100 Hundred Thousand
 

Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed in the music creation-recording arena.

Why? Well there is so many great musicians out there. So much incredible music from the last century. Makes me wonder If I can ever contribute music that is of worth?

And there is so much I still have to learn in using my DAW, Midi, recording techniques and mixing. Makes me wonder if I will ever truly be satisfied with any recording that I make.

I saw this statement this morning:
"Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge said in September 2022 that 100,000 tracks were being “added to music platforms every day.” Earlier that month, former Warner Music Group CEO Stephen Cooper said “roughly 100,000” tracks were uploaded “to SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple” and other platforms “on any given day"

I saw several responses to this fact. One person noted that PianoBook( a digital sampling sharing platform has over 200 hundred thousand members). So if all these people are creating who has time to listen? Another person noted with so many people creating that it is harder for the newbie to enter the pro field of music in which to earn a living.

Luckily, I am not interested in earning money from music. But I am interested in trying to make good music, in which hopefully someone will hear & enjoy. But with a 100 thousand new uploads each day, the competition is fierce.

I guess the moral of the story, you have to play for yourself first and foremost. And I do, I usually give myself a concert every day! ha ha

Well I look at it this way --- if Im in the forest and tree falls I will hear it,, even if nobody else does :D

I guess I will have to go hiking with you, so we can both hear the tree fall.

I've been writing / recording for quite a while now.

I find that it's hard to be 100% satisfied, or at least where you consider the song done from my perch because there is always something you're going to hear that you think you could have done better.

The more sobering statistic is that 25% of those new tracks are skipped within the first 10 seconds.

Rick Rubin gave this advice: make the music you want to hear. Be the audience. If you chase commercial success you betray everything that makes your art uniquely you.

I think that’s great advice. Dint worry about the rest just be true to yourself & tell your story.

I placed an order for physical CDs with CDbaby last year, and again this year. Based on my Project Numbers, I calculated that they take on 300 physical CD projects per DAY!

As part of my music adventure, I spend about 10 hours per week simply listening to music while doing nothing else (except listening to the music). I suppose I might eventually hear perhaps 1/100 of one percent of available music.

In the 60 and 70's there were lots of acts that toured regionally for years, consistently filling big clubs and small theaters, that never did make an album because for whatever reason they didn't get signed and the price of admission to make a proper album on your own was way too high. Now days the playing field is level. The bad news is we're all needles in a needle stack :)

If you put up a piece of music in Show & Tell, I will listen and comment on your submission! Somebody will listen! :)

- Glenn

Everything 'out there' is a mess. Make music and art for 'in here'.

Great advice, indeed! for any pursuit in life, not just music.
I have Rick's book arriving via UPS today...can't wait to get into it!

As for the falling tree metaphor....I think we're talking about deforestation here with 100k uploads per day! :D I do often think of the double-edged sword the digital age (and home studios) have become to aspiring artists nowadays. Sure, you can self-produce and get your music out there...but so can 99,999 others!

Well, you are a big, shiny, stand-out needle in my book, Eric. :up:

In the early to mid 70's, It was easier to audition your music to a record label. And thus lots of people moved to LA because of that. Although later, it became the opposite. Label employees liked to travel to other states to audition groups. I guess it was fun for them to get out and about.

Record Labels were hungry for new talent then. But Record companies were not the key to getting record deals. It was managers, agents & Lawyers that already represented big name artists, that had lots of power. They could demand that the record company give their young artist a chance. It was much easier to get an interview with a manager or Lawyer back then. And they were even more hungry for new talent. As they made a percentage of you. More artists meant more money. I had offers myself from Elton John's manager & Jose Feliciano's manger.

Unfortunately, one of my favorite groups changed everything for the Rock music industry. When the Bee Gees lit up the music scene with disco at the end of the 70's...it all changed for a couple of years. I loved the Bee Gees, but did not like disco. But that was the new direction for music. And Only the already established Rock giants keep going. The industry wasn't interested in much of anything else. Of course...that only lasted a few years. But it sure threw a wrench into the system.

Anyway, I do believe in many ways it was easier to get a contract back then. Yes, none of us could afford to own much of high end equipment. But we could afford to make a demo tape.

So while their were lots of groups who did tour - filled auditoriums - make money, but never got contracts, it was a different deal then. People were hungry for live entertainment. There was not the hundreds of streaming platforms that there are now. So people wanted to go out to be entertained. That doesn't always mean because they made money and toured, that they were record worthy. Some artist are amazing live, but for some reason do not stand out on a record.

Regardless, music is such a powerful release. No greater high then when I write something that I temporarily think has some value(later I change my mind & realize it is just mediocre.. ha ha) We must do it for ourselves first. That of course, still doesn't stop me from questioning my path from time to time.

Even more discouraging news for the artist trying to earn a living from music.

https://i.imgur.com/LI7nDmO.png

yep...we were fooled again. Everything that converts to the digital realm becomes worthless to the creators. And those numbers just reflect the legal downloads. Most of the world is torrent'ing them for free. First death was photography, now music, next cinema. Then we'll just accept AI to do it all for free. Create nothing and be happy. But it was all so convenient.