This may already be obvious to most of you, but the music
industry does not follow the most intuitive business structure. The most
cynical way to put it is that there is no apparent relationship between talent
and monetary success. Those of us who are old enough to remember when MTV was
about music or when the radio was still a driving force in popular culture,
know this very well. What money there is to be made in music follows the trends
and those with the money to offer, are only interested in what’s most likely to
return on their investment as quickly as possible. This is a major factor in
what stands in the way between being an amateur musician and a rock star. And
yes, it’s frustrating. It’s as if you were homeless, someone gave you a dollar
and then asked where you work. The reality is that you’re probably not going to
find gainful employment between your cardboard box and the liquor store. It’s
unfair. It’s bad for the industry. It’s bad for the general listening public.
But it’s also a firm reality.
There is no solution to this. However if you read between
the lines of the writing on the wall, it does offer a choice. You can keep
yourself open minded, work on your versatility and just be ready to change with
times in order to give yourself the best chances at fame and fortune. The other
way to go is to just play the music you love and hope that enough people like it
that you’ll be able to pay your rent. The silver lining here is that it’s not
just musicians who are frustrated with mainstream music. There are huge
subcultures devoted to one or more ‘fringe’ genres (i.e., punk, folk, garage
rock, etc.) and the best news of all is that they presumably have just as much
money to spend as anyone else. In fact they’re probably willing to spend a
little more because nothing beats that feeling of sticking it to the man. To
relish in realities of the music industry, good and bad, click the link below.
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