Yeah, I agree with your comments. I personally think that this is what makes him so good! The imperfections give the listener a sense of equality, unlike others. I will prefer someone to whom I can actually relate, instead of all the fake, perfect and superficial ones. Life is not perfect neither is one's life, they all have to stop portraying it that way!
The reference to Bob Dylan is a good one! Certainly his voice and guitar playing is not great and he put out some stuff that I would consider half baked in terms of today's standards.
Dylan is of a different place in time. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely admire what he has has delivered. He is more poetic than musical though. However, we surely can't believe that if it worked for Dylan, then it's alright to use the same approach and 40+ years later it will still be OK for everyone else too.
The inference from Graham's video is that a music writer in this century should be prepared to just chuck it out there, imperfections and all, because they shouldn't be bothered to spend the time to improve it to the best of their ability. Don't worry about the quality, as long as there is regular quantity, you fans will continue to savor the moments.
We're not talking George Martin or Quincy Jones here. How does this one person dictate 'The New Rules Of the Music Industry'? What absolute nonsense.
Look at it from another approach:
A car manufacturer makes fantastic looking sporty new cars. The manufacturer churns them out in masses - because to them, quantity is more important. Management decide they don't have to pay much attention to quality, everyone will buy them because they produce them cheaply in great numbers. They're always available. When the customer drives them, they don't handle well, the seats are uncomfortable and the air conditioning doesn't work. The manufacturer could have spent time improving the model but just expected the masses to love their cars because they got them to the market quickly. What did the manufacturer do? The manufacturer just embraced imperfection.
You are unwell, and go to the doctor. He can't be bothered diagnosing your ailment too carefully and has a heap of patients in the waiting room, so just gives you a quick checkup and tells you to take two days off work and rest. What did that doctor do? He just Embraced Imperfection.
Am I singing Graham's latest song?
Any professional should strive to deliver the best they can.
That self-promoting YouTube video is just encouraging the music industry that it's OK to deliver junk.
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FWIW - Many times I will take a first recording even if it has a wort or two over one that has been polished to a dull track. I'll take emotion over perfection most of the time. YMMV
Why is it that the people who tell me to calm down are the ones who tick me off in the first place!
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Nobody here is talking about Bob Dylan. We are talking about Joe Smith (John's brother). Every time a discussion like this comes up people start pointing to firmly established stars as their example. That is NOT apples to apples.
Much the same way I used to have people tell me, after saying "I'm too old for this stuff", that Paul McCartney is in his 70s. Well, hurrah for Paul. If your believe your metaphor connecting one of the most famous songwriters and performers in the history of songwriters and performers to some shlub in Cleveland that nobody has ever heard of and doesn't care about, then it holds water. McCartney was more famous by age 22 than I ever dreamed of being.
So, on topic, Dylan could release a CD of nursery rhyme covers and the Dylan cultists would buy millions of copies. He doesn't HAVE to impress anybody anymore. And you can take ANY major star and put their name in that statement. "They" are not relevant to "us". Compare THIS fat old short guy in Ohio to other fat old short guys. Doesn't it follow that for THIS fat old short guy to sell more units than the other fat old short guys, THIS fat old short guy has to write better songs and perform them better than the other fat old short guys? Turning out half finished work blends me into the gray when I need to be shimmering white to get attention.
And for the record, I don't own even one Dylan album. I am not that great a fan. I recognize, but not idolize, his writing. Success is usually relative to the time in which it was achieved. This is 2018.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023? 2. Send it to us.
And for another thing, at one time he was Joe Smith.
So try and stay on track dude before you go on another cranky rampage.
And for another thing, Clarence Clemons put down the best sax solo ever recorded in rock history. Says who? Me. And Bruce. That's who.
Say anything else or argue anymore about that and I will show up at your house with a truck full of drunken rednecks who like Bruce. They don't fight clean.
Now that we have that out of the way, when are we going to record our next song Eddie?
It has been like 4 weeks. Do you have writer's block or something?
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
Yes, it's an excellent book: Michael Caine - Acting in Film: An Actor's Take on Movie Making. It made me re-think about him as an actor, and acknowledge that at the end of the day, he - like everyone else - is just trying to make a living.
Graham's point is that you're now required to be self-marketing, and the current market demands that artists keep bored consumers engaged by constantly providing fresh content.
You're no longer a musician first - you're a brand, and the content that you provide is what creates loyalty. This loyalty can be monetized once you've got something that you want to promote, such as an album to sell, or a concert to attend.
What he's suggesting is considering using your unfinished and unpolished material as content to provide in creating your brand.
This means that you can share stuff that's not yet finished, or release partial songs. You can release singles instead of waiting for the album to be completed.
What this gives you is a larger stream of content to provide to your audience. The beauty of this approach is that you turn existing content (rough mixes, incomplete songs) into new content.
Got a video of the band rehearsing? A rough version of your song with temporary lyrics? A rough mix of a song? All of these are brand-building content.
At the end of the day, you can still release a polished, finished product. But in the mean time, you've kept your bored, content-hungry consumers happy, attentive, and engaged. Loyal customers spend money on your products.
He also gives the advice of not spending time making improvements that - sorry to say - no one is going to hear. Obvious benefits include actually getting things done, and moving on to new things so you get better.
The point about Dylan is that he is not an up and comer who needs to care about how his latest is received. Anything he does after 50 years is going to sell
And what I am working on right now, trust me, you want NO part of this monumental piece of crap!! LOL!
The goal for 2018 was to write songs of different styles that I have never done with RB before. There was the jazz tune, before that the big band piece, there is a disco song in progress, and a trance/industrial. There will also be reggae at some point.
When I sit down anymore I have to remind myself "NOT country on this one." I am also trying to write a piece with movements like a true symphony. If Jimmy Webb can do it, so can I.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023? 2. Send it to us.
After all of this very entertaining group of posts, when I read about someone basically saying, "Don't worry about perfection just get it out there", what he means is perfect to YOU not to anyone else.
That is the big issue with creative people. We all can come up with something decent, record, mix, master and it's done. Then we listen to it. And again, and again and every time we listen we hear something. Oh crap, I should have done this, that or whatever.
That's when you make the fatal mistake: You go in and start changing it. DON'T DO THAT.
That's what I think Graham means when he says don't worry about making it perfect.
After all of this very entertaining group of posts, when I read about someone basically saying, "Don't worry about perfection just get it out there", what he means is perfect to YOU not to anyone else.
That is the big issue with creative people. We all can come up with something decent, record, mix, master and it's done. Then we listen to it. And again, and again and every time we listen we hear something. Oh crap, I should have done this, that or whatever.
That's when you make the fatal mistake: You go in and start changing it. DON'T DO THAT.
That's what I think Graham means when he says don't worry about making it perfect.
Bob
I agree with this sentiment as well. We already know that music is subjective. That is why there are so many genres out there. Just because we find something imperfect or flawed in our own content doesn't mean someone else will see the same issues as we do.
I am going to agree with Bob on this. And of course to Herb's point, we should tune our guitars. And try and sing on pitch IF we can.
BUT--I learned a lesson on this a long time ago. I wrote a certain song and some people said "Man, that gave me goosebumps. It was kind of lo fi, and it wasn't by the book, but dang, it was strong."
Then a group of song evaluators had a long list of things I needed to do and change. I did it. Finally, after about 11 versions they said it was "professional" now. I let my friends listen to it.
They said: "Man, they took a beautiful thing and turned it into garbage."
They were right. I couldn't live with myself until I deleted the professional version and went back to the very first one where I sounded like I meant it.
Sometimes sounding like you mean it is everything, and sometimes you can fiddle around with stuff WAY too much.
So if that is what Bob is saying, I say, yeah.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
If you can sing in tune and you can accompany yourself on an acoustic (in tune) instrument to an acceptable level and you are sincere about what you are delivering, then (most) people will love it. So why not put it out for the world to enjoy even if it is not perfect.
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Depends on your goals. If you are trying to break into music as a career or maintain one you should avoid releasing less than perfect work unless you have an angle. For example, John Prine released his original rough recordings in a collection but he waited 40 years to do so! Had he released those instead of the haybale album I suspect it might have limited his ultimate success.
Of course, on the practical side, acknowledging that none of us has a snowball's chance in hell of achieving a Prine level success story, maybe just shoveling it out there is just fine! If almost no one is listening I guess the quality is not much of an issue.
Maybe the real trick is doing high quality AND sounding like you mean it!
If you can sing in tune and you can accompany yourself on an acoustic (in tune) instrument to an acceptable level and you are sincere about what you are delivering, then (most) people will love it. So why not put it out for the world to enjoy even if it is not perfect.
video is blocked on copyright grounds.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
If you can sing in tune and you can accompany yourself on an acoustic (in tune) instrument to an acceptable level and you are sincere about what you are delivering, then (most) people will love it. So why not put it out for the world to enjoy even if it is not perfect.
video is blocked on copyright grounds.
Click on the title to take you to her YouTube video... Click on her name for more videos... they are not only quite impressive but also seem to fit nicely with the subject of this thread... but then she's just a kid doing her thing... perhaps she doesn't know any better
What a great idea for a thread, JoAnne. Plainly, the video talk has touched a lot of hearts. Retired people like me don't think so much in terms of branding, or even business; but i can say, getting out there and playing in front of people, amusing them, touching their hearts, is a time tested "strategy." With that, please let me briefly share an idea. We all know that in film, now video, so much effort went into clarity, or perfection, I mean be it wide screen 70mm CinemaScope or 1081 high resolution. Especially, big screen theater. Ever wonder why? It's because the object was to create a reality bigger than life, a striking and lasting impression. Walt Disney with his cartoons --- blues bluer than blue, reds redder than red. Genius. Before I drifted away from bothering with it,, I saw Anthony Hopkins in "Silence of the Lambs." I can still see that crazy SOB, glaring through the bars. Now, John is right, Everything has changed. We are looking for something else. Super perfection is not enough. Drama perfected is melo drama -- overdone. How does this relate to music? Well, we listened to the Beatles on high fidelity stereo, and were stunned. Look at the super productions today....how many dancers, how many flashing lights, how much skin, I mean, what does it take? Me, I am in the direction of creating a little Vimeo channel of PD Christian that could be an oasis in the hectic world of content. I have the time, but can't slow down long enough to get it done. (Too connected!)
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