As a self-employed entrepreneur my entire adult life, music and design have been the driving force behind most of my personal and business pursuits. I've owned a number of music sales web sites, primarily ChurchAudioSupply.com and GigCables.com. I fully run and manage the businesses from art design to web programming and of course, all sales. This has allowed me the freedom daily to write and produce music and video at my whim. My newly created publishing company, Mody Company Creative and associated web site, ModyMusic.com, is my latest endeavor to shop the best of my music and my collaborative efforts for sync licensing placement. A large chunk of that site will be devoted to my soundscapes project which is currently in it's infancy but will be a growing collection of complex and textured compositions for backing music.
Every life has a soundtrack. Every person can trace music to life events or "blocks of time" in their life. But to a musician/songwriter it gives even more because it makes productive use of that time. When you create music or pursue learning it, time is never wasted and in some ways that time can be revisited and experienced over and over.
I really pursued making my music sound good. I wanted to create well produced songs and professionally packaged presentations in print and video. Over the past few years that goal has been achieved in house. So now I want to compose for commercial use.
I wouldn't be doing that in this forum
Sweet - Love is Like Oxygen. Though I had an 8 track player for many years I got a turntable for Christmas as I was transitioning to rock music and my friend gave me this 45. This song most vividly takes me back to my warm bedroom of a cold winter night.
I've always been a metal guy but it doesn't matter at this point- just enjoy thoughtful musicianship and an interesting vocal. These days I'm more into appreciating the writing and recording art of it then separating artists into favorites.
Producing it well.
That it is an art and I have an aptitude for it.
I let those days go a while back.
There is very little reality in the "rock star" model anymore. As dream-busting as that is to most, the flip side is that the perceived definition of a musician now becomes broader. There's actually more media/opportunity than ever for music. You can be a 10 year old Asian female guitar shredding youtube sensation, a 65 year old classic rock club guitarist, an orchestral pit drummer or be a 16 year old master of spoken word. So everyone gets to self-define as to what type of musician they are. What needs to improve is how we support each other.
See my last line above. My core musician friends often talk about how social media has become a bit dead to those presenting their art and skill set in a promoting manner. To have a platform where the sole intent is to promote and support should help answer many questions we have about the usefulness of general social media. This kind of gives us a platform to attempt to do social media right.
Just my own limitations, doesn't have to be as a player but even in how much one has to work and research the right ways to connect and expose. Not enough time to do it all and always worrying if that time is going to be a dead end or worse, require even more non creative work to make it fruitful.
In a live setting I have supported my closest friends when it's been convenient to do so. Can't say I'm out there looking for new live music. Family time takes precedent. But I certainly buy product. I still love CDs.
Thick skin and tunnel vision. The talent level now is unprecedented. The glut of outlets to randomly display that talent is unprecedented. And the level of people who don't value it and don't care is unprecedented. That's not a good mix. If you're young, dedicate yourself for 10 years to being a vagabond. Love it, live it and make all the contacts you can along the way. You'll either accrue some success to keep on that path or you'll see that there's value in other areas of the industry that your experience and contacts can assist in a transition. For us older song writers, the new media world almost requires you make quality recordings and the rest is up to making your own luck
Hard as it is to believe, I had never heard of Kamelot or Opeth a few years ago and they've been around 20+ years. Can't live without them now. But on just a pure musicians level- check this guy out. Alan LoPresti - www.alanlopresti.com