Songwriting, Art, Soul and Commerce? Can oil and water mix??

I'm going through a re-awakening of sorts.


Earlier this summer I went to Asheville NC...to a songwriters expo.

The conference was amazing in that I got to meet and listen to some professional music industry people and songwriters etc. (www.durangosong.com)
The Asheville scene itself is alive and electric as well!!! Asheville N.C.... Now that is a place you may want to check out sometime!

Anyways...just meeting face to face with some real people in the professional business side of things did wonders for my previous outsiders perception of the music industry. I have a more accurate view of my relation to it as an artist. I understand the business of music a lot better as well. It gave me some realistic information and map work to go by. I have since enhanced much of how I write songs and think about my music career.

Im not about to go all corporate but I do see better what big labels are up too and even why.
Especially helpful were the panel sessions where industry people got up and spoke about what they know best. The ins and outs of their particular specialty.
I got to listen to, or ask questions and speak with people like Leslie Fram ( American radio DJ and programmings "First Lady of Modern Rock" )
What a joy to be around Producers, songwriters,Engineers, Performers, Publishers that are willing to take a look or listen or add a helpful word. There were A&R representatives from Warner, Atlantic, Razor and Tie in NYC, Island records etc etc.
There was local label representation too from NC etc.

It was a candy store for musicians like myself, who want to get some songwriting done, or have some songs critiqued by other professionals in the industry.

In terms of the music industry or any new territory, I think its pretty much human nature that when you don't know what something is...your mind just sort of does its best to fill in the blanks with whatever information it has garnered.
My info was garnered from various sources of the closest proximity...In my case..
My view of the industry was one that led me to putting garlic around my neck to keep the bloodsucking vampires away.
I began to question this and realized this view of the industry...wasn't accurate enough...so I took an extra step and got to meet some of these people.

Business isn't a bad word.True there are bloodsuckers out there...and I can honeslty say I htink alot of business popele do not see past the buck. But it doesnt have to be that way.
Music and business...The two do meet up often and mix in many situations. How well...is not something that a million bubble gum records should decide. There is more to the music industry than the bubble gum. Most musicians can attest, that Music is one of the strongest unifying factors of human existence. It has historically has brought tribes and family's and peoples together in celebration, war, ceremony, love. And last but not least..lovemaking. The spirit of Music is not going to be ended or hurt by any industry. It's as natural as breathing. It will continue on as long as some of us humans can keep ourselves living in harmony together.

The music industry is like a family. Within it...there are many characters, functional and dysfunctional. Dry, drunk, wet and otherwise. It is made up of many different people with different ideas of what they want the business to be or what they hope it will become or provide for them. There is no one thing that you can point to and say...hey this IS the music industry. I don't see it that way. It is people. A million people.

Just like any other industry. I think the artists need to stop doing war with it and seek to understand what the hell is going on in side of it. Enter it. Change it from within if you will. MAybe we need to miodle what works and do it for ourselves.
All these poeple in the music business have to deal with the current reality of what it is...and this makes for a lot of varying game plans, beliefs and modes of operation. This wider more human view is one of the biggest things I got out of attending the conference. "the Music Industry" is not one piece. It isnt one big rat sucking on the life and soul and music.
Its millions of pieces and millions of people.(including those who sustain the industry...the listeners of music)

Before that conference..all I had to go on as far as first hand information (for navigating the professional music world) was really what I saw and heard on major stations..I took a look at what the big sellers in today's industry are promoting. Some of it is good...obviously some of it...a lot of it... is dreadful dribble at least from an artistic/talent standpoint.


After attending this conference...Some of what I thought was true..was true...sure...but that was just a minor part of it.

The extreme drive toward tried and proven commodities and music...is partially true..
But I was made aware of the whys of the business. I'm not condoning it..I just learned a little better why the industry is sometimes that way.
How record companies can spend millions promoting an artist and come out with a loss.
How one big successful candy coated act often supports the smaller lesser known bands on a label. How the majority of bands that are signed to a major lose the company money. I was made aware of the extreme risk, expense, time and effort that these industry people put forth...quite often not gaining much revenue in the process.
I heard stories of professionals having to rely on and deal with druggies in irresponsible bands. These are the people these people have to deal with for their own livelihood.
Hah..hearing the other side.
What a refreshing thing!

Sometimes we humans create opinions too hastily......like I said...sometimes unconsciously...bits of information blocks fall in form whatever sources we have to fill in the gaps.

There was so much frankness...and a willingness to share an understanding that the industry is changing and in flux that I felt a kindred spirit with many of the industry people I spoke to and that was a new thing for me. I got the feeling that some of the bands etc that they sign...they know will sell and make a profit...but that doesn't necessarily mean they are listening to this stuff on there own MP3 players! I learned that they are not into it at all sometimes. Some of it was done for the purely smart business sense aspect of it...to make a profit, to feed the kids etc..to keep a job etc...to give millions of people what they want to hear and yet a few poeple I listened to really seem to genuinely care abut music. They are still looking for real quality work..to give it a chance.

I also learned that my own work...as great as I thought it was.. did indeed have some holes in it. The value of this was and is enormous. Instead of putting the industry down...I learned what sells and why and how my songs did indeed lack some craft.
a craft I can learn and develop etc.
I got the feeling that many would prefer to promote something that would both be economically successful AND be artistically viable. I met some of these people who truly love music similar to the way I do.
They want to hear great stuff too. True, Some of them wouldn't know it if it hit them upside the head. Others definitely would..and are tired of getting hit with garbage day in and day out.

Now please understand me, I have problems with how our economy rewards garbage sometimes. I don't entirely understand our economy and I do think something needs to be changed indeed. Where art is rewarded fairly. Where teachers are paid as much as business men and doctors etc. That is a subject for another blog..maybe we can work it out together...but this piece is about the current economy as it really is. As hot, warm, dry or cold as it is. And the current state of an artist/performer who wants to share his/her music and spread it out far and wide.
Unless you live in a community or commune that barters everything, Everyone I come across needs to get some of that green stuff we call money...fortunately or unfortunately that's where we are at right now...unless the world market crashes down and we all go back to barter and battle.

So..How do we make our way..our living... and still have a soul in the end. That is a plight that the artist of today is thrust into. You can hide from it or deny it...but cutting off myself from the industry isn't going to be my route any longer. I need to make some peace in relation to the music industry.I think fo rnow, I can model what I like. I can throw away what I do not like.

As you can see...I'm still engaging in much thought about this (Economy/Human value)subject so feel free to chime in..perhaps we can start another blog subject on it...but for now...back to what is as it is. A modern day singer songwriter that is getting acquainted with the music industry.

For those of us who are making music that is obviously not commercially viable on a wide scale...
I was also turned onto independent labels as a viable option for people who maybe prefer a niche market and don't want to conform to the popular markets. Almost...in some cases at least...I came to think of it as a developing ground..for the bigger leagues...If you can make it on an indie...perhaps then move it on up and step up to the big leagues. Some of the larger Indies can be an end in themselves as well for many pro performers.

Great to learn things like this. Books and blogs are great too. The difference between art and commerce....the business of music vs soulfulness etc...it isn't an either or situation.
Thankfully...things are rarely as black and white as ones initial sight would have it seem.

Sounds simple but it is an ahaa moment for sure when you realize this...ITS ALL PEOPLE!
Not just some big bad guy peddling garbage to teeny boppers in a limo. It's people.

At this conference I got to be around and learn from Nashville, NYC and LA writers and realized there is a truly an art and craft to the professional popular side of it...

I found a few writers who really inspired me. One of them was Chuck Cannon.

These writers love writing and have so much to offer! These writers care about what they are writing and are trying to write the best songs of there lives. I felt at home.
They work on their craft like a race car driver works on his car. With the utmost attention to developing ones best. Tweaking for that extra split second...willing to put in hours of work to make an intro better or make that phrase come together and turn into a spectacular view just at the right precise second..just enough to get that extra aaaah out of the listener.

I discovered a whole new side to music.
Avoiding all things industry/corporate is in some cases self sabotage.
Artists deserve to be economically backed. In other words...this culture currently runs on an economic standard that uses money to appropriate value of work, products, output. Artists need to eat and drive and have roofs and heat. We don't have to be living out of shacks and eating Ramin noodles all day and night.(Thank you Ramin, you helped me through college)
Look...If your really producing something wonderful..the world IS going to want to see it.
If you think you can do it all by your one self...and get the word out about your work...Go ahead and do it! I for one..think a helping hand is necessary and I do not expect a handout because my art is good. People love art but they too, need to feed their own kids, pay of their own loans for their own schooling and have so little free time that to give me a hand out often would take time from their own lives.
Artists can feel that htey deserve to get paid for what they produce and contribute to society. Business provides stability of a system to interact with others professional people. For these poeple it provides great reward, an outlet to do what they do best. It helps people to raise familys or pursue dreams. This is why industry and business isn't such a bad thing..
If your a farmer out in California, I can give you a few dollars for some Oranges, I dont have to have an Orange grove and all that goes with it, you get some more free time and get to buy a cd or something, we both get something good. If we become better friends in the process or advance art and our lives that is the real cake of it! Great!

But, If you cut yourself off of from it in art and music I think it is a mistake of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The problem with money isn't just money any more. Just like the crime problem isn't just about guns...its how and why people use guns. The problem with business isn't business or economy its how people use it well for good or abuse it for ill. As an artist...don't cut of your fingers from any form of business knowledge etc to stay pure.
Money is ok...and good...if you use it that way. And YES..you need it. Just use it wisely. Choose where you spend it.
You need other people who have special skills, who know how to get your work out. Who know the craft, who can help you develop your style etc, etc. These are specialists.
Buy there books, meet up with them, learn from them.
They need your support as well.The world needs good art, good music, and sometimes it just needs good entertainment that doesn't have to be pure high art form. It's OK too sometimes..No more than every word you utter is high art.

If you find a manager or label or someone who truly cares about your work and its artistic value....AND you care about them and their well being as well and you can all make the world better, and help each other survive and make it in this world. That is Great! Don't worry about the dirt bags.
The rest of the industry has to deal with these very same dirt bags.
These people do not get the true spirit of music. Lets show them what it is.
And remember, that not only do industry people have to deal with the cheese peddlars..they have to compete with them in the market. So do we.
Bring your art to market. The marketplace needs it.

Written By Andrew Boyd
Feel free to check out more music and words @
http://myspace.com/andrewsmusicstation