Writing originals... What's the point?

[Badronald]

From my point of view, digital technology has all but destroyed the music industry. It is however good to hear from those of you who have not become jaded like I have... Keep the dream alive.

i dont think ive ever made it all the way through one of your posts thanks to the canadian camel toe in the corner. i start reading, and then its "here it comes again!" fek

+1

 

[glassjaw7]

Personally, I just wouldn't be happy if I wasn't writing and recording my own material. I'm sure that I'll lose more money than I'll make doing it but I HAVE to create my own music. I'd go crazy without that outlet. Covers were fun when I was just learning but I learned guitar and studied songwriting to actually write songs! Don't care if the $ comes along with it.

 

[jet66]

I'm pretty much done with it I think. Just getting people together to play these days seems to be a major effort. Even then, it just doesn't have the same 'buzz' as it once did. I will still enjoy reading the comments here on RT, and I hope that all of you are all successful in whatever endeavors you pursue. I'll be posting some cool pieces of gear here and on ebay. If anyone is interested, please do check them out.

Sit it aside and wait a bit. I went through a similar phase, around 1994. I sold everything, thinking 'if I'm not doing it for a living like I wanted, why bother at all?' I think I went 9 weeks before I realized 'I need to play, whether there is any point to it or not.' So I bought a nylon string guitar, just to have something for those times I 'needed' to play. It wasn't long before I was buying new stuff, and kicking myself for getting rid of all of my other stuff, including the 1988 RG560 that I had cherished almost more than life itself. (And I still regret giving that one up...) I, too, had a vision of how things 'should have been.' But visions can change, it's ok.

Pack it up, put it away, and give yourself some time off before doing something you will regret.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

I'm pretty much done with it I think. Just getting people together to play these days seems to be a major effort. Even then, it just doesn't have the same 'buzz' as it once did. I will still enjoy reading the comments here on RT, and I hope that all of you are all successful in whatever endeavors you pursue. I'll be posting some cool pieces of gear here and on ebay. If anyone is interested, please do check them out.

I would keep a small bit of gear imo, you never know when your muse might return. It could come out of nowhere at any time, and you'll have something on hand.

 

[scottburrow]

I think you should always strive to be the better you. You are a musician, it is a craft, it takes time to get good. If you write songs write songs. Folks, 99% of us are amateurs at best, and that 1% isn't there for very long. I have written a lot of songs for my own enjoyment of the process, that's what we do. If you are discouraged by the business or the process;that's ok, it happens, but please just don't stop. Learn a different Genera, learn a new technique, but keep striving for the better you. I know guys who right music, self publish get it on Itunes and sell songs that's what they do. If you write music, write a new albums worth of material once a month and get it out there, there are people who will dig your stuff and enjoy it for what it is.

 

[ConcreteVampire]

I've come to the conclusion I dont agree with anything the OP has written so far?! sorry dude

I dont play for money or fame. Never have...

Writing originals... What's the point? That's going to be my alll time dumbest post title.

Digital tech has given me the ability to record quality music at home. Bad?!

Now, your selling everything.



May I inquire as to your age Sir?

Just confused, here... as to your point, as others have mentioned...

 

[crankyrayhanky]

selling your gear but still expect to visit RigTalk....What's the point?
You either have fire in the belly to jam or you don't...just beware that it could be a brief illusionary musical depression- you could wake up in 3 months thinking "I'd like to jam...damn, I sold all my stuff"

 

[stephen sawall]

Original music is a waste of time & money ..... so if you have money & time to waste (like most people) it is a better than a lot of things people waste their life doing....

Making music for money for most people is a side job or only part of their life.... with most people it is only a matter of time till they are doing something else.

 

[dawnofdreamx97]

I play and write music because i love it more than anything else in the world. If it makes you happy than you should do it, making money is something that only a select handful of people get to have along with the joy and satisfaction of creating and performing music.

We need a new format and we need it now, Lars was right =) From vinyl, 8 track, cassette, cd to the MP3 it has gone, the question is how do you control your intellectual property as a musician in the digital age without a new format or being unconstitutional? it has become almost normal for people to just download music for free or go to youtube to listen to it rather than buy it. Signs of the times maybe, but the only way i can see it being totally controllable is for bands to stop recording cd's and ONLY play live, and have the ability to give the public who bought and paid access to download or stream the show they paid to see. But even still i still think we need to figure out a new format, i can't invision it yet, but it will come some day...

Until then play from the heart and play for your self, usually then everything else comes around that....

Just my 2 cents....

 

[Hollis]

The music Industry evolves and changes like everything else, and always will. I'm sure you've heard most, if not all, your favorite bands talk about how "they started out going around the country in pos van and barely made enough money to get to the next town and eat Ramen noodles every night". Then after like 10 years of hard work earning nothing but the fulfillment of playing music to small but growing audiences, it finally paid off and a song got radio airplay, or the band achieved a large fanbase following, etc. I wouldn't give up hope. It's just damn hard to "make it big", always has been, always will. I personally have a good job with good insurance benefits and I'm able to support my family whilst playing in a cover band on the weekends in the bars, clubs, and casinos. And I find that although I know I'll never be a famous rock star, it's still very fulfilling for me to play and sing on stage. Also, it helps that even though it's just a weekend cover band, the chicks that normally wouldn't give us the time of day are suddenly going crazy make it all worth it! Yeah!!

 

[stephen sawall]

Just about everyone I know that "made it" only has a debt to show for it. They owe a lot of money & have little or nothing to show for it. The industry has been this way for decades...

 

[Orren]

I guess part of the answer depends on your responsibilities, and what you deem as "success." I have a friend who is a pro musician who combines playing local cover shows with a band that plays their original songs. He owns a home and raised a daughter. The albums make a little money (I think sales in the 1000-5000 range) but mostly serve as "advertisements" to bring people to the gigs. And they tour about three times a year, all around the USA for about 10 weeks each time. Is that enough for you, or would you need more than a lower middle class take home? Would you get satisfaction from playing that many live shows a year, or would it become a drag? Do you have a partner/child who is cool with either coming with you or not minding if you're away 60% of the year? If the answers are yes, then I firmly believe that you can make a living as a writing and performing musician.

Personally, I'm too much a homebody for that. I write songs and put them out on the web as Ember After, making a little bit of money here and there but not a ton. We're in the process of setting up a couple of summer shows, more for the joy of music than anything else. And even though the money is small, I couldn't not do it, it's a part of my soul. If that sounds like you, then you also will work up your demos and put them out there, even if there's no money, just because you feel like you need to. And you know what? That will be a reward in itself.

Not that getting paid is bad, mind you!

Orren

 

[TrueTone500]

Some positive remarks here - some not so much, but that's cool. Someone mentioned that I should just put my gear away for a while, which is exactly what I'm going to do. Maybe one day I will feel inspired to play again - maybe not. With the rising cost of gear, keeping what I have is sage advice. I didn't mean for it to sound like my only reason for playing is the prospect of profit alone... I thought that soliciting for a broader perspective would help tweak my attitude a bit, and it has.

Call me a dinosaur if you want, but I still enjoy listening to those wonderful clicks and pops of vinyl under my $5.99 Spencer's a black-light!

 

[satannica]

To be honest, I'm not really yearning for my own successes. I've had some in life, absolute failures in others, but overall happy with what I've done musically. It's a little disheartening to know that one or two projects could have lasted a little longer, or done a little more, but whatever.

I'm more annoyed that I'm a great consumer of music. The thought that a lot of the bands i listen to soon won't exist and I'll never get to hear about them is what concerns me more. A lot of the output I've had pass through my hands has appeared from the Scandinavian countries. It's not surprising as those guys have held the extreme metal mantra for a good decade or two now. But even their output is diminishing in volume and often quality. Having had the opportunity to meet some of these guys after shows, a lot of them seem to say the same thing. Lower album sales = less ability to tour = diminishing likelihood of the band existing long-term. That said, I must admit I was shocked when at Vader's last show, they were selling tour shirts for £15. I bought three lol!

Anyway, for that reason, I can't in all consciousness steal music. I know I'm largely alone in that especially in a room full of musicians, but there we have it. It's an argument I've tried to put across to death, but alas sometimes you just gotta concede. It's one thing to get a free disk from a show, but I don't feel £5 for a local band's output is beyond anybody!

 

[guitarmike]

The era of music leading to crazy wealth is over

Someone should tell Billionaire Lady Gaga that.

Good point and I will revise my statement.
The era of making music similar to how it was done from 1965 to 1994 and becoming wealthy is over.

Do you think what's left of the record companies would push a rock band the way they push Lady Gaga?

If you want to make money in music play in a tribute band. Look at society, as a whole it does not value originality like it used to, it likes remakes. Look at movies and TV shows, many are rip offs of stuff done 20-40 years ago.

 

[TrueTone500]

Here's where this topic takes a hard-right turn...

Any activity that threatens the viability of any legal industry is a direct threat to the economy. Illegal downloading should therefore be deemed a threat to national security and an act of cyber-terrorism.

I hope that I'm offending every liberal who my reads this post. Have a nice day!

 

[mchn13]

Now i just think you need meds, and should back away from the computer lol.

 

[joolzriff]

For creativity and expressing yourself. Just because you don't make money doesn't make it pointless.

because ur n artiste!!!!!
listen to my link below....i'll never earn $5 from my krap but its jus gota be done

 

[SomeGuyChi]

I don't write original music because I want to, I write original music because I have to. If I don't, I feel like something is seriously wrong.

 

[Bob Savage]

I guess part of the answer depends on your responsibilities...

Orren

Orren! What's up buddy? LONG time no see online...