An Indie Musician's Diary Vol 2

Making Your Music About Them

Here is a little chapter for all the indies out there who have noticed the little and irritating thing people do when you say you make music (but haven't released it yet) or when you share the music you have already released. You get royally dissed. We music creators need to remember that our music is never about us if we want people to take us and our music seriously. 

Illustrating the problem

As an indie musician/producer, If I am asked what I'm doing and start to share, it often happens that people quickly begin to talk about others' music, their favourite bands, Spotify lists. etc. It's as if my music isn't important to them (and I guess  it isn't and that's o.k.).

Let me illustrate sort of goes like this: (F = fan/friend or newcomer; M = me)

"Hi , what do you do for a living?" (F)

"I am a musician, singer/songwriter and a indie music producer." (M)

"Oh, wow! That is so cool! Do you have any music out on Spotify I can listen to?" F

"Not yet. I am working on it and hope to release some soon." M

"Oh, uh, eh. what kind of music do you do?" F

"I work in multiple genres, country, gospel, electro pop rock, to name a few. Each song needs it's own framing." M

Then F goes immediately to talking about others' music, the weather, or their own guitar efforts and all interest in the subject of my music is lost.

What really is going on here?

As I started on my path to creating original music, I noticed that people who asked about what my occupation is had a strange tendency to do one thing very often and they still do (more often than not). They are very positive and think it is cool that I am a music producer in the making, but, as soon as I talk about the process of making music, or the music that I haven't yet released, they change the subject. Why is this?

1. Most people do not make music. They consume music. They can't consume what does not exist, therefore they can't relate to your music if you haven't released it yet. Plain and simple.

It is like saying, "I make the best pecan ice cream in the world" but you don't let them taste it because you haven't made it and packaged it yet. Get it? Or, it is like I say that I know how to repair a certain motor (theoretically), but I haven't put my hands into it yet. That kind of information is like a fact (the sky is blue) they take a glance and then they move on ."Meh!", they say. I don't blame them.

So my take is this: understand that you won't be able to impress anyone or get them to take your music seriously unless they see you play live or can listen to something you've posted on the Internet: YouTube, Spotify or SoundCloud, for example. Even then, the vast majority will quickly move on to something else when your song(s) are done, even when they like what you do. 

Don't talk about your recording process, the latest plugins you bought, your choice of DAW, etc. Make everything you say about making your music be about filling a need your fans have. 

People don't want and they don't need to hear about your music making process. They need to and want to be inspired, loved, entertained and comforted through your music. Never forget that! So, until you release your music, talk about your vision to meet those needs instead. 

2. Most people will be quick to compare your music to others' music because they want to understand where you are coming from and what you are doing. They are not dissing you. The mind needs to clarify things and distinguish between songs/artists in order to understand the music and make choices. Does your music remind someone of Taylor Swift or Lill'Nas? Then they might hop from your music to the latest Taylor Swift's or Lill'Nas they've heard. It's not that they don't care about your music.