We get so often lost in the world of all this modern music marketing, your YouTube views, twitter followers, Facebook likes and so on, that sometimes we can forget what is the most important thing. You need to have a good song and a band that can make them sound great. I do wave the flag for all the tools of modern music business and for your DIY recordings and all that, but this is only going to work if you have good product to start off with and by this I mean well rehearsed kick ass songs. Only then can you set out to record them. To do this you do need some skill. I know you can buy a Pro tools set up for next to nothing compared to what they used to be, but all that fancy gear means nothing unless you know what to do with it. I am not saying that this is something you cant learn and do, but sometimes we just assume if we get the gear then it all gets done.
You have to remember that music business very often can be all about the first impression. Sure there were bands over the years who were not so great to start with, but learned to play along the years. The thing is that there is so much music out there today, that for you to stand out, you really need to be better than good, you need to be great. You need to stand out from the crowd. Ok again there have been exceptions to this, where some acts get past it all by some freak elements. But I personally don't think you can create any sustainability by blowing through YouTube charts with great visuals, but no substance in the music. There is a reason the music comes before the business;-)
And I would also go as far as saying this comes down to individual members of the band. Your band is only as good as its weakest link. So man up and take responsibility for your own playing. If it needs work, put the hours in to it! Only way to get better as a musician is to practice. You won't find the answer to the almighty question of how to get a record deal on the net if your music is not ready yet. Make sure you can play in time and accurately. There is nothing worse than listening to some one try to play a guitar solo when they just can't... If you can't play it note to note perfect slowly, what on earth makes you think you can play it fast. Oh yeah, and lets throw in as much distortion as there is on the tap to cover up any fluffs... I think over thinking your own abilities can be sure way to slow down or even stop your progress, trust me on this one, I was there once. The day you admit to your self that you know very little and you need to learn so much more, is the day you start the road to real development. There is that old saying that it takes 10000 hours to get good at something. So if you worked 40 hour weeks on your playing, it would still take nearly five years before you could even think getting close of perfecting an instrument. And personally I don't think any one can perfect an instrument, as music evolves all the time.
You know, it is one thing playing in front of all your friends and them cheering you on, but until you play in front of lets say thousand strangers and they all think you are amazing, only then you will be moving heads and it will be a matter of time when you either get offers for record contract, or you have the required skills to put out your own records.
And to go back to the “product” meaning your songs, it is exactly the same thing. No one is the best songwriter in the world naturally. It takes work. You need to work on your song writing as much as you work on your playing. “Ah, but songwriting is an art” you might say. Well yeah, but it is also very much a craft that requires some serious skill.
So if you want to take your music seriously, start practicing seriously:-)
J.P.
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