Aim for the edges
An amazing shift has happened in the last few decades.
You used to get successful by being normal and mainstream. But now you have a better chance of getting successful by being remarkably unusual.
Songwriters try to write a timeless standard that will resonate with everyone. But what good is that if nobody hears it because your music is too normal?
Our culture is now split into niches. In 1948, Milton Berle’s TV show had 80% of all viewers, because it was one of only three choices! When the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan in 1964, they had 60% of all TV viewers. But now the biggest hit shows only get 1% of all viewers, because there are so many choices.
There won’t be another blockbuster album like “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. With unlimited options now, music fans don’t wait for mainstream media to tell them what to like. They can immediately listen to anything they want. Because of this, tastes are more spread-out than ever.
So reach the people who have headed to the edges. They’re the ones who are looking for something new, and more likely to rave about it if you impress them.
Think of the metaphor of shooting an arrow at a bull’s-eye target:
In the old blockbuster music business, you had a hit single or nothing. The only way you could be successful was to hit the exact center of a tiny distant target. If you missed the middle, you got nothing.
Now it’s like the target is closer and bigger, but there’s a catch: Someone cut out the middle.
You can aim for the edge and hit something pretty easily. But if you’re still aiming for the middle, there’s nothing there.
So be remarkably unusual, and aim for those people who have headed to the edges.
I've noticed the trend that niche independent artists often have more success than "mainstream" indie artists. The CD Baby top sellers are reasonable evidence of that. But I really hate the notion that I should have to create a niche just to own it. The music my band writes and performs is generally well-liked and falls into existing rock categories from grunge, alternative, pop, alt-metal. We don't really get noticed precisely because our music does not truly tread any new ground. I'd like to think it's not completely derivative either, and we put a lot of effort into ensuring each of our songs doesn't just sound like the next.
I'm sure if I put my mind to it I could probably write 12 easy listening songs about pottery sculpting. But that would be extremely disingenous, even if the songs turned out well. I would be unique but I wouldn't feel good about it. I manufactured a genre for the sake of standing out and resulted in making music that I don't love. Is it not more important to be true to yourself as a writer and performer than to force yourself to be unique?
I like Cliff's idea of finding people who really view your music as edgy. Maybe if I can just find some sheltered kids and hook them while they're young...
And your photoshopping abilities continue to improve. Well done. :)
What is the edge and how many listeners are downloading it? To me it all boils down to writing music that people want to listen to. I say to write music that the listener can hold on to and then you will have something.
I like Dan's response.
I get emails every week from customers (i still can quite get used to calling them "fans"), who reflect their perspective of having "found" Tania Rose music. They feel a personal connection and a sense of discovery because they "stumbled" on something special. Everyone knows 'so-and-so', but "i've found something special". We are a instinctively hunters and gathers, who find being spoon-fed unconsciously degrading.
smiles to you,
Tania
When my band first started playing together in 1995, I was 13. It has been comprised of my closest friends and we're still playing together under the same name (BENCH GRINDER).
I have and always will be a devout fan of Pop-Rock. When I was an impressionable teenager in Seattle, pop rock was abundant! That was primarilly what I listened too and therefore has always been the underlying theme in what I write.
I remember people saying to us earlier in our playing days "You guys sound like everything else out there." While I never got offended by that (infact, I took it as a complement!) I never thought we we're a copy cat of anyone because we listened to EVERYTHING (pop rock, pop metal, pop hip hop.. any thing that was catchy).
It's funny that, at our recent shows, everyone says "You guys are great! You sound like no one else today!" We have honed our skills a lot as songwriters, musicians and performers but we never strayed from our initial goal: write songs that people will enjoy dancing/singing along to.
It's strange to think that what may've been considered 'Mainstream' 10-15 years ago is now looked upon with such disdain. Pop has taken such a negative conotation in the past decade. I think the best advice is do what you love and do it well. That's the only way to be successful.
Honest music will always prevail. Wether you're playing Speed Metal, Hip Hop, Country, Rock or whatever. If your sincerity shines through the song.. people will dig it!
www.myspace.com/benchgrinder
Personally I take aim at the target with in myself. If I don't feel it, I don't do it. If people like it great, if they don't then that's fine to. There are no gatekeepers where I travel in this business. I am free to do as I please and make my own edges or sit and watch the others follow the beaten path.
Maybe we should all take note of what Tony Moreno is doing and follow our own heart.
Writing, playing, and recording music that you truly believe in, feel, and enjoy doing equals honest music. No matter how it is received by the public, you should be proud of what you create. Anyone entering the music business who is focused on being adored by the masses and wealthy beyond there wildest dreams is doing just that. Dreaming. IMHO it all starts with honesty and tapping into your inner self. It's not easy.
I just feel that if you plant the seeds of honesty and individuality in your music you are bound to produce music that is fulfilling to you and is more likely to be appreciated by an ever diverse world of consumers. Without massive corporporate backing, looking inward is more realistic to me. Invest in yourself and grow your best product to share with others. Commercial "failure" can still be a personal success.
Pinedog
One maybe kinda simple way to say it is, "there is only one you -- so all you have to do is REALLY be yourself." But that's not as easy as it sounds, at least for me. Someone (the screenwriter Eric Red) once told me, "You'll never be a great writer until you're not afraid to look ugly." I like this post a lot.
Know thyself. Many times we use common terms that we THINK we understand: and sometimes their real meaning is quite different. Like the word Religion. The original meaning of the word Religion means ´To gather all your energy
to find out`...
Dear Derek,
I find your advice interesting but have not really found it to work. We have what we feel is a beautiful album of songs on CD Baby called "I Spread My Wings..." by Angelica Tucker, which we call a unique mixture of classical and soul, but we haven't sold a single CD. I tried to promote it on the internet, but i don't really know what i am doing in that department. We have it on a showcase, and people write in and say how much they like it.
Angelica hasn't felt very comfortable performing the songs in public because they are too different, so that may be the problem.
She can write in a contemporary R&B/Hip Hop style, so we are trying to go that route for her second album, and hope that if she gets well known, we can eventually widen people's tastes and sell the first album as well.
Do you have any suggestions?
Eric Price
beautifil , woo hoo
I thought about writing a book about a "three-year period" in my life. It was an exciting time.Who knows?Maybe I'll look back and feel the same way about what's happening now with my music endeavors.Thank you for allowing me to feel this way again.
Specific music for specific markets .. Art for the edge .. that's who true art is for anyway .. we are not alone in our uniqueness .. follow your true passion
i've always felt we kinda missed the trend...too underground to be commercial to commercial to be underground...a lot of people tell us we are unique, so I guess it is a good thing...plus, when you are passionate about your music, in a long run, you can't fail.
xoxo
JVB
The other side of this same coin is the concept "the long tail."
I won't try to summarize it here, but the new economics means stuff doesn't have to be mainstream to be profitable to a distributer. The "tail" is from the graph of sales numbers.
Now that people everywhere can buy, say, Gregorian chanting, it is profitable even though there are not enough local sales by the standard of pre-Internet days.
I was so pleased to see you mention Milton Berle, as I learned a lot from his book about life and comedy. He was an artist of excellence. The two or three big take aways for me were
1) that if a comedy becomes less popular it's not because the comedy got worse, it's because the audience changed their tastes... which I have noticed so often since he said it. Hmm. Is that why I re-invent myself?
and 2) that people can't laugh hard for too long. If a comedy TV show is more than a half hour, it has to be a variety show. This explains Ed Sullivan's show and many situation comedies. Yes. Even one of my favorite shows couldn't quite go a half hour, and instead had to end with a nice song every time.
3) Critics are wrong when they say jokes/words/art/music/speech are obvious and just on the tip of your tongue as audience member or critic. No, for if it was obvious, then you would have created it before it was "on the tip" which is, in fact, an illusion."
"be remarkably unusual"
this alone gives me great hope :)
Derek, how could you always have new and useful insights, great metaphors, and beautiful stories, while keeping it so succinct...