar and occasionally sing but I have arthritis, a damaged finger and a weak voice.  As much as I love playing, I'm not good enough at it to make a living at it.  I know books well and make a modest living doing that instead.  No, I'm not talking about guys me, I'm talking about the many really fine musicians out there who make damn near nothing and yet are excellent musicians.  I know a number of people like this. I'm sure many of us do and I think that is a shame. I don't know how good a musician you are, HFD.  Maybe you should be able to make a living at music but only if you are good at doing it.

So what I would suggest is a trend toward greater fairness in pay and even more basically, a greater focus in society on understanding and promoting the value of creativity.  Creative people are often less aggressive than business people who in turn are often (especially the more successful ones) what are commonly referred to as "A type" personalities.   Now. it could be argued that this is just "the way life is", that its Darwinian survival of the fittest.  Or we could look at it differently and see that part of being human is to be compassionate to the less aggressive and often more creative among us and to place a higher value on the aesthetics of music, art, writing and other forms of creativity.  So many of us love music but also so many among us take it for granted and seem to thing it should be a perk for simply being alive.  A number of hippie type boomers used to think all concerts should be free.  Wrong! 

We could start by encouraging thinking favorably about creativity in school- let kids know that it is at least as valuable to write a song, paint a picture or write a book as it is to produce yet another gadget or weapon or pharmaceutical that no one really needs.

free music. hehe. that's funny. I get so irritated when people make fun of me for paying for music. "just get it off a torrent" they say. "you're a sucker for paying for that" they shout. or get a streaming service. No. I did apple music for a while at the suggestion of a buddy, and what I found was, I was just downloading the fuck out of everything, and I appreciated none of it. I didn't have enough time to absorb what i was downloading. Now, if I have a budget, and purchase outright a few albums or even just one album per pay period, I sit and listen to it; appreciate it, take it all in. 

I tweeted a question to Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker a few weeks back, asking what, in order, is the biggest cut an artist makes per platform, he replied:

1)physical purchase by FAR
2) then digital
3) then way down the line, streaming (which is literally almost nothing)

I was actually quite surprised that they get more of the pie from cd's than they do from itunes. I mean, there's no overhead with digital! But I guess Apple takes more money than their record company does. Brutal. I have too many cd's, and have for some time, so I buy physical for Canadian artists (and Pearl Jam), and digital for everything else. 

I just can't justify not paying for art. a guy from work suggested I get this box for my tv (I don't have cable, just netflix-I can't be bothered to spend that kind of money to not watch anything). I can't recall what it was called. He said "you get everything, it's all free". I said "so it's illegal". "no, no, it's all on the up and up". He was convinced it was legit. I said "where did you get the box? Best Buy?". "no, my brother knows a guy". yeah, sounds reaaaaaall legit, buddy. Sorry, I pay for my entertainment. If you get your hardware from a "knows a guy", then it ain't legal. Come on!

Good show, HFD!  I've often felt that some of my best expenditures of money has been on music- live shows, DVD's,cassettes, 8-tracks, books and of course, vinyl.  Same with books. 

I don't have a lot extra to give but I do give a little to a favorite author through Patreon.  Patreon is really cool.  You give whatever you can afford to an writer, artist or musician and help support the great stuff they do.  Here's the site for anyone interested:

https://www.patreon.com/

hedonist said:

Creativity can (should) be encouraged at home as well.  As a kid, even as a teen, I did more painting, drawing, reading, piano-playing, singing, IMAGINING outside of school.

As to pharma shit...I'm not a proponent by any means, at least for myself - the side-effects of some scare the holy bejesus out of me - but, I know many who have had their lives and mental health do a 180 because of some of the drugs.  Easy to discount the bigbadwolf companies vs the assumed noble musician, but really...value means different things to different people.  I may not always succeed in my effort but do try to keep that perspective in discussions like this.

I agree, Hedo, meds can be super helpful. They can also be harmful.  Years ago I was given Prozac.  The doc kept bumping the prescription up until I was bed ridden, anorexic, nearly out of my mind, mostly awake for two weeks and nearly died.  I finally got myself admitted to a hospital, changed doctors then got over that very rough period in my life via the anti-depressant, Serzone (no longer available).   But once over that hump, I was taught even more healthy coping methods and for about 12 years have been 100% meds free.  I think the best goal (or something close to it) is to use meds sparingly when needed, then move on to a more natural place to stay even.

hedonist

I have posted this particular link before (in fact, it was my first re-entry to the forums several years ago, after a long break).

To me, it personifies - music-ifies? - how people(s) from all over this planet can come together in the name of harmony...of music.

I love and support this cause, and turn to it when I need that confirmation of our collective beauty.

Roberto, at the very end?  Makes me happy/teary every goddamned time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjPODksI08