The Power of Music (Part 4)
Music also remains one of the most powerful art mediums because it is “performed” technically every time someone plays the song on any device, and also in a live ”performance” venue. It literally almost becomes alive.
Listening to the recorded version of the song can now be manipulated, meaning the user is free to play it whenever they want once they have it. They are no longer dependent on a third parties to play the song randomly on various formats.
With this incredible accessibility comes the clear possibility that the sacredness will be diluted. The more people play it to suit their own whims it almost becomes like a drug to induce a certain mindset. The original wonder of the song gets compromised.
The same happens when in mass the general public can’t get enough of a certain song. Something new that simply has that magic touch gets played over, and over, and over again. We soon start to blame the song for its own success.
Yet the song’s essence remains. Is the spark of life in it, or is it a rousing mix of chords and melodies that will be here today and gone tomorrow? Do we miss the most basic definition of success when we attach it necessarily to commercial gain?
The very things most artists so desperately want if they were to receive would actually take life out of them? Massive commercial success can be the end to the actual power of a song. While it may not be totally up to the artist, it is important to define.
Success is really more about getting the piece that you imagine in your heart and head. Can you actually get into the real world what is only deeply inside you? Every artist knows the feeling of getting that thing out, and when it is perfect.
Like life, parenting our completed projects is where things get complex, confused, and definitely beyond the scope of pure creativity. A different set of skills are required to negotiate life after the birth of a masterpiece, both for artist and their pieces.
Does life get much less romantic for the artist after the piece is created? Yes. But obviously in every part of the process there are creative outlets. For the musician post-birth of a new group of songs, there is the translation of the songs.
Who are these songs for and what are they really about? That is creative work. Though much more pragmatic marketing work the creativity can still flow. The goal is to not lose the magic behind the songs that were made.
Perform them with great emotion and gusto, but recall the essence of the song. Don’t go beyond the songs. Perform within them. Yes, there is the chance no one will resonate with it. There is the chance that it will not hit a nerve.
There is the chance that people won’t even remember it. OR maybe quickly it will simply fade into the background, as most things do in today’s world. We can not know. That is the great adventure. No way to totally test market success.
Eventually you have to talk whatever it is to the market itself to find out. Will the people get it? Will the people connect with it? Will they simply like it? We will find out as the dust settles and we simply perform the song. Here is it, my heart for all.