Heading off for vacation this week so let's pray the algorithm gods don't spank me on this one! 🏖 Your assignment in the meantime: give me some new music to check out when I come back. ▼▼▼ Special Thanks To ▼▼▼ 🦅 UVI ► www.uvi.net/ 🎛 Polyend ► polyend.com/ 🥰 My Patrons ► venustheory.com/buckaroonie-babez
Listen. I've got something to add to your observation. Let's zoom out for a moment and realize that anomaly of life, organic life itself, is an oppositional enterprise by its presence in the cosmos. I'm being literal, bear with me. Life explicitly evolves out of NECESSITY, not opportunity. Let that simmer a minute. We are no less a product of the conditions upon this planet than the hardiest of anaerobic organism surviving on compounds belched from deep sea hydrothermic vents. That's what we attempt to abstract away as a sentient species. But - our abstraction is derivative, as all things within our brains must necessarily be. When we live, when we create, we push against some force of obstacle, our minds move to avoid danger and pursue reward. It's critical to understand that defining our own meaning through our self-imagining is as crucial to our survival as seeking shelter and food, and that those of us who encounter greater opposition are most likely to create and feel most compelled to show that work, to be validated. Stick with me. This is NOT a simple, selfish act - we share to EDUCATE in its rawest form, and to SHARE the experience of what is produced from within, to explain a mode of opposition that others have not encountered. What we perceive as indifference or apathy detracts from the importance of the pursuit itself no more than our passive indifference to, for example, a traffic light which functions as a method of warning, attempted order, educating risk. Creativity is not glamorous. It is reflexively screaming while running from a bear. Warning others to the impending danger we find ourselves in, in that specific existential locus we happen to be in at that time. That emptiness felt from the creative process is actually fear that we have not adequately educated well enough. The feeling of triumph that stems from being heard and understood is actually satisfaction of the transferral of knowledge from one being to the next, to help others survive as you have against an oppositional force. I'll end with this - any creative act is to inform. Either this will benefit those who are not already educated, or it will deflect off those who believe they already know the lesson. In either case, it is not simply worthwhile, but actually crucial.
My teenage band recorded in 1999. It took me over 20 years to buy all the gear and learn to mix and master the music. I eventually released it to the world, 2 years ago. I bought the only copy that was sold. I’m currently working on my next album.
I mean there is so much on Bandcamp for instance, so far from the mainstream... I doubt half the releases on there ever sell 50 copies, but does that matter? If just one person enjoys it, there's value in that. I think ever monetizing a hobby is dangerous. I have spent well over $15000 on my Eurorack, I'm never going to see a return on that but I love playing around with it and that's the intrinsic value. Plus, 15k is like what? 750 movies at the cinema.... and I've had more than 1500 hours of enjoyment from my modular synths...
I was diagnosed with terminal cancer 6 months ago and told I only had 5 months to live at age 38. Throughout the fight to stay alive I’ve been through every emotion you can imagine and the toughest of them all was simply ‘what’s the point’ In the last short while I have lost my creative side and the passion to make music. This video has truly resonated with me tonight and I will wake up tomorrow with a different perspective on not only making music but what is left of my life. ‘It’s about living your life and enjoying it while you still have it’ ❤ Thank you.
Sorry about your diagnosis, and indeed enjoy every single moment. When you walk through that door to the other side you will be laughing anyway, as the “music” there makes anything here sound very very dull. (Near death experience 2020) ❤
In my decade of releasing music, the most meaningful experience was an 11-yr-old who said to me, "I made my mom subscribe to you on Spotify and my favorite song of yours is Smile." She is the only person outside of my family and friends who has intentionally listened and given feedback.
If you can at least one person listen, then your job is done. Don' t worry, there are many so called "friends" who have probably listened to your music and envy you. Some people just don't give compliments. It is not in their DNA. My advice is to keep doing it. Never give up your passion. That is what makes a true artist. Most of the successful artists these days have no talent, they are simply the flavour of the month. They will be history one day and you may outlive them. Never give up and stay happy!
The feeling that you felt when you realized, that this kid was listening to your music because she liked it and it meant something to her, is all I would want to achieve with my music.
this is why i found it so much better to work on music with a group of people. working solo just builds self doubt, working with a group there’s more ideas thrown around and there’s ppl there to pick you up when you have doubt, because they’re relying on you to contribute with them.
This is very true. In a world of home studios, solo projects, and youtube tutorials, most people think they need to do it all on their own. Some of my best music and ideas has been done in collaboration with other artists. And whenever a beginner musician asks me for advice, I always tell them to play with other people, no matter the experience level.
I've always wanted to be in a band, but I've only been asked to join one, and it was too political for my tastes. There have been numerous times when I've reached out to fellow musicians about possibly collaborating, and they've either ignored me or kept me at arm's length. The reason I work as a solo artist is that I got fed up of letting my creativity depend on people who aren't as committed to the project, or in some cases don't even like me. I can sing all vocal parts, write arrangements, and play keyboard, and I have a good ear for effects and such. I have a friend who can help me with mixing and mastering. What more do I need?
I've written and published almost a hundred books, but none of them have sold many copies. When I switched over to music, I stopped publishing books, but I still write because I find the act of writing cathartic. None of my creative endeavors have ever made any money, but they did, and still do, fill a gaping hole in my life
@@Junglesmells, It's complicated. I find it difficult to talk to people. One could say that I do better communicating with others through an avatar. Writing, photography, and producing music are my avatars.
@@ocardaugh I get it man. I’ve always been extremely self conscious and recently having taken up producing music on ableton rather than only playing live gigs it’s turned into a refuge which I’m very grateful for. I think I get you.
I've always felt privileged to have a job that I love, completely unrelated to music, so that I can make my music without worrying about money, recognition, algorithms, etc. I see far too many people crushed by the weight of having to be creative constantly and try to be on the top of everyone's feeds and it's gotta suck. You said what I've felt in my heart for a long time here.
Many years ago, I was advised to become an professional actor as a career. I really never wanted to do that. It's a difficult life with little income and lots of rejection. Most importantly for me, though, is that it wouldn't be enjoyable anymore. It would just be a job, and a very rough one at that.
Same. I left music school when covid hit because it made an already frail system for musicians seem even worse. Why do that to myself? For ego? To say I made it as a pro classical musician? Even though at the time I wasn't writing, I relate a lot to what was going on in this video. I'd probably end up being flat ass broke and busting my ass every single day for students who mostly did not give a shit about music, and I had turned one of my passions into a job. I dropped out and taught myself web dev and now I can make really good money with great benefits, have an incredible sense of professional stability, buy the toys I want to experiment and make music for fun and retain the joy and peace it gives me, and still put a good chunk of my check into savings. I'll always remember what my teacher said, the former principal horn of a major symphony - "If you could possibly do anything other than music for a living, you should." I think he's right.
I also think that for a long time, people have fulfilled their inner creative needs through other means. I feel like I know a lot of people who paint for fun, or keep poetry journals, or do community theater, or play music at open mics. People have been doing art that "no one cares about" (big air quotes there) for a long time. But making music as a hobby / creative outlet has long had many barriers to entry (very expensive, depending on genre used to require having a whole band of people to work together, etc.), but it's totally viable from inside a spare room in your home now with minimal startup costs. Some schools offer courses already, but I am looking forward to music production / DAW lessons becoming more available in schools and private studios. Someone out there will be professional artists of all kinds, and good on them, but the point of art (or anything we do) should be beyond money and fame. We all need to flourish as human beings, and if making music is what makes you come alive, then that's just what you gotta do for yourself.
This is why playing live is so important You get to see real time how your music and ideas affect people. Music is therapy for those listening AND creating.
@@leafyleafyleaf Man to be alive at any other point in history outside of the last hundred years. You had to see it in person. and if you really really love music, then you are going to have to learn how to make it or you’d hear it much less than you prefer
While i don't like therapy, i agree entirely. Live music is the only surefire weapon that will get across. If it's loud enough and good enough, you're gonna get hit. The internet and everything in it does not exist. But a human being standing not far from you, playing a song is very real.
Making music is like dancing with your own soul. Music has turned me away from a path of self destruction and endless and pointless days. Being honest, I hope my music can bring some joy to others, but it’s not necessary. The process and sheer enjoyment of learning Music Production has been life changing for me. Btw, I love your content and Benns, thank you for all the inspiration.
Yes, Art in any forms is a self therapeutic process, no matter in which level we are at, it s both a cleanser and an energiser...and we are lucky finding time and space in order to dwelve into it...i like "Dancing with your own soul"...this could be a great sample...:)
You make music for yourself, it's self-serving. You release the music as a service to others. If you know for a fact that you put the required work into making it something worthwhile that others could also potentially enjoy, then it doesn't matter if anyone else ever takes notice, you can still sleep soundly with no regrets knowing that you honored your own talents and used them properly by serving others.
10:20, “we don’t create to not be heard.” This is the truth that brings me the most despair. Every time I talk to someone about my sadness that even close friends won’t listen to me and they trot out the “create for yourself” cliche I just feel ashamed at myself for wanting attention at all without seeing any way out. I keep making more pieces and every time I am convinced that THIS time someone will like it. I am fortunate that my spouse is there for me, the only fan I have, who hums my Melodies when no one else does
Unfortunately, though, the cliche is true. We don't create *to* be heard, just as we don't dance to be seen or breathe to be rewarded. The creativity we're born with is our private voice and we speak with it to those who listen to us, we share it with those we love and who love us. If - *if* - that numbers in the millions, it's the handful we care about most, respect the most, whom we deserve the most. Channel your despair through your private voice and share it with someone you love. Their understanding and comprehension will bring you more joy than you can handle. (I also do private sittings, just $299 per hour...)
@@StepAndWalk I can't be truly happy with my music in a vacuum. I am not self sufficient in my creativity, happy to keep it hidden. I get only so far with the creation before I have the overwhelming urge to share it. When the sharing is spurned, disregarded, and seen as uninteresting I'm devastated. Not saying this is healthy, but its what I am.
@@safetinspector2 I understand. I've lived long enough (perhaps) to realise some cliches deserve our respect, and I might be about to quote you some, but ... My family never listened to my music, never understood it or even commented when I played recordings for them, none of them was in the least musical or interested. For years I thought that was a normal reaction so I stopped taking my own music seriously, as well. I made a living working in offices and kept my sanity in amateur dramatics, but I kept recording and composing without ever thinking about looking for an audience. I wrote music for some of the plays I was in, an art exhibition at a theatre where I had a part-time job and a video for an aircraft museum that was being run by a community group I worked for. Later I got a PC and overdubbed some vocals and guitar. I got to write music for a couple of no-budget indie films but it all took time. One year, I was out of work and living in the city so I joined the army of buskers for a while to help pay the rent and buy guitar strings. I played festivals because no one cared enough to stop me and because the people who run these things need their events to look busy. This led to me getting a paying gig which in turn led to me being invited to play other venues. None of this stopped me making my "own" music, but it helped me feel good about trying. Now I have a channel on You Tube with four subscribers with the most-viewed video being a guitar competition I entered a lot of yeas ago. I will likely never know if the music that's in my head appeals to anyone I've not shared a meal with but I have leaned that I can play music that a relatively small number of other people do like without compromising my own creativity and taste (you're reading a message from an atheist who played improvised ambient music on guitar and synth for a Redemptionist Christian church for three years, goddam it!). I would help you if I could. Anyone who knows me will tell you that isn't a cheap, empty comment. I can't, though, not because no one ever helped me, but because the few people who care for me and my art are somehow nearly enough. I hope you will find your audience and however big or small it is that they will bring you the peace and the support you need to keep at it. PS - Sorry, but am I missing something? I can't find any music on your channel. Do you post it somewhere else?
Despair is an emotion that people who are dying & starving have. Your music is in all honesty is not important to anyone other than yourself. You need to grow up. Stop being a child.
I make music bc I find it beautiful that my art will outlive me. Even if it’s only my friends and family who listen, I take solace in the fact that they will be able to remember and listen to my voice long after I’m gone. A lot of families wish they could be afforded the luxury of hearing their loved ones voice just one more time ❤
If you’ve ever had a broken heart and had songs pour out of you you know the catharsis they bring. To me that catharsis is enough, it’s me understanding myself
I’ve been in international tours several times, played with some of my heroes, gotten awards and etc… and still feel like you describe in your video. The massification created by streaming is simply insane - unless you release stuff all the time, you’re soon back to square one. The album format is gone, creativity surrenders to shallow marketing strategies. We make music because we love it and need to do it, but recording or putting up a concert is such hard work that you kind of expect a little recognition to feel like it’s worth it. As Hunter Thompson said: “the music business is a shallow money trench where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs”. A new collective relationship to music will have to come up sooner or later.
I ask myself this at least 4 times a year … I’m 23 years into my music. The best conclusion I’ve been able to come up with is, this is my documentation of these little moments in time we will never return to again, capture it. Regardless if 100k people hear it or a few hundred, this is my forever gift to the universe, forever.
When I was younger I had this whole "Don't record until its a complete idea" thing and maaannnn, that's easily in my top 3 biggest regrets in life. So many little moments lost as the years go by
The little moments stack up don't they.. never too late to start accumulating those (and I second that to anyone reading this .. record your creations regularly, no matter what you think or feel about them at the time).
for artists: *It's not about building this 'thing' to be remembered.* *It's about living your life and enjoying documenting it in a way that makes it meaningful to you.*
lol, the blind optimism of youth..... eventually, after decades, I just gave up. I am no longer an artist of any kind. There is no meaning to any of it. not even life. it comes from nowhere, goes nowhere. and why even 'document it'? where did that come from, is that an internet kid thing?
@Peter Belanger is it so optimistic to feel traumatized and have no way to move forward from the past? is it really giving up if you ended up choosing to live your life normally? is it broken that this system rewards struggling mental health with money? is any answer enough for you if an internet kid thing is the only perspective you have felt? I am getting diagnosed for bipolar disorder. the people I looked up to were just as disturbed as me. NIN. jahseh, heylog. it's fine if you can just live your life normally, but they would've killed themselves if they did
@@peterbelanger4094 Let me venture a guess: you are an inner-city dweller from some major Western post-industrial country with an over-comfortable income per person. Well, in that case, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see no meaning in life - the life of an average inner-city Westerner is indeed bereft of meaning, because utilitarianism and blind-sighted materialism only get you so far, both spiritually and intellectually. The Western lifestyle of consumerism is, essentially, the lifestyle of a caged zoo animal - you get groomed, you get fed, you even get pampered sometimes, yet none of that is truly earned by you. Hence - you don't know life, you don't even understand it, since you live in a zoo-like artificial simulacrum and you do not truly belong to yourself. But, ya know, you guys made your "materialist-paradise" bed by colonially exploiting the rest of the world - and now it’s your time to lie in it.
That's exactly why I upload. I do it mostly for myself, in a way that feels meaningful to me. I hope other people will enjoy it too, but as long as I enjoy it, it's all good.
I don't make music, I buy instruments and look at them with great intentions 😅 To be honest, whilst I've heard some of your music and enjoyed it very much, I really come here for your "TH-cam artwork". You are a great filmmaker and a charismatic speaker, and that's more than enough to be a real and worthwhile connection. Cheers 👍
I lost both my parents within the past 4 years (to separate terminal illnesses), while still in my 30s, and it's had a profound impact on me. On the positive side, it's really kicked my ass into high gear, to create like there's no tomorrow. I've probably written and produced more music in two years than I have in 20 years before that. I started learning instruments I've put off for years (I always wanted to learn cello, and just started 6 months ago! didn't realize you play as well), and taking on projects and finishing goals which I procrastinated for years (always telling myself "maybe one day..." or "I can start that tomorrow..."). Now I don't allow excuses and just get to work. It's been incredibly empowering, cathartic, and in many ways a journey of self-discovery and healing to grapple with losing two of my best and most supportive friends in life. On the other hand, I get pretty depressed at times feeling as if I have no proper outlet to share the fruits of my labor. I've uploaded to soundcloud/bandcamp/etc and at first I was very excited to see how quickly I would receive likes, comments, reposts/shares.Validation for all my hard work, finally! But over time I've discovered 99% of those were bots and spammers, which has been pretty disheartening, and as a result I quit putting stuff out again. "What's the f*cking point?" indeed. I don't necessarily need to play to an arena full of rabid fans to feel validated, but I like to think that the art I create is enjoyed by fellow humans, and not just a few bots somewhere in Russia (the country I get the most plays from lol). It can feel really hopeless to put in all that effort and go through so much emotional digging to create something you believe in, only to put it out in the world and feel like not a single soul will ever notice nor care. If anything, what I wouldn't do to be able to share all my new music with my parents. They put up with a lot of noise from me as a kid, and they'd be so proud to hear how far I've come. But on that note, I can just hear both of them rooting me on to keep going and do it for the love. So I will keep doing it no matter what and enjoy the ride.
I know where you're coming from bro. I lost a close friend to me this year and the fragility of life hit me like a train. I'm very close to my parents and couldn't fathom how much of a mess I'd be without them. If I could give you a hug, I would! Keep expressing yourself with music. Who cares what the world thinks. Chin up!
Deep. Wise words cameron. I retired 6 months ago and took up ambient music production. My partner asks why I sit in my room twiddling knobs and wasting my time. Perhaps I will forward this video. Thanks for putting my feelings in to words.
I was going to post my own comment but it sounds like you need it more. In my own opinion, don't go to friends and family for validation or criticism. Don't play your music for them and ask their opinions. The reactions will tend to take more away from you than it gives. It's probably a genre that they don't like or wouldn't listen to normally. Their criticisms or responses are generally canned and not very inspiring. Strangers offer the best compliments and criticisms. You earn them rather than someone taking your music and treating it like a crayon sketch being taped to the refrigerator. Don't feel contempt or anger towards your part er. It's a bit like watching you play golf. Thank them for giving you the time and space to explore your new hobby even if they don't understand it. Find your own audience rather than pressing the people around you into it. The best compliment of my life was a stranger coming up to me at lunch when I was 20 years old to tell me that they enjoyed a show the prior weekend that went well. I had just had a conversation with the guys I worked with and none of them believed that I was in a band or a musician. That made it worth my own time-wasting worth it. Keep going.
hey it's nice to see another fellow ambient musician, keep making music I would say , I am from India where I make ambient which is really obscure over here, but I continue doing it because composing is something i find immense pride in and happiness i will continue doing this regardless the "pointlessness" and the "rewards " music is art .
Thanks man. I figure that publishing in some form is a responsibility. Create, document, publish, repeat - these are my duties as an artist. I read this often, too: "Your art … if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only an … unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive…" ~ Martha Graham
Tbh . I’ve been making music for years . And I’ve also steadily gotten better over time . In 2020 during the pandemic I wrote the best album I have ever created even to this date . But never put it out . And I didn’t put it out because it became such a precious piece of art to me that I didn’t even want the world to put their opinions on it . To sum it up i was afraid of rejection in a lot of ways I still am . It still haunts me because it’s just sitting on a hard drive collecting dust hopefully one day I find the courage to release it
I’ve been working on an album since 2021, though some songs date back to 2017-2020, and I’ve gone through the same struggles. I’m super proud of it but don’t see the point in eventually releasing it if no one will listen to it. The main criticism I’m afraid of is my vocal performance. Everything else I’m fine with sharing with people. And I don’t want to get other vocalists because then it feels dishonest.
@@Cashcorn Get a vocalist, it's called being a band and it gives authority, what I've noticed that being alone is not cool for people and people choose bands not only by music produced by the band but the group of people gathered to make the one thing - music, people love groups.
@@Cashcorn first of all: maybe your vocal performance is totally fine. people tend to be overcritical with their singing. If you want your music to be super authentic and personal, maybe it's just the fear of vulnerability that's holding you back, because showing your (maybe imperfect) singing voice to the world is a scary and vulnerable thing to do. but if you really think your own singing skills don't do your art justice, i don't think it getting a vocalist would be dishonest. it would be a decision you make in favour of making the best art possible. might be hard to find someone who "get's" your stuff tho.
@@butterscotch2730 Definitely. Though, I think my voice fits for most of my songs, while others I’ll need someone else to sing for. The few people I have shown my singing voice have had nothing but compliments (except for the first person I showed). But it’s the same way with the music alone. Most people say they love it, but one person told me to turn off a song I was actively making because it sounded “boring.” Comments like that reinforce the idea I should keep my songs to myself forever. If most people like them I shouldn’t care but I do. In addition to that, hearing my own voice freaks me out sometimes in the same way looking in a mirror does, it’s like hyper self awareness.
As someone who has been struggling with, "should I even bother?", I really needed to hear this. Thank you for encouragement to keep doing what I love no matter what ❤
I released an album last year. I enjoyed it a lot. I wasn't even caring if anyone was going to listen to it. I made it for myself. I wanted to see if I could make a coherent album and I did. I sat down and had a tiny and fun "release party" with some friends. They really liked it and that's it really. No one is listening to it anymore (I still do sometimes!) except if I meet someone and tell them about it which I also enjoy: meeting people and talking about music and then being able to tell them that I made an album once.
It is relaxing to make music, sort of a zen, a meditation where you do not think about everyday problems. Some are on couch with beer and some of us are in search of some melody to out a smile on our faces. Btw I released 5 albums in max 100 CD copies per album, it is more about fighting our limits...
@@spiraldrop4897 Exactly it's about the proces. If you only care about the finished product and how successful it will be in terms of other people listening and not the actual writing and making music part, find another hobby.
@@TheolddaysaregoneI'd still want a finished product I'd like, I don't think that's too crazy but I still think enjoying the process is a part of that and making a finished product you like is also part of the process. I don't care as much about "technical" success. What success is, is something that's a person to person thing and If I'm proud of the art I made and enjoyed making it then it's valuable enough for me to consider it a success and if others like it that's great to.
as a singer-songwriter who puts a lot of effort into my work and often comes out the other side with nothing, i think this video is exactly what i needed. i find it quite hard to promote my songs, (even on tiktok) and i often feel like most of my work hasn’t paid off yet and i often feel discouraged. but now i’m realizing that as long as YOU are happy with what you’re creating, then you have done your job as an artist 😊
Being A Great Artist is sometimes like being an AMazing star that has'nt been discovered or highlighted yet . Just be who you are supposed to be, it is consoling and encouraging to find so many stars here.
This one really hit me deep in my soul. It makes me think about all the pile of old cassette tapes with half finished songs on it and the things I released by myself. My friends always encouraged me to keep going. They always seemed to find value in what I was doing. They got married had kids now their kids are grown and I'm still doing the same things that nobody hears. I love making music. I'll never stop. I can't stop. Thank you for this.
@swis4921 I thankfully agree. My story is one that is of a singular producer, who simply wants to see what turns out from the dexterity in my fingers. I make music because I love music and because I don’t know what my talent sounds like until I hear it. “And I hang my boots to rest when im impressed! …so I triple knot’em and forgot’em” I make music in order to make better music and I just keep impressing myself. Every time I’m pleased, it’s ecstasy. If no one hears it, psh! I could be dead tomorrow, but yesterday, I was dancing to music I made. Ps the quote is from Aesop rock. The lyricist with a vocabulary so large that he’s not as famous as his talent deserves to be. More people would listen to him if he was dumber, he has the highest vocabulary count in the world making him too smart to be famous. It would be a disservice to his greatest-in-the-world skill to judge him based on how many people listen to him. So why does he do it? Something to think about. Peace
Same thing here, although I gave up recording and writing songs. No one got to hear them in the end and it became quite painful to go through the same process over and over again. I still love playing my guitar, I found out as long as I play a instrument for fun I'm fine.
Urgh I felt this. I go from euphoric bliss of creating something from scratch, to the darkest drop once I put it on social media. I even have trouble getting family interested in my music, so what hope is there to get a stranger to? I’ve been wrestled with that. But it’s like a drug. Can’t live with or without it. So just keep plodding on hoping to one day being seen. Even if just in a small capacity! Thanks for this video. Beautifully edited.
I really hate that the conversation never includes the fact that we need money to do this. It's expensive, especially when you actually get good and achieve something . I've been making music since the 80's. I've been a "Pro" for decades, producing, remixing, touring, releasing internationally (back when distribution was a thing) and in the end the money never really comes. To operate at a high quality level takes time. You have equipment to maintain, acquire, and use. Yes using what you already own still costs money, you needs a place to do what you do. Before you get any good or achieve anything of substance it can seem easy. But once you get past a decade, you know that your skills don't just exist because you are there, you have to maintain them. If you want to maintain them at a world class level, you need world class time to focus on what you do. That takes money. Our favorite artists are most definitely not working 60 hour weeks at a career in finance or driving a truck while putting in 50+ hours a week being a creative badass. Something has to give and that is why we need money. It isn't vanity. We all sit and watch everyone from Skrillex to Taylor Swift become filthy rich by being total knobs but for some reason everybody expects them to be in it for the money. Nobody ever says "after about 10 Million a year they should actually make less money and have lower ratting in algorithmic favor." But this is actually the way it should work. Until we address endless accumulation of power at the system level for all industries, we will be starved out of existence by the power. This is a feature, not a bug.
Yeah, definitely feel the pinch of needing time just to maintain my skills in different areas. No idea what to do about that (yes, “get good”, but how to stay good...?)
I am a 56 year old man and I have been making electronic music since the 80's, lately I had been seriously thinking and asking my self (especially now with AI coming to turn any regular person into a music creator) why I need to spend money updating my studio, why I need to continue making music, why can't I just stop and what is the purpose of doing this. I guess I'm not the only one asking my self this question. I am glad that you made this video. 👍🏽
I’m pretty much in the same boat as you, but I make my music for myself, and I listen to my own music more than any others these days! (Can never understand people who say they never listen to their own music, surely your striving to make music that appeals perfectly to you). Keep creating, keep getting excited over this drop you made, or how you transitioned between parts, or the joy of hearing something emerge unexpectedly when you combine different bits together. That’s the joy, and as you walk around listening to your music on your headphones realise, this is what it’s all about!
well for one, you don't have to spend much at all to update and for another, you don't need to update at all. You might want to, but there's still a ton you can do even with 80s and 90s tech, let alone the incredible amount of options from the last 20 years.
The major difference between you and an IA, is that you are a person. People what to interact with people. At some point, you'll understand that's the main value in life. I know the digital medium is blurring this vision we have of the world, but it's really all about people.
If you put it out there you have done your part. Some of us dream of making music but don’t have the talent, time, equipment, etc. It’s shared with the world. Your music matters whether we all hear it or not. Keep going if you can afford to do so.
Thanks for this video. I've wrestled with this for a long time. When you're young, you think you can be famous. When you get older and you realise that's never going to happen, you start to question why you're doing it. Especially when the world starts to move on from the genres you love and deeply resonate with. I stopped writing for a long time, but got back into it when i discovered a bunch of mini disks of my old music and thought "you know what? This fucking rocks. This rocks and I've still got more". I decided i needed to start writing again, because I'd regret it if i didn't, and wanted to make more things that i could be proud of. Your music becomes like a sort of diary entry, of your moods, your skill level and you're musical tastes and outlook at that time. Songs I wrote at uni when I was clubbing all the time. Songs i wrote on the first DAW I ever got after taking my GCSEs. More thoughtful songs I wrote when I was living in London on my own and started listening to more genres.
Yea familiar story. 90's Atari ST, cubase ver 1.1. Akai sampler, analogue synths thousands of £ worth of kit. But in the 90's I was one of the only people I knew that wrote electronic music. People would come in the studio and be wowed. Now everyone is doing it, its so accessible now, which I think is kind of great in someways and shite in others. I definitely relate to the diary thing. So I think one way of looking at it is, you don't take photos to be an admired photographer and gain recognition. They are just the story of you life, they capture the visual. Writing music captures something photos can't and tells a much deeper story. If some one else enjoys your story then great, if not its still your story.
This came out right when I needed it - thank you. "Expressing myself in a way I don't know how otherwise" - I feel like this resonates with so many of us in such a big way.
Often it crushes my soul that I cannot create music that speaks to others. But I make music to see myself alive in this world, a way to breath. Thank you for this video and ideas in it!
Don't be that hard on your music. If it speaks to you, i'm sure it would speak to others. It's just a matter of it getting heard- and that's the rub. My advice (and i'm only half-qualified to give it) is to play out live. There's something about watching and listening to a human being play their song that can't be escaped.
I've been making music for 10 years now. In all those years there have been like 4 or 5 people that listened, but eventually I lost them all. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who's heard my last 2 albums, but I keep making music because I love it. Today I finished writing the last song of my new album, and I can't wait to record everything. The best part of this is that you keep getting better and better over time, having better ideas, writing better songs, etc. That's what's exciting for me.
I agree with all of this. That's pretty much been my experience since my 20s when I began recording my own stuff. I'm working on a song I'm really excited about, even though I know it will barely be heard by anyone. This video put it all in perspective and made me a bit more motivated and hopeful. Keep creating your own work, too.
This is the most well made, articulate, motivating, and beautiful video essay I’ve come across on TH-cam. Heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. Thank you for your voice. And your music is great!
When I put out my first album I did it purely for myself, something to kinda keep track of my skill at the time, something I can look back at and share with friends to kinda put into perspective how my sound and skill have changed over the years, not everyone will do it for this reason, but it's how I do it and it gives me a sense of worth when putting my music out there.
I totally agree. Releasing my music is a way for me to document and categorise my music in my head. It lets me move on the a new thing with good conscience that I finished this. Similar to writing a diary. I am someone who doesnt stick with a very recognisable style for multiple years like some artist. I have a lot ideas of phases music whise wether I like it or not. Releasing my music through creating releases and albums seperates those phases and brings chapters to these seemingly messy pool of ideas. Some time ago I was releasing some music on labels and it turned into a competitive game for me. After someone I knew blew up I basically lost this competition. And this was the best thing that happend to me music wise as I realised I missed out on so much enjoyment of making the music. There wasnt a competition anymore, it was just me and my music. Now I make considerably less music as I do it because I want to and not to compete with views, people or myself. The joy I get from people discovering my music is like passive communication. And to be completely honest this joy is pretty vain to me, I get used to it quickly although in a way it is motivating me to do more music as it shows me, true or not, that I can do something that captivates that keeps me busy and I honestly enjoy the process of. Something I put alot of hours in: making good music. Not many people can do this but would love to me able to do this. You have to do something in your free time and this feels productive to me. If it actually is, is another question. What gives me way more joy than having 50 random people listening to my music, is showing my progress to my best friends. So, why did I write this comment then? To share my Ideas? Yes defently, but also for me to look back and say: I was part of this, I was here to think of this, this was my take on this and this comment is my proof.
"One person telling their story about how your work changed their life, is worth more than anything that other forms of success could bring, whether it's now or after your gone, you might not even be around to witness it" WOW man your gonna make me cry that really was what I needed to hear thank you! I've been trying to reach 1,000 subs for 4 years now and I'm still creating independently, but it is so worth it because I believe the world needs more artists that care about what they put out into the world. Thank you for your message.
Thanks for this. This spoke to me deeply. Sadly I still feel like giving up, maybe it's just not for me. I've been making music for nearly 10 years but so much of my enjoyment has gone away, and I've become scared to touch my equipment. My last album took me 3 years to make and what few people heard it definitely thought it was good, and I thought it was OK too, but the process was dreadful. I poured my entire soul into what I was making, to a greater and greater extent with each release (a mistake perhaps), and when I released it it quickly got forgotten. I was expecting this of course, and that's what prevented me from finishing it. In fact the only reason I ended up finally putting it out was because I was planning to end my life, and thought I might as well even though I wasn't happy to. That's maybe a bit personal to mention, but it was relevant to my journey with music. After I recovered it showed me that what I was doing was not sustainable. I thought, "the next thing I make can't go like that". So now I don't know what to do. I already have something else in the works but development is so slow and I don't enjoy it because I expect no one to care about it, just like the rest. Not sure why I felt prompted to write this. I think your video just made me want to. Whatever I decide to do I suppose your video has helped me start asking these hard questions of myself. Much love
Thanks for sharing. I feel you. I'm far from producing an album, but I know I will one day. Just need to remind myself to not rush things, as I know how close one gets to burning out. May you find joy and peace making music again.
I empathize... Many years ago, I thought about dying, and I really wanted to release an album as my "gift to the world" before going. At the time, I didn't know that no one would care. I have found that very few people like my work, and probably none of them would listen to it unprompted on their own. Maybe if I extended my reach, I would find more fans, but I found it pretty discouraging and stopped making music for decades. Then I saw a post on the music production reddit where someone asked if it was normal for family and friends not to like their work, and the positive response was overwhelming! So, I said F it! I'm going to do this for me, and if someone ends up liking it, great! If not, whatever. I'm not going to let that stop me... so, I'm making time to create my latest opus now... my first real work in 25 years.
I feel you. I have been writing/ recording songs and making my own videos for them for ages.....everytime I make a new video for a song I think 'this could be it'....but of course...it never is. I still get that feeling...it will happen again. I recently recorded 2 new songs but have yet to do much with them. I havent picked up my guitar for a few months...but I will...its inevitable.....Anyway, keep your chin up, make new music for the sake of their being something new in the world. I cant really put it any other way.
Thank you for sharing.. even the personal bit(s).. it's good to. If you love making music, then do it. If we don't love it.. why are we doing it. For me, music (particularly making music) is just part of me. It's a kind of meditation, and even if I don't listen to music for more than a few days in a row, I really do not feel right in myself. I've always done it because I love doing it, and had the philosophy (from day 1, over 30 years ago) that if other people like it, then great. If not, then great.. I'm really not bothered. I don't mean that bitterly or defensively, I genuinely mean it because I love making music and that's what's important. That's why I do it. Having said that, there are periods when I wonder if all the time I've spent doing it will ever amount to anything.. ever be worthwhile.. but that doesn't last long.. that's not why I do it. It isn't about others.. it's because I love doing it. Obviously we're filled with 'what ifs' and possible visions of our future, but we aren't there right now, we're here.. because we love doing it, right? Much love back at you, plus a mountain of hope that you figure out what to do.
Videos You've made about being a composer, and the struggle it takes, are extremely inspirating me, as a 48 years old, desperate person, who always wanted to be a composer and did almost nothing about it. Last year I was 20 years old, but time is a killer, very fast one. I hope, thanks to Your really good job, not to waste next 28 years. Thank You.
Get a sequencer and a GM sound font. Make sounds that please you, play around, develop a few of your better ideas, get the hang of disappointing yourself. That's how you become a composer in the twenty-first century. It's what I did in the twentieth when I was only a mere pup of 50. That Spring rush will crush you in the Summer.and make you blush in your Autumn years .. man, I can't wait for Winter.
You just said what I told myself some years ago, when I wanted to stop making/sharing music, but I remembered that I care, at least for myself So I took a selfish stand and started putting everything I could on my channel, any work I've done, even unfinished drafts (of course I finished them before sharing) I subscribed to Distrokid and started putting my music everywhere I could, while having fun I even arranged the music from a video game nobody cared about, just for myself to listen to, a childhood dream, a soundtrack I brought to life and I'm very proud of it ! Yes, it's hard to be an artist, but it's a matter of doing what we love.
After years of toil as a drummer recording and touring in a million bands, I eventually had a fulfilling job in my thirties, and had moved on from 'the dream'. But then out of nowhere, I wound up playing drums for a solo artist who had a buzz and became very successful. For a year, I suddenly played sold out shows, people singing along, encores, we met celebrities, the whole thing. I got to share stages with some of the most well-known musicians of my generation. But then something happened. I fell out with the solo artist, the situation was terrible, and I decided to quit. This was really just before TH-cam took off. There is very little footage of me playing in this band. So I know I "made it", but nobody else does. What I wound up deciding is that we're all carrying this thing afloat called "music". We're all contributing. It's one big ouija board. Some people have their moment for a minute and disappear. The 'big' artist I played with hasn't released anything in ten years and probably not many people know about her anymore. We all make our impacts, and we're not really in control of what happens. What matters is not only that you do it for you, but that you also realize that your efforts matter, even if incrementally. We're all doing it together. After I quit that popular band, I made an album on my terms, capturing my skills at my peak. I think it has like 15 listens on Spotify.
As long as your music gives YOU something back, then that should be enough. If you would rather make music than play videogames, collect stamps, go fishing, bird watching etc.. then that is enough reason to continue making music, if only for yourself. We need something else than the daily routine, and if music is your escape from this, YOU being the only audience, is enough. I learned that the hard way. Thank you for this. ❤ My artist name is Xanitra. And while my name Christian Løwensprung will be gone, when I die, Xanitra will live on.. and that too is an encouraging thought. Never stop making music, because it is who you are, and you need music to live a fulfilling life❤🎉😊 we all die, but don't let the fear of death, stop you from enjoying life. What is your artist name? Take care.🌹
@@michallasan3695 Well except Joldrath did "release" musics tho ? Not sure what you mean by release actually ... I mean , they can have an artist name if they want eh x) .
Been making music for 7 years. Started out wanting to be the best in my field, most famous, touring 365 days a year, but as time progressed I've become more and more content with staying in my own lane - just doing the work & honing my craft. My vision for my discography was clear from day 1, and bringing this vision to life via releasing new music has brought me more joy & fulfillment than that touring lifestyle ever could. Whether my music gets 1 or 1 million plays, I'll always cherish the fact that I did what I wanted and dedicated my life to this craft.
Music is been something, it meant something when i first pressed the play button. I’m making music since 2020 and I don’t have many people who listens but I’m happy with the music i make and I believe in myself that whatever i put out there, it’s gonna be okay!
Glad to know I’m not the only one that feels this way. As someone who is just an average guy with a good job and no plans to make a music career of music, I just want to create and just be.. I dropped out of the social mediasphere to solely focus on life and creating music at my leisure. This vid helps me realize that I’m not the only one and gives me the strength to keep going. Thank you 🙏🏾
I’m kind of in your position. I’m self employed and very fortunate to be doing better than ever, so making money in music isn’t really a goal. Would it be nice? Maybe? Seems like it could be, but then I guess it depends on what that entails later down the line. Despite the making money part which I’m ok with never doing, I keep finding myself saying, “I don’t care about the money, I just want to know people are listening.” Which seems to be my problem. I’m currently working on a new project, and like most current/recent projects, I feel like this is the best one yet, lol. I guess we will see how it goes should I have any official releases. I will say, the process I’m taking this time around has given me the most joy and fun times of ever making music.
This video meant so much to me. It succinctly articulated what I’ve been trying to figure out for a while. What are my motivations for making music? What am I getting out of it? Life can be an extremely traumatizing thing at times. I discovered late in life that music was one way that I could process all of it. I’ve tried many times to get into meditation and could never quite do it but when I’m playing music I’m in another place and I’m able to be present in a way that is unlike any other activity in my life. I make the music that I want to listen to, and I mostly share it with family and friends. However, I have found that through my music I have connected to a community of people that gives me energy and a sense of purpose. That’s worth it’s weight in gold! I recently selected seven of my favorite compositions from the last year and created my first vinyl record. There’s only one copy and it was quite expensive but it’s a gift to myself and a record of my progress. Someday someone else will own it and my hope is that it will bring them peace just as it did when I made it.
The moments I always cherish have always been performing to a live audience. Those interactions are memories I will always remember and mean a lot to me. Doesn’t matter if it was 10, 100, or 1000 people.
Every time I stop working on my music and putting it out into the world it’s like an ambivalently malicious/wise ghost begins to haunt me again As you said, there really isn’t a choice. Put the album out or be haunted for life by the dreams of what could have been It’s not up to you anymore; you have become a vessel for something new that craves to be born regardless of your desires
There's a melancholic beauty to this video. Your observations are spot on and the way you have shot and produced this video, it feels like watching a documentary. Good luck with your latest production. We are all spinning in the void. Perhaps making music (or creating any art) is a way in which we might feel, however briefly, that we are fully connected with our place in the universe and can reflect our influence on it, no matter how immeasurably small that might be.
Kind of like our art, I almost didn't post a comment here because it might simply fade into the already overwhelming sea of other (probably better) comments from people far more talented than I. But then, I decided to apply the lesson of your video, and put it out there anyway. Once again, Cameron, you demonstrate your amazing gift of telling the sometimes dark truths of being a creative person in a way that is compelling and completely relatable, and I hope you continue to share these ideas because I personally feel they're far more valuable than any number of "here's how to make a cool sound thing" that everyone else does. Of course, you do your fair share of those, too, which is great, but they're unique in being told in, well, compelling and relatable ways. As always, you did a stellar job on this difficult and challenging topic. I'm really looking forward to being able to see and hear the results of your amazing journey when it's available. From the footage you shared, it looks like a great trip. And, if you ever find yourself with time to kill near exit 35 on I-40 in TN, let me know. There may be a cold beer or two in the fridge 🙂
I'm just now putting the finishing touches on songs I wrote and recorded the basic framework for about 12 years ago. The amount of time I've spent in my little home studio in the past few years has affected my life in a negative way, but I refuse to give up. Thanks for spending the time creating this video to help validate the process that I'm sure many artists have to go through.
Where where you when I was in my teens? I'm 52 now and still creating. I was miserable back then thinking if I don't achieve or be recognized I failed. You hit every aspect that one would ask themselves,thank you
We are unaware of the true impact we have on others. People care about it and you wouldn't even know. I made a song called You Are A Superhero, for myself, and a girl found it on Spotify and was inspired to make a Playlist called I Am A Superhero, inspired by my song. I didnt even know about this until i randomly found the playlist.
This. When I started making music, I only had like 200 subscribers. I was terrible at making music on the harmonica. My music was off beat and sometimes in disharmony due to mistakes I've made. I've even received harsh criticism and negativity, but I kept going and didn't let the negativity stop me. After years later just making music not caring about what others think, I now have almost 7K subscribers and growing. Music shouldn't be about trying to get attention or make money, it's about enjoying it and just doing it regardless what level you think you are. Many popular artists have started off bad and worked themselves up. It's all about the determination and enjoying the art of sounds.
Wise words. I think your friend was quite right. When people ask me why I keep composing, my answer is always: "Because I am pregnant with new ideas and I need to give them birth, otherwise I won't get any more". 😉 The older I grow, the less ambitious I get. If I have to accept my role as a "mediocre composer" instead of the genius we all think we are as teenagers, then so be it. In the meantime, I am having a hell of a time creating "mediocre stuff". 😁
This video is so important. SO IMPORTANT. If all my artist friends watched it, I KNOW it would do them good. You're speaking for so many artists here, man. Thank you so much.
There's also something esoteric and mysterious about it too. Not knowing much about the artist can create a totally different perspective of the music. While of course I'd like more people to listen to my music, I also don't want TOO much attention. There can be a sweet spot where the music is still mysterious but there's some form of recognition
My music is off beat and obscure. Often about deeply personal issues no one wants to address social stigmas attached to fringe attempts to be "original".
I feel the same way. That's why I enjoy music by Alexander Scriabin who is one of the rarer classical composers. He created some very mystical piano pieces near the end of his life.
Making music is beautiful. I have, literally, at the tips of my fingertips the means of opening portals to worlds of reverb and emotion and beautiful sonic colors. Even if I'm the only one who hears it, in those moments when the music becomes real to me I'm in communication with something much larger than me, something even more real than me. It's a glimpse into something sacred, and just being able to create music, to tap into this, is already enough of a blessing, enough of a gift. Some art isn't for everyone, some art is only for the chosen few for whom it's chosen. Make your art, and with luck, precisely the right people will tap into it. I saw your video where you and Benn Jordan went cave-diving, and I absolutely loved it. And I bought the impulse responses, because I love the idea of having your crazy cave-diving adventures reverberate through my own music. It adds to the magic. Even though that video may not win in the algorithm-wars, it's a piece of art that inspires more pieces of art.
That's a wonderful way of thinking about it. I feel the same way! I checked out that beat on your channel & just wanted you to know that shit was flames🔥 Do you post any where else?
I make my music for myself, and I listen to my own music more than any others these days! (Can never understand people who say they never listen to their own music, surely your striving to make music that appeals perfectly to you). Keep creating, keep getting excited over this drop you made, or how you transitioned between parts, or the joy of hearing something emerge unexpectedly when you combine different bits together. That’s the joy, and as you walk around listening to your music on your headphones realise, this is what it’s all about!
I took some time off making music and started surfing again which I had not done for decades. Many surfers now use cameras to record their rides for tick tock and instagram. It is like the ride itself is not enough for some anymore. Made me realise I was doing same sort of thing with music. So I thought, why not play music in the same spirit as surfing (before all the cameras)? Create and play music just for the thrill of it. The great thing about music is you really need to dig in deep if you want to maintain that thrill. And that can be a very satisfying endeavour.
The first time I approached this channel was for your guides, but I stayed for these contents that cover the hardest part of making music: oneself. I've read some of the books you've suggested in the past and I love how you've managed to extract the basic concepts and apply them to the world of music production. It's evident that you haven't merely copied and pasted phrases but you speak about feelings you've experienced firsthand. You might not fill an arena with your music, but you've certainly done something good in helping to organize the thoughts of thousands of producers. Thank you from the heart and best of luck in life.
My managers mates released an album over 20 years ago now. A couple years ago, someone found their album in a charity shop and there was a web-wide search to find the origin of the band. They're now pretty famous touring the world and living their teenage dreams.
I needed this right now. I've always been a big supporter of the mindset of ''celebrate the creation, not the numbers'', but it's sometimes hard to practice what you preach. I'm releasing an album after the summer, and no matter how it does, I'll be super proud of it!
Man thank you for this, ive had so many conversations about this and you hit the nail on the head. There have been so many times when I'm in the flow state, jamming to new sounds and loving the process of creating, then the little voice in my head creeps in saying, "no one is gonna hear this, no one cares..." and it zaps my flow. Its time to start enjoying life and the journey, not the result.
I make music to escape reality, hardships and helping those who lost like me. Music is my only mask where i can be myself and have dark discussion on society and affecting others. I love making music despite it haven't got me nowhere
As a beginner guitarist I never realized how lucky I am to not be an artist until your video. I just wanted to learn how to make music and record it. It's the sonic equivalent of taking family photos. We do it because we want to look back later to connect to a time in our lives and trace how we got to where we are. I intend to create music so I can occasionally open the nostalgia attic and reflect on the difference between then and now. I'm the only person that will truly feel that. I don't really care that my music will be forgotten because it was for me and if I'm not around then it doesn't matter. Just being alive and interacting with people is enough of a legacy for me. Thank God I'm not an artist. You have my sympathies.
Every note of every melody and chorus and bridge and solo has a beginning and an end . But there is something that did not begin and will not end . Something that is conscious and eternal.
Music, art and my dumb TH-cam videos became my way of dealing with my inner turmoil and depression and underhandedly tossing in some thoughts for people about the world we live in. I have 11 subscribers on TH-cam and even less followers on SoundCloud. I would love to have more people give a crap about what I do, some of my videos I think are hilarious, some of my music gives me chills (or goosebumps… which to me is the ultimate sign of musical awesomeness) it would be great to have some people feel the same… if they do or don’t I will continue to do so because it helps me… it saved me to be honest. But I really appreciate what you did with this video, it touched me in a totally appropriate way and I just wanted to say thanks for putting it out there. I had one random person from Europe say “so good” about one of my songs and it felt great.
Aah yes. I used to feel a lot happier making music when SoundCloud still had groups. People used to comment more on my music. It used to give me some positive feedback to try make more. I have slowed down a lot after they stopped groups. I tried TH-cam too.. no one will ever find me there randomly. And even if they do.. I feel only a good music video with the music will draw people.. something I am unable to do. So... I tell myself that I make it for myself.. but.. still.. some feedback is nice...or it's just shouting into the void. It gets pointless after a while.
I agree with you its like shouting into the void... especially when you yourself are mediocre at best, and everything else out there is so much better than your work...when i started out i had or at least i was cajoled, into believing i could make it big in Bollywood, so then i was a starry eyed teenager and for a few years i did actually believe in the Bollywood dream...then i realised that that was not my thing, and then the internet happened, so i tried to find my own niche, i knew that theres a lot to learn and that the technical side of it interested me more than the performance side of things, so then i studied sound engineering and electronic music software etc, and started a small bedroom studio, because i knew that i can't really make it as an artist alone...so for i while i did recordings for other artists, but kept on making music on the side...i still had faith...that maybe there will be an audience for my work...and that it indeed could earn a few bucks, but then quickly found out that the internet was flooded with all sorts of music and most of it was free...so then i kept on going thinking at least my friends and family would appreciate it, for a while i did get a lot of praise and comments, but as time went on even those started dwindling, only a few close buddies would bother enough to appreciate it, then the replies became thumbs up smileys...so basically it was like a pretty thankless and non monetary endeavour...but now i have a tiny bedroom setup... i switch on the computer when i feel like and just enjoy the process of making a track... I've even stopped telling my friends when i upload new stuff...i do it just for the pleasure of the process now and only once in a while when i really feel like taking the trouble to turn on the setup and work for a while... But I'm still very grateful for the journey, i got a lot to learn about so many things connected to music production and recording.
@@visheshl ah thank you for replying and telling your story. In some ways very similar to mine. I smiled when you said you stopped sharing with friends etc.. 🤣... I also stopped sharing. I'm down to one person, and I can tell they try their best to be positive. 🤣. I am starting to look at sharing as some kind of torture for the poor people who has to receive it. So I rather don't. Not sure if you also am like me.. after a song, I kind of do not want to touch anything for a while, but then a new idea hits me maybe months later, and I have to get the darn thing out. And this part is enjoyable.. the creation part.. even if only I like the end result. And maybe that is enough. I have another problem that holds me back.. and it's writing lyrics. I can produce a million nice melodies, but finding words for the bloody things takes me forever. How do you deel with this problem?
I was there at the very beginning of soundcloud, the glory days of it are long long gone, when it was brand new you'd get loads of organic plays, I have built up quite a following on there but am seriously considering just deleting my profile for good, at one point I was getting 600+ plays a day and it got up to 16,000 plays, and when they removed groups I knew what would be the nail in the coffin, it's a shame because it really was a great platform and all they would have to do is bring back groups and make some minor adjustments.
You’ve clearly touched many people with content like this. It may not be music, but it is your creation. Keep creating, man. You’ve got heart and people need to feel that.
You clearly didn’t watch the video before commenting. The message was do it for yourself not others and that’s music by an artist with integrity. You just agreed with him 😂
I stopped showing my stuff to people a few years ago, since then I can just do what I want. Making music calms me down in the moment I make it, and listening to a song from 15 years ago just makes me realize how amazed my younger self would be, how self decided I am now and how much of my own sound I developed.
I've released over 50 albums in the last five years. I still find myself loving the process and loving that I'm advancing and evolving as a person and an artist. I'm proud of myself and I hope that my work inspires others. Even if I make it to 500 albums and nobody to hear, I think I'll still be happy that I spent the time to create soundtracks to my own life. Ive had meaningful moments with people I've collaborated with, I've had a few shows and a couple people who genuinely said my music helped them. Some times it's hard but then I remember how much music and art have kept me going and kept me searching for a deeper meaning of life. No matter what I'll keep doing what I was born to do: create, evolve, and explore.
I began making music in the era when we shared with audio cassettes, I was just a kid and I wanted others to step into my inner world through my music. Over time, I realized something, it's people's inner worlds that enter into my music, which essentially has nothing of me in it, because I obviously didn't invent music. This realization led me to develop a sense of respect and gratitude both towards the artists who made me dream and, above all, towards the people who allow my music to become part of their imagination. If you think about it, it's an extremely intimate thing, perhaps more so than sex.
Thank you so much for raising such philosophical and existential questions on your channel. A very relevant topic indeed. As a person who has been making music since 2004 when I was only 14, I have always wondered: Why do I keep doing this? I've since accumulated over 900 original tracks across all platforms that get a tiny bit of listening. I got as many rejections from all the labels in the world as I have tracks. Another person would have given up a long time ago, like one of my former musician friends who went full-time into dentistry. He simply stopped seeing the point in this "complete waste of time for him without any desirable feedback". Another friend just got married and quit singing, although he has an amazing voice and great potential. However, I continue to write music, because for me, it is a matter of Self-determination, as for a tree to bloom in the forest.
I really appreciate these reminders. After 15 years of doing it, I pretty much up and quit music almost a year ago for many of these reasons. I just felt overwhelmed and unhappy since it didn't seem like anyone would listen to what I was doing. I've been sooo much happier since I've left, but I still look forward to the day when I can be the amateur, in the words of the stoics, and just love every second of making music. Probably won't be any time soon, since my priorities have changed, but I'm okay with that. I've had time to just enjoy this life. Thanks for the words :)
This really helped me get a better perspective. I’m at the lowest point in my life I’ve ever been. It feels good to remember the making process is there for me to express and soothe myself
I love this video. I love a lot of the points you made and I really need to hear them. One thing I might add as well - he impact, the mark we make, may well be forgotten, but things don’t have to be remembered to last. There is a quiet, lasting impact each of us leaves on the world even if not remembered. Your ancestor hundreds of years ago maybe wrote a song that affected the popularity of a certain kind of music in one region of the world, which maybe allowed that to morph into some other music which evolved again and again until this day. We all leave a mark. We all matter. The quiet “faceless” people of history are what everything that exists today is built upon. We are the foundations of the future. People are already standing on our collective shoulders. Like the cave print on the wall - we exist. We are here. We matter. Go make your cave print.
This hit deep. I compose music because it’s the only way I can really say what I need to say. I have no other way to express the pain, thoughts, emotions inside of me. My 6 year old daughter is my biggest fan and all 19 subscribers I have on my composition channel are family. I don’t care. I need to let out the turmoil inside of me. I try to give up music because I know it’ll never go anywhere, costs money, whatever it is, but try as I might, I can never shake it from my life and always end up back at the board. You hang in there man. Your words found me at the perfect time. Thank you.
Thanks for making this video. I’ve spent 35 years making music and never released more than a few tracks for backing tracks. I’ve pumped thousands of dollars into hardware, software and instruments all in the hope of having a studio and the time to just create music. Something has always held me back from finishing tracks but tbh just sitting down and creating something for me has always been the fun part. Just to vibe out and have it recorded is enough. Maybe I’ll release more one day but as you point out that’s not the important bit. Just expressing yourself and hopefully connecting with someone who listens to your music is the best part.
I mostly just make music for myself, and I listen to it alot, it carries a sense of accomplishment and memories of making and discovering the track. I have some stuff that has been sitting for years without no-one but me listening to it, and I honestly just fear to publish it. Publishing and failing to get any reach, or having just lack of interest, is the reminder that eventually one is alone with his thoughts, emotions and music.
If creating music brings you joy and fulfillment, keep going. Any positive comment, like, or stream that comes after releasing your work to the world are bonus points. I truly believe the stake we put in being heard stems from the tried and true existential battle we're all up against. The facade of fame and artistry has changed so drastically over the past 20, let alone 10 years. You don't hear about *the process* anymore. It's as if it doesn't exist at all. You consume the perfected product. By all accounts of supreme marketing tactic and timely posts, you'd assume the single was made last week. tldr: Stop comparing, keep creating.
this really hit home. I'm making the best music of my life it seems and finally developed some originality. the only people i can get to listen to anything is some family members and a handful of friends.
I do it because I don't have a choice. I wake up and start at 6am. I work until lunch, then back to the studio after lunch until 4p. It doesn't matter if anyone besides me hears it, I just have to create. Would it be cool if people really liked what I did - of course. But regardless - I will just keep doing this until I can't anymore. I have been making music on computers since 1985 - it is what I do... They say you die twice - once is the death, the 2nd is when the last person says your name...
This was big and very important. I have to tell myself no matter how good or bad I am, no one will ever love my music more than me. My tracks began as a another way to self-deprecate, I've finally began to love myself in a different way through them. Thanks for this.
I've quite literally been sitting on a completed track for over a year specifically for this reason. I've released it in demo form on soundcloud but not final because I want to sing over it. I know nobody cares because anyone I've shown it to hasn't said more than "nice" or "sounds good" and at the same time I don't want to promote it on social media because it doesn't feel good enough (an artist is their own worst critic). This video has given me some motivation to dig out the Ableton project again and start scribbling some lyrics with fresh ears!
If you ever release it, send it over to me. I'm always looking for new music man, I don't even care if it's "good enough" lmao. Always something to learn from someone else
Just between you and me, people are idiots. They don't appreciate art based on itself. The average person needs to be told that something is fantastic to consider the possibility- like Beatlemania, or Van Gogh's starry night. Most of the greatest artists died before anyone figured out their stuff was incredibly great. That's how slow people are. I've been making music in a band for many years, and if we gave an ounce of credence to people's reception of our songs, we would have assumed we suck eggs and quit a long time ago. People's indifference to art is so extreme that it's laughable. You can't take it seriously.
Heading off for vacation this week so let's pray the algorithm gods don't spank me on this one! 🏖
Your assignment in the meantime: give me some new music to check out when I come back.
▼▼▼ Special Thanks To ▼▼▼
🦅 UVI ► www.uvi.net/
🎛 Polyend ► polyend.com/
🥰 My Patrons ► venustheory.com/buckaroonie-babez
“Give you new music to check out”
Are you asking your subscribers to submit links?
Listen. I've got something to add to your observation. Let's zoom out for a moment and realize that anomaly of life, organic life itself, is an oppositional enterprise by its presence in the cosmos. I'm being literal, bear with me. Life explicitly evolves out of NECESSITY, not opportunity. Let that simmer a minute. We are no less a product of the conditions upon this planet than the hardiest of anaerobic organism surviving on compounds belched from deep sea hydrothermic vents. That's what we attempt to abstract away as a sentient species. But - our abstraction is derivative, as all things within our brains must necessarily be. When we live, when we create, we push against some force of obstacle, our minds move to avoid danger and pursue reward. It's critical to understand that defining our own meaning through our self-imagining is as crucial to our survival as seeking shelter and food, and that those of us who encounter greater opposition are most likely to create and feel most compelled to show that work, to be validated. Stick with me. This is NOT a simple, selfish act - we share to EDUCATE in its rawest form, and to SHARE the experience of what is produced from within, to explain a mode of opposition that others have not encountered. What we perceive as indifference or apathy detracts from the importance of the pursuit itself no more than our passive indifference to, for example, a traffic light which functions as a method of warning, attempted order, educating risk. Creativity is not glamorous. It is reflexively screaming while running from a bear. Warning others to the impending danger we find ourselves in, in that specific existential locus we happen to be in at that time. That emptiness felt from the creative process is actually fear that we have not adequately educated well enough. The feeling of triumph that stems from being heard and understood is actually satisfaction of the transferral of knowledge from one being to the next, to help others survive as you have against an oppositional force. I'll end with this - any creative act is to inform. Either this will benefit those who are not already educated, or it will deflect off those who believe they already know the lesson. In either case, it is not simply worthwhile, but actually crucial.
@@fneeee Your perspective is the correct one I think. Just to be alive is a wonder. Be well.
Enjoy your vacation bro. Much love from Australia. 🙏❤️🔥
@@ghfjfghjasdfasdf I'm also wondering this.
My teenage band recorded in 1999.
It took me over 20 years to buy all the gear and learn to mix and master the music.
I eventually released it to the world, 2 years ago.
I bought the only copy that was sold.
I’m currently working on my next album.
kinda want to hear it now haha
I also wanna hear it now lol!
Was it titled "Nutbar's Nougats?" I'll go sit over there in the corner...
Ha ha. It’s mostly angry 90s metal with no vocals.
There is a nice Cheesewave song hiding in there though.
Band is called OverClone.
@@TechGently 🤣
I've stopped releasing music because no one cared.
I've now started releasing music because no one cares.
It's honestly quite liberating.
Great comment
100%
I really like this change in perspective.
I mean there is so much on Bandcamp for instance, so far from the mainstream... I doubt half the releases on there ever sell 50 copies, but does that matter? If just one person enjoys it, there's value in that. I think ever monetizing a hobby is dangerous. I have spent well over $15000 on my Eurorack, I'm never going to see a return on that but I love playing around with it and that's the intrinsic value. Plus, 15k is like what? 750 movies at the cinema.... and I've had more than 1500 hours of enjoyment from my modular synths...
❤❤❤❤😂
I was diagnosed with terminal cancer 6 months ago and told I only had 5 months to live at age 38.
Throughout the fight to stay alive I’ve been through every emotion you can imagine and the toughest of them all was simply ‘what’s the point’
In the last short while I have lost my creative side and the passion to make music.
This video has truly resonated with me tonight and I will wake up tomorrow with a different perspective on not only making music but what is left of my life.
‘It’s about living your life and enjoying it while you still have it’ ❤
Thank you.
🖤 please share what you can. wishing you strength and peace 🖤
@@weltering thank you! Switched on the PC. Opened up Ableton and pressed some keys on the keyboard this week. It’s a start!
@@davebbeats Definitely share! You've inspired me to open up ableton too even though I suck lol. Wishing you the best man
Sorry about your diagnosis, and indeed enjoy every single moment. When you walk through that door to the other side you will be laughing anyway, as the “music” there makes anything here sound very very dull. (Near death experience 2020) ❤
I love you David @davebbeats
In my decade of releasing music, the most meaningful experience was an 11-yr-old who said to me, "I made my mom subscribe to you on Spotify and my favorite song of yours is Smile." She is the only person outside of my family and friends who has intentionally listened and given feedback.
Everybody now famous started with one fan at some point. Just gotta keep building (if that's what you want)
If you can at least one person listen, then your job is done. Don' t worry, there are many so called "friends" who have probably listened to your music and envy you. Some people just don't give compliments. It is not in their DNA. My advice is to keep doing it. Never give up your passion. That is what makes a true artist. Most of the successful artists these days have no talent, they are simply the flavour of the month. They will be history one day and you may outlive them. Never give up and stay happy!
The feeling that you felt when you realized, that this kid was listening to your music because she liked it and it meant something to her, is all I would want to achieve with my music.
Kids are the biggest critics, the fact that kid gave you good feedback I would’ve cried 😭keep pushing man ‼️
It's not the music but the marketing strategy.
Making music is an art. Not caring whether anyone likes it or not is also an art.
Great phrase
Nobody cared about JS Bach’s music in his lifetime either. Didn’t stop him from creating over 1,000 compositions…so we’re in good company
That part❤️💯🔥
@christopherwall444 That's liberating to hear thank you
They wrote a book about it: The ART of Not Giving a Fuck.
this is why i found it so much better to work on music with a group of people. working solo just builds self doubt, working with a group there’s more ideas thrown around and there’s ppl there to pick you up when you have doubt, because they’re relying on you to contribute with them.
This is very true. In a world of home studios, solo projects, and youtube tutorials, most people think they need to do it all on their own. Some of my best music and ideas has been done in collaboration with other artists. And whenever a beginner musician asks me for advice, I always tell them to play with other people, no matter the experience level.
And it is all about hanging out, drinking and being open to new ideas.....
I've always wanted to be in a band, but I've only been asked to join one, and it was too political for my tastes. There have been numerous times when I've reached out to fellow musicians about possibly collaborating, and they've either ignored me or kept me at arm's length. The reason I work as a solo artist is that I got fed up of letting my creativity depend on people who aren't as committed to the project, or in some cases don't even like me. I can sing all vocal parts, write arrangements, and play keyboard, and I have a good ear for effects and such. I have a friend who can help me with mixing and mastering. What more do I need?
Yeah, as long as you found the right people, cause sometimes they would just drag you down instead.
yeh a lot of the shit I listen to is by collectives n it's so gas
I've written and published almost a hundred books, but none of them have sold many copies. When I switched over to music, I stopped publishing books, but I still write because I find the act of writing cathartic. None of my creative endeavors have ever made any money, but they did, and still do, fill a gaping hole in my life
What’s the hole? Only asking because I wonder if I have one too. Or whether we all have one.
As someone who's published a couple dozen (now out-of-print) books, I can so relate to this.
You've achieved resounding Success
@@Junglesmells, It's complicated. I find it difficult to talk to people. One could say that I do better communicating with others through an avatar. Writing, photography, and producing music are my avatars.
@@ocardaugh I get it man. I’ve always been extremely self conscious and recently having taken up producing music on ableton rather than only playing live gigs it’s turned into a refuge which I’m very grateful for. I think I get you.
I've always felt privileged to have a job that I love, completely unrelated to music, so that I can make my music without worrying about money, recognition, algorithms, etc. I see far too many people crushed by the weight of having to be creative constantly and try to be on the top of everyone's feeds and it's gotta suck. You said what I've felt in my heart for a long time here.
Many years ago, I was advised to become an professional actor as a career. I really never wanted to do that. It's a difficult life with little income and lots of rejection. Most importantly for me, though, is that it wouldn't be enjoyable anymore. It would just be a job, and a very rough one at that.
Art for arts sake.
same dude. cybersecurity by day. music producer/DJ by night. thank god....
Same. I left music school when covid hit because it made an already frail system for musicians seem even worse. Why do that to myself? For ego? To say I made it as a pro classical musician? Even though at the time I wasn't writing, I relate a lot to what was going on in this video. I'd probably end up being flat ass broke and busting my ass every single day for students who mostly did not give a shit about music, and I had turned one of my passions into a job. I dropped out and taught myself web dev and now I can make really good money with great benefits, have an incredible sense of professional stability, buy the toys I want to experiment and make music for fun and retain the joy and peace it gives me, and still put a good chunk of my check into savings. I'll always remember what my teacher said, the former principal horn of a major symphony - "If you could possibly do anything other than music for a living, you should." I think he's right.
I also think that for a long time, people have fulfilled their inner creative needs through other means. I feel like I know a lot of people who paint for fun, or keep poetry journals, or do community theater, or play music at open mics. People have been doing art that "no one cares about" (big air quotes there) for a long time. But making music as a hobby / creative outlet has long had many barriers to entry (very expensive, depending on genre used to require having a whole band of people to work together, etc.), but it's totally viable from inside a spare room in your home now with minimal startup costs. Some schools offer courses already, but I am looking forward to music production / DAW lessons becoming more available in schools and private studios.
Someone out there will be professional artists of all kinds, and good on them, but the point of art (or anything we do) should be beyond money and fame. We all need to flourish as human beings, and if making music is what makes you come alive, then that's just what you gotta do for yourself.
This is why playing live is so important
You get to see real time how your music and ideas affect people.
Music is therapy for those listening AND creating.
Herein lies the answer.
@@leafyleafyleaf Man to be alive at any other point in history outside of the last hundred years. You had to see it in person. and if you really really love music, then you are going to have to learn how to make it or you’d hear it much less than you prefer
While i don't like therapy, i agree entirely. Live music is the only surefire weapon that will get across. If it's loud enough and good enough, you're gonna get hit. The internet and everything in it does not exist. But a human being standing not far from you, playing a song is very real.
Making music is like dancing with your own soul. Music has turned me away from a path of self destruction and endless and pointless days. Being honest, I hope my music can bring some joy to others, but it’s not necessary. The process and sheer enjoyment of learning Music Production has been life changing for me. Btw, I love your content and Benns, thank you for all the inspiration.
Yes, Art in any forms is a self therapeutic process, no matter in which level we are at, it s both a cleanser and an energiser...and we are lucky finding time and space in order to dwelve into it...i like "Dancing with your own soul"...this could be a great sample...:)
very well-said.
It’s good for the soul, even if nobody else gets it
The mark of a true artist
Amen - I feel exactly the same way.
When I die, I’ll smile knowing I used beautiful instruments and went to places only I know about, other worlds. That’s priceless to me.
You make music for yourself, it's self-serving. You release the music as a service to others. If you know for a fact that you put the required work into making it something worthwhile that others could also potentially enjoy, then it doesn't matter if anyone else ever takes notice, you can still sleep soundly with no regrets knowing that you honored your own talents and used them properly by serving others.
10:20, “we don’t create to not be heard.” This is the truth that brings me the most despair. Every time I talk to someone about my sadness that even close friends won’t listen to me and they trot out the “create for yourself” cliche I just feel ashamed at myself for wanting attention at all without seeing any way out.
I keep making more pieces and every time I am convinced that THIS time someone will like it. I am fortunate that my spouse is there for me, the only fan I have, who hums my Melodies when no one else does
Unfortunately, though, the cliche is true. We don't create *to* be heard, just as we don't dance to be seen or breathe to be rewarded. The creativity we're born with is our private voice and we speak with it to those who listen to us, we share it with those we love and who love us. If - *if* - that numbers in the millions, it's the handful we care about most, respect the most, whom we deserve the most.
Channel your despair through your private voice and share it with someone you love. Their understanding and comprehension will bring you more joy than you can handle.
(I also do private sittings, just $299 per hour...)
@@StepAndWalk I can't be truly happy with my music in a vacuum. I am not self sufficient in my creativity, happy to keep it hidden. I get only so far with the creation before I have the overwhelming urge to share it. When the sharing is spurned, disregarded, and seen as uninteresting I'm devastated. Not saying this is healthy, but its what I am.
@@safetinspector2 I understand. I've lived long enough (perhaps) to realise some cliches deserve our respect, and I might be about to quote you some, but ...
My family never listened to my music, never understood it or even commented when I played recordings for them, none of them was in the least musical or interested. For years I thought that was a normal reaction so I stopped taking my own music seriously, as well. I made a living working in offices and kept my sanity in amateur dramatics, but I kept recording and composing without ever thinking about looking for an audience.
I wrote music for some of the plays I was in, an art exhibition at a theatre where I had a part-time job and a video for an aircraft museum that was being run by a community group I worked for. Later I got a PC and overdubbed some vocals and guitar. I got to write music for a couple of no-budget indie films but it all took time.
One year, I was out of work and living in the city so I joined the army of buskers for a while to help pay the rent and buy guitar strings. I played festivals because no one cared enough to stop me and because the people who run these things need their events to look busy. This led to me getting a paying gig which in turn led to me being invited to play other venues.
None of this stopped me making my "own" music, but it helped me feel good about trying. Now I have a channel on You Tube with four subscribers with the most-viewed video being a guitar competition I entered a lot of yeas ago.
I will likely never know if the music that's in my head appeals to anyone I've not shared a meal with but I have leaned that I can play music that a relatively small number of other people do like without compromising my own creativity and taste (you're reading a message from an atheist who played improvised ambient music on guitar and synth for a Redemptionist Christian church for three years, goddam it!).
I would help you if I could. Anyone who knows me will tell you that isn't a cheap, empty comment. I can't, though, not because no one ever helped me, but because the few people who care for me and my art are somehow nearly enough.
I hope you will find your audience and however big or small it is that they will bring you the peace and the support you need to keep at it.
PS - Sorry, but am I missing something? I can't find any music on your channel. Do you post it somewhere else?
I clicked on you but there was no music. Where is it? I will listen to it.
Despair is an emotion that people who are dying & starving have. Your music is in all honesty is not important to anyone other than yourself. You need to grow up. Stop being a child.
I make music bc I find it beautiful that my art will outlive me. Even if it’s only my friends and family who listen, I take solace in the fact that they will be able to remember and listen to my voice long after I’m gone. A lot of families wish they could be afforded the luxury of hearing their loved ones voice just one more time ❤
Dat is beautiful =‘)
Lovely. This all the way! 💜
This is EXACTLY how I feel 👍🏿
Beautiful 💯
Profound
If you’ve ever had a broken heart and had songs pour out of you you know the catharsis they bring. To me that catharsis is enough, it’s me understanding myself
I’ve been in international tours several times, played with some of my heroes, gotten awards and etc… and still feel like you describe in your video. The massification created by streaming is simply insane - unless you release stuff all the time, you’re soon back to square one. The album format is gone, creativity surrenders to shallow marketing strategies. We make music because we love it and need to do it, but recording or putting up a concert is such hard work that you kind of expect a little recognition to feel like it’s worth it. As Hunter Thompson said: “the music business is a shallow money trench where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs”. A new collective relationship to music will have to come up sooner or later.
Healthy, deep resonanting observations. So be it
HST's next line was something like "There's also a negative side."
nice quote.
" . . . the music business is a shallow money trench where thieves and pimps run free . . . ", no argument here.
@ma... "...when you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back."
I ask myself this at least 4 times a year … I’m 23 years into my music. The best conclusion I’ve been able to come up with is, this is my documentation of these little moments in time we will never return to again, capture it. Regardless if 100k people hear it or a few hundred, this is my forever gift to the universe, forever.
Very liberating indeed
When I was younger I had this whole "Don't record until its a complete idea" thing and maaannnn, that's easily in my top 3 biggest regrets in life. So many little moments lost as the years go by
I call this "foundation". You create something and years later, new work can be builded on previous experience.
The little moments stack up don't they.. never too late to start accumulating those (and I second that to anyone reading this .. record your creations regularly, no matter what you think or feel about them at the time).
Just had a listen to "One Second To Infinity" - nice - and "Turn back time" is great too. Keep it coming Sundrowner 🤙
Making music and just putting it out with no pressure is actually pretty cool. When you just make what you want to make, the real fun starts
True that, da only thing is how 2 pay da bills...
That's why there's Blues @hlqa
True n real rap@@randykalish7558
for artists:
*It's not about building this 'thing' to be remembered.*
*It's about living your life and enjoying documenting it in a way that makes it meaningful to you.*
I wrote a book nobody bought,
I made a short film nobody watched,
Why am I doing this?
Because - well, why not? :)
lol, the blind optimism of youth.....
eventually, after decades, I just gave up. I am no longer an artist of any kind.
There is no meaning to any of it. not even life. it comes from nowhere, goes nowhere. and why even 'document it'? where did that come from, is that an internet kid thing?
@Peter Belanger is it so optimistic to feel traumatized and have no way to move forward from the past? is it really giving up if you ended up choosing to live your life normally? is it broken that this system rewards struggling mental health with money? is any answer enough for you if an internet kid thing is the only perspective you have felt?
I am getting diagnosed for bipolar disorder. the people I looked up to were just as disturbed as me. NIN. jahseh, heylog. it's fine if you can just live your life normally, but they would've killed themselves if they did
@@peterbelanger4094 Let me venture a guess: you are an inner-city dweller from some major Western post-industrial country with an over-comfortable income per person. Well, in that case, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see no meaning in life - the life of an average inner-city Westerner is indeed bereft of meaning, because utilitarianism and blind-sighted materialism only get you so far, both spiritually and intellectually. The Western lifestyle of consumerism is, essentially, the lifestyle of a caged zoo animal - you get groomed, you get fed, you even get pampered sometimes, yet none of that is truly earned by you. Hence - you don't know life, you don't even understand it, since you live in a zoo-like artificial simulacrum and you do not truly belong to yourself.
But, ya know, you guys made your "materialist-paradise" bed by colonially exploiting the rest of the world - and now it’s your time to lie in it.
That's exactly why I upload. I do it mostly for myself, in a way that feels meaningful to me.
I hope other people will enjoy it too, but as long as I enjoy it, it's all good.
I don't make music, I buy instruments and look at them with great intentions 😅
To be honest, whilst I've heard some of your music and enjoyed it very much, I really come here for your "TH-cam artwork". You are a great filmmaker and a charismatic speaker, and that's more than enough to be a real and worthwhile connection. Cheers 👍
Great! Just like me 😅 ...
Lol, you're too honest, which is so funny! I've been into instrument collecting/gazing for 25 years, had great fun with it!
I buy expensive wall art in the form of guitars and basses to hang on my walls
😂Aaaabsoluuutely😝
I used to play, now they sit in my bedroom corner collecting dust. But I think about it often and sing song ideas into an app. So there's that.
I lost both my parents within the past 4 years (to separate terminal illnesses), while still in my 30s, and it's had a profound impact on me. On the positive side, it's really kicked my ass into high gear, to create like there's no tomorrow. I've probably written and produced more music in two years than I have in 20 years before that. I started learning instruments I've put off for years (I always wanted to learn cello, and just started 6 months ago! didn't realize you play as well), and taking on projects and finishing goals which I procrastinated for years (always telling myself "maybe one day..." or "I can start that tomorrow..."). Now I don't allow excuses and just get to work. It's been incredibly empowering, cathartic, and in many ways a journey of self-discovery and healing to grapple with losing two of my best and most supportive friends in life.
On the other hand, I get pretty depressed at times feeling as if I have no proper outlet to share the fruits of my labor. I've uploaded to soundcloud/bandcamp/etc and at first I was very excited to see how quickly I would receive likes, comments, reposts/shares.Validation for all my hard work, finally! But over time I've discovered 99% of those were bots and spammers, which has been pretty disheartening, and as a result I quit putting stuff out again. "What's the f*cking point?" indeed.
I don't necessarily need to play to an arena full of rabid fans to feel validated, but I like to think that the art I create is enjoyed by fellow humans, and not just a few bots somewhere in Russia (the country I get the most plays from lol). It can feel really hopeless to put in all that effort and go through so much emotional digging to create something you believe in, only to put it out in the world and feel like not a single soul will ever notice nor care.
If anything, what I wouldn't do to be able to share all my new music with my parents. They put up with a lot of noise from me as a kid, and they'd be so proud to hear how far I've come. But on that note, I can just hear both of them rooting me on to keep going and do it for the love. So I will keep doing it no matter what and enjoy the ride.
Why would you expect people to care? It’s just music. It’s not important
@@webstercatit's not that important to you
@@webstercatI bet you're fun at parties
I know where you're coming from bro. I lost a close friend to me this year and the fragility of life hit me like a train. I'm very close to my parents and couldn't fathom how much of a mess I'd be without them.
If I could give you a hug, I would!
Keep expressing yourself with music. Who cares what the world thinks. Chin up!
@@webstercatSoulless, brainless AND a friggin know it all, quite a combination of qualities you got there Toots
Deep. Wise words cameron. I retired 6 months ago and took up ambient music production. My partner asks why I sit in my room twiddling knobs and wasting my time. Perhaps I will forward this video. Thanks for putting my feelings in to words.
Wow, how is the enjoyment of sound and self-expression a "waste of time"? Does your partner even have any hobbies themselves?
I was going to post my own comment but it sounds like you need it more. In my own opinion, don't go to friends and family for validation or criticism. Don't play your music for them and ask their opinions. The reactions will tend to take more away from you than it gives. It's probably a genre that they don't like or wouldn't listen to normally. Their criticisms or responses are generally canned and not very inspiring. Strangers offer the best compliments and criticisms. You earn them rather than someone taking your music and treating it like a crayon sketch being taped to the refrigerator.
Don't feel contempt or anger towards your part er. It's a bit like watching you play golf. Thank them for giving you the time and space to explore your new hobby even if they don't understand it. Find your own audience rather than pressing the people around you into it.
The best compliment of my life was a stranger coming up to me at lunch when I was 20 years old to tell me that they enjoyed a show the prior weekend that went well. I had just had a conversation with the guys I worked with and none of them believed that I was in a band or a musician. That made it worth my own time-wasting worth it.
Keep going.
Great reply! Love the part of people treating ones music like a crayon sketch taped onto a refrigerator.
There are so many of us who understand you Michael. Don't give up, keep going 🙂
hey it's nice to see another fellow ambient musician, keep making music I would say , I am from India where I make ambient which is really obscure over here, but I continue doing it because composing is something i find immense pride in and happiness i will continue doing this regardless the "pointlessness" and the "rewards " music is art .
Thanks man.
I figure that publishing in some form is a responsibility. Create, document, publish, repeat - these are my duties as an artist.
I read this often, too:
"Your art … if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open...
No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only an … unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive…"
~ Martha Graham
That is brilliant! ^
No artist is ever pleased indeed.
Love this - thank you for sharing!
Damn, that's a good quote
Truth
Tbh . I’ve been making music for years . And I’ve also steadily gotten better over time . In 2020 during the pandemic I wrote the best album I have ever created even to this date . But never put it out . And I didn’t put it out because it became such a precious piece of art to me that I didn’t even want the world to put their opinions on it . To sum it up i was afraid of rejection in a lot of ways I still am . It still haunts me because it’s just sitting on a hard drive collecting dust hopefully one day I find the courage to release it
I’ve been working on an album since 2021, though some songs date back to 2017-2020, and I’ve gone through the same struggles. I’m super proud of it but don’t see the point in eventually releasing it if no one will listen to it. The main criticism I’m afraid of is my vocal performance. Everything else I’m fine with sharing with people. And I don’t want to get other vocalists because then it feels dishonest.
@@Cashcorn Get a vocalist, it's called being a band and it gives authority, what I've noticed that being alone is not cool for people and people choose bands not only by music produced by the band but the group of people gathered to make the one thing - music, people love groups.
@@romaroalte2645 it feels dishonest for someone else to sing my lyrics
@@Cashcorn first of all: maybe your vocal performance is totally fine. people tend to be overcritical with their singing. If you want your music to be super authentic and personal, maybe it's just the fear of vulnerability that's holding you back, because showing your (maybe imperfect) singing voice to the world is a scary and vulnerable thing to do. but if you really think your own singing skills don't do your art justice, i don't think it getting a vocalist would be dishonest. it would be a decision you make in favour of making the best art possible. might be hard to find someone who "get's" your stuff tho.
@@butterscotch2730 Definitely. Though, I think my voice fits for most of my songs, while others I’ll need someone else to sing for. The few people I have shown my singing voice have had nothing but compliments (except for the first person I showed). But it’s the same way with the music alone. Most people say they love it, but one person told me to turn off a song I was actively making because it sounded “boring.” Comments like that reinforce the idea I should keep my songs to myself forever. If most people like them I shouldn’t care but I do. In addition to that, hearing my own voice freaks me out sometimes in the same way looking in a mirror does, it’s like hyper self awareness.
As someone who has been struggling with, "should I even bother?", I really needed to hear this. Thank you for encouragement to keep doing what I love no matter what ❤
Yes, you should bother.
Sorry.... I wish this video inspired me but it made me more depressed and unmotivated.
Making music is its own reward. If you enjoy doing anything, then it is well worth doing.
Same here
I released an album last year. I enjoyed it a lot. I wasn't even caring if anyone was going to listen to it. I made it for myself. I wanted to see if I could make a coherent album and I did. I sat down and had a tiny and fun "release party" with some friends. They really liked it and that's it really. No one is listening to it anymore (I still do sometimes!) except if I meet someone and tell them about it which I also enjoy: meeting people and talking about music and then being able to tell them that I made an album once.
Good on you. That's quite inspiring and moving. Thank you.
@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx Thanks a lot Rebecca :)
It is relaxing to make music, sort of a zen, a meditation where you do not think about everyday problems. Some are on couch with beer and some of us are in search of some melody to out a smile on our faces. Btw I released 5 albums in max 100 CD copies per album, it is more about fighting our limits...
@@spiraldrop4897 Exactly it's about the proces. If you only care about the finished product and how successful it will be in terms of other people listening and not the actual writing and making music part, find another hobby.
@@TheolddaysaregoneI'd still want a finished product I'd like, I don't think that's too crazy but I still think enjoying the process is a part of that and making a finished product you like is also part of the process. I don't care as much about "technical" success. What success is, is something that's a person to person thing and If I'm proud of the art I made and enjoyed making it then it's valuable enough for me to consider it a success and if others like it that's great to.
as a singer-songwriter who puts a lot of effort into my work and often comes out the other side with nothing, i think this video is exactly what i needed. i find it quite hard to promote my songs, (even on tiktok) and i often feel like most of my work hasn’t paid off yet and i often feel discouraged. but now i’m realizing that as long as YOU are happy with what you’re creating, then you have done your job as an artist 😊
this honestly made me smile. thank you so much.
Being A Great Artist is sometimes like being an AMazing star that has'nt been discovered or highlighted yet . Just be who you are supposed to be, it is consoling and encouraging to find so many stars here.
Music is fun to make. There's all the reason I need
This one really hit me deep in my soul. It makes me think about all the pile of old cassette tapes with half finished songs on it and the things I released by myself. My friends always encouraged me to keep going. They always seemed to find value in what I was doing. They got married had kids now their kids are grown and I'm still doing the same things that nobody hears. I love making music. I'll never stop. I can't stop. Thank you for this.
If I spent my whole life being a musician, I would feel like a successful musician. Simple as that.
@swis4921 I thankfully agree. My story is one that is of a singular producer, who simply wants to see what turns out from the dexterity in my fingers. I make music because I love music and because I don’t know what my talent sounds like until I hear it. “And I hang my boots to rest when im impressed! …so I triple knot’em and forgot’em” I make music in order to make better music and I just keep impressing myself. Every time I’m pleased, it’s ecstasy. If no one hears it, psh! I could be dead tomorrow, but yesterday, I was dancing to music I made.
Ps the quote is from Aesop rock. The lyricist with a vocabulary so large that he’s not as famous as his talent deserves to be. More people would listen to him if he was dumber, he has the highest vocabulary count in the world making him too smart to be famous. It would be a disservice to his greatest-in-the-world skill to judge him based on how many people listen to him. So why does he do it? Something to think about. Peace
@@JoshuaFricke yeah it all comes down to how you measure success I suppose. Aesop Rock makes a living doing what he wants to. That's the dream.
Same thing here, although I gave up recording and writing songs. No one got to hear them in the end and it became quite painful to go through the same process over and over again. I still love playing my guitar, I found out as long as I play a instrument for fun I'm fine.
Urgh I felt this. I go from euphoric bliss of creating something from scratch, to the darkest drop once I put it on social media. I even have trouble getting family interested in my music, so what hope is there to get a stranger to? I’ve been wrestled with that. But it’s like a drug. Can’t live with or without it. So just keep plodding on hoping to one day being seen. Even if just in a small capacity! Thanks for this video. Beautifully edited.
I really hate that the conversation never includes the fact that we need money to do this. It's expensive, especially when you actually get good and achieve something . I've been making music since the 80's. I've been a "Pro" for decades, producing, remixing, touring, releasing internationally (back when distribution was a thing) and in the end the money never really comes. To operate at a high quality level takes time. You have equipment to maintain, acquire, and use. Yes using what you already own still costs money, you needs a place to do what you do. Before you get any good or achieve anything of substance it can seem easy. But once you get past a decade, you know that your skills don't just exist because you are there, you have to maintain them. If you want to maintain them at a world class level, you need world class time to focus on what you do. That takes money.
Our favorite artists are most definitely not working 60 hour weeks at a career in finance or driving a truck while putting in 50+ hours a week being a creative badass. Something has to give and that is why we need money. It isn't vanity. We all sit and watch everyone from Skrillex to Taylor Swift become filthy rich by being total knobs but for some reason everybody expects them to be in it for the money. Nobody ever says "after about 10 Million a year they should actually make less money and have lower ratting in algorithmic favor." But this is actually the way it should work.
Until we address endless accumulation of power at the system level for all industries, we will be starved out of existence by the power. This is a feature, not a bug.
Yeah, definitely feel the pinch of needing time just to maintain my skills in different areas. No idea what to do about that (yes, “get good”, but how to stay good...?)
I am a 56 year old man and I have been making electronic music since the 80's, lately I had been seriously thinking and asking my self (especially now with AI coming to turn any regular person into a music creator) why I need to spend money updating my studio, why I need to continue making music, why can't I just stop and what is the purpose of doing this. I guess I'm not the only one asking my self this question. I am glad that you made this video. 👍🏽
A I is soulless crap.
I’m pretty much in the same boat as you, but I make my music for myself, and I listen to my own music more than any others these days! (Can never understand people who say they never listen to their own music, surely your striving to make music that appeals perfectly to you).
Keep creating, keep getting excited over this drop you made, or how you transitioned between parts, or the joy of hearing something emerge unexpectedly when you combine different bits together. That’s the joy, and as you walk around listening to your music on your headphones realise, this is what it’s all about!
@@richsackett3423 Exactly.
well for one, you don't have to spend much at all to update and for another, you don't need to update at all. You might want to, but there's still a ton you can do even with 80s and 90s tech, let alone the incredible amount of options from the last 20 years.
The major difference between you and an IA, is that you are a person.
People what to interact with people. At some point, you'll understand that's the main value in life.
I know the digital medium is blurring this vision we have of the world, but it's really all about people.
If you put it out there you have done your part. Some of us dream of making music but don’t have the talent, time, equipment, etc. It’s shared with the world. Your music matters whether we all hear it or not. Keep going if you can afford to do so.
Thanks for this video. I've wrestled with this for a long time. When you're young, you think you can be famous. When you get older and you realise that's never going to happen, you start to question why you're doing it. Especially when the world starts to move on from the genres you love and deeply resonate with. I stopped writing for a long time, but got back into it when i discovered a bunch of mini disks of my old music and thought "you know what? This fucking rocks. This rocks and I've still got more". I decided i needed to start writing again, because I'd regret it if i didn't, and wanted to make more things that i could be proud of. Your music becomes like a sort of diary entry, of your moods, your skill level and you're musical tastes and outlook at that time. Songs I wrote at uni when I was clubbing all the time. Songs i wrote on the first DAW I ever got after taking my GCSEs. More thoughtful songs I wrote when I was living in London on my own and started listening to more genres.
Yea familiar story. 90's Atari ST, cubase ver 1.1. Akai sampler, analogue synths thousands of £ worth of kit. But in the 90's I was one of the only people I knew that wrote electronic music. People would come in the studio and be wowed. Now everyone is doing it, its so accessible now, which I think is kind of great in someways and shite in others. I definitely relate to the diary thing. So I think one way of looking at it is, you don't take photos to be an admired photographer and gain recognition. They are just the story of you life, they capture the visual. Writing music captures something photos can't and tells a much deeper story. If some one else enjoys your story then great, if not its still your story.
"The act of creating music brings YOU joy and purpose" That is all we should need, oh and new synth day brings joy and happiness too 🙂
This came out right when I needed it - thank you. "Expressing myself in a way I don't know how otherwise" - I feel like this resonates with so many of us in such a big way.
Often it crushes my soul that I cannot create music that speaks to others. But I make music to see myself alive in this world, a way to breath.
Thank you for this video and ideas in it!
Don't be that hard on your music. If it speaks to you, i'm sure it would speak to others. It's just a matter of it getting heard- and that's the rub. My advice (and i'm only half-qualified to give it) is to play out live. There's something about watching and listening to a human being play their song that can't be escaped.
I've been making music for 10 years now. In all those years there have been like 4 or 5 people that listened, but eventually I lost them all.
I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who's heard my last 2 albums, but I keep making music because I love it.
Today I finished writing the last song of my new album, and I can't wait to record everything.
The best part of this is that you keep getting better and better over time, having better ideas, writing better songs, etc. That's what's exciting for me.
Keep up the grind
I agree with all of this. That's pretty much been my experience since my 20s when I began recording my own stuff. I'm working on a song I'm really excited about, even though I know it will barely be heard by anyone. This video put it all in perspective and made me a bit more motivated and hopeful. Keep creating your own work, too.
i would love to be the second person to listen to your albums. What is your name on spotify ?
This is the most well made, articulate, motivating, and beautiful video essay I’ve come across on TH-cam. Heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. Thank you for your voice. And your music is great!
When I put out my first album I did it purely for myself, something to kinda keep track of my skill at the time, something I can look back at and share with friends to kinda put into perspective how my sound and skill have changed over the years, not everyone will do it for this reason, but it's how I do it and it gives me a sense of worth when putting my music out there.
Send me a link to your album. Would love to give it a listen
great reason! i needed this reminder, thanks
I totally agree. Releasing my music is a way for me to document and categorise my music in my head. It lets me move on the a new thing with good conscience that I finished this. Similar to writing a diary. I am someone who doesnt stick with a very recognisable style for multiple years like some artist. I have a lot ideas of phases music whise wether I like it or not. Releasing my music through creating releases and albums seperates those phases and brings chapters to these seemingly messy pool of ideas.
Some time ago I was releasing some music on labels and it turned into a competitive game for me. After someone I knew blew up I basically lost this competition. And this was the best thing that happend to me music wise as I realised I missed out on so much enjoyment of making the music. There wasnt a competition anymore, it was just me and my music. Now I make considerably less music as I do it because I want to and not to compete with views, people or myself.
The joy I get from people discovering my music is like passive communication. And to be completely honest this joy is pretty vain to me, I get used to it quickly although in a way it is motivating me to do more music as it shows me, true or not, that I can do something that captivates that keeps me busy and I honestly enjoy the process of. Something I put alot of hours in: making good music. Not many people can do this but would love to me able to do this. You have to do something in your free time and this feels productive to me. If it actually is, is another question. What gives me way more joy than having 50 random people listening to my music, is showing my progress to my best friends. So, why did I write this comment then? To share my Ideas? Yes defently, but also for me to look back and say: I was part of this, I was here to think of this, this was my take on this and this comment is my proof.
The meaning of life to me is to give your life meaning. Music is one of those meanings.
"One person telling their story about how your work changed their life, is worth more than anything that other forms of success could bring, whether it's now or after your gone, you might not even be around to witness it" WOW man your gonna make me cry that really was what I needed to hear thank you! I've been trying to reach 1,000 subs for 4 years now and I'm still creating independently, but it is so worth it because I believe the world needs more artists that care about what they put out into the world. Thank you for your message.
Thanks for this. This spoke to me deeply. Sadly I still feel like giving up, maybe it's just not for me. I've been making music for nearly 10 years but so much of my enjoyment has gone away, and I've become scared to touch my equipment.
My last album took me 3 years to make and what few people heard it definitely thought it was good, and I thought it was OK too, but the process was dreadful. I poured my entire soul into what I was making, to a greater and greater extent with each release (a mistake perhaps), and when I released it it quickly got forgotten. I was expecting this of course, and that's what prevented me from finishing it.
In fact the only reason I ended up finally putting it out was because I was planning to end my life, and thought I might as well even though I wasn't happy to. That's maybe a bit personal to mention, but it was relevant to my journey with music. After I recovered it showed me that what I was doing was not sustainable. I thought, "the next thing I make can't go like that". So now I don't know what to do. I already have something else in the works but development is so slow and I don't enjoy it because I expect no one to care about it, just like the rest.
Not sure why I felt prompted to write this. I think your video just made me want to. Whatever I decide to do I suppose your video has helped me start asking these hard questions of myself.
Much love
Thanks for sharing. I feel you. I'm far from producing an album, but I know I will one day. Just need to remind myself to not rush things, as I know how close one gets to burning out. May you find joy and peace making music again.
I empathize... Many years ago, I thought about dying, and I really wanted to release an album as my "gift to the world" before going. At the time, I didn't know that no one would care. I have found that very few people like my work, and probably none of them would listen to it unprompted on their own. Maybe if I extended my reach, I would find more fans, but I found it pretty discouraging and stopped making music for decades. Then I saw a post on the music production reddit where someone asked if it was normal for family and friends not to like their work, and the positive response was overwhelming! So, I said F it! I'm going to do this for me, and if someone ends up liking it, great! If not, whatever. I'm not going to let that stop me... so, I'm making time to create my latest opus now... my first real work in 25 years.
I feel you. I have been writing/ recording songs and making my own videos for them for ages.....everytime I make a new video for a song I think 'this could be it'....but of course...it never is. I still get that feeling...it will happen again. I recently recorded 2 new songs but have yet to do much with them. I havent picked up my guitar for a few months...but I will...its inevitable.....Anyway, keep your chin up, make new music for the sake of their being something new in the world. I cant really put it any other way.
❤ I relate a little too much. Thank you for sharing, because I feel a little less alone xx
Thank you for sharing.. even the personal bit(s).. it's good to.
If you love making music, then do it. If we don't love it.. why are we doing it.
For me, music (particularly making music) is just part of me. It's a kind of meditation, and even if I don't listen to music for more than a few days in a row, I really do not feel right in myself. I've always done it because I love doing it, and had the philosophy (from day 1, over 30 years ago) that if other people like it, then great. If not, then great.. I'm really not bothered. I don't mean that bitterly or defensively, I genuinely mean it because I love making music and that's what's important. That's why I do it.
Having said that, there are periods when I wonder if all the time I've spent doing it will ever amount to anything.. ever be worthwhile.. but that doesn't last long.. that's not why I do it. It isn't about others.. it's because I love doing it.
Obviously we're filled with 'what ifs' and possible visions of our future, but we aren't there right now, we're here.. because we love doing it, right?
Much love back at you, plus a mountain of hope that you figure out what to do.
Videos You've made about being a composer, and the struggle it takes, are extremely inspirating me, as a 48 years old, desperate person, who always wanted to be a composer and did almost nothing about it. Last year I was 20 years old, but time is a killer, very fast one. I hope, thanks to Your really good job, not to waste next 28 years. Thank You.
Get a sequencer and a GM sound font. Make sounds that please you, play around, develop a few of your better ideas, get the hang of disappointing yourself. That's how you become a composer in the twenty-first century. It's what I did in the twentieth when I was only a mere pup of 50.
That Spring rush will crush you in the Summer.and make you blush in your Autumn years .. man, I can't wait for Winter.
You've released a beautiful essay, and I felt a deep impact watching it. Thank you!
It's a reality check: sort of depressing, sort of inspiring. I love it!!!
You just said what I told myself some years ago, when I wanted to stop making/sharing music, but I remembered that I care, at least for myself
So I took a selfish stand and started putting everything I could on my channel, any work I've done, even unfinished drafts (of course I finished them before sharing)
I subscribed to Distrokid and started putting my music everywhere I could, while having fun
I even arranged the music from a video game nobody cared about, just for myself to listen to, a childhood dream, a soundtrack I brought to life and I'm very proud of it !
Yes, it's hard to be an artist, but it's a matter of doing what we love.
I think that says a lot! Making music is an act of self care and expression, your own personal legacy.
I actually like old video game music. People were very creative with limited stuff.
After years of toil as a drummer recording and touring in a million bands, I eventually had a fulfilling job in my thirties, and had moved on from 'the dream'. But then out of nowhere, I wound up playing drums for a solo artist who had a buzz and became very successful. For a year, I suddenly played sold out shows, people singing along, encores, we met celebrities, the whole thing. I got to share stages with some of the most well-known musicians of my generation. But then something happened. I fell out with the solo artist, the situation was terrible, and I decided to quit. This was really just before TH-cam took off. There is very little footage of me playing in this band. So I know I "made it", but nobody else does. What I wound up deciding is that we're all carrying this thing afloat called "music". We're all contributing. It's one big ouija board. Some people have their moment for a minute and disappear. The 'big' artist I played with hasn't released anything in ten years and probably not many people know about her anymore. We all make our impacts, and we're not really in control of what happens. What matters is not only that you do it for you, but that you also realize that your efforts matter, even if incrementally. We're all doing it together. After I quit that popular band, I made an album on my terms, capturing my skills at my peak. I think it has like 15 listens on Spotify.
As long as your music gives YOU something back, then that should be enough. If you would rather make music than play videogames, collect stamps, go fishing, bird watching etc.. then that is enough reason to continue making music, if only for yourself. We need something else than the daily routine, and if music is your escape from this, YOU being the only audience, is enough.
I learned that the hard way. Thank you for this. ❤
My artist name is Xanitra. And while my name Christian Løwensprung will be gone, when I die, Xanitra will live on.. and that too is an encouraging thought.
Never stop making music, because it is who you are, and you need music to live a fulfilling life❤🎉😊 we all die, but don't let the fear of death, stop you from enjoying life. What is your artist name?
Take care.🌹
Well said
A true devotee to no-release lifestyle has no artist name.
@@michallasan3695 Well except Joldrath did "release" musics tho ? Not sure what you mean by release actually ... I mean , they can have an artist name if they want eh x) .
I call myself the XanMan
Couldn't say it better myself!
Been making music for 7 years. Started out wanting to be the best in my field, most famous, touring 365 days a year, but as time progressed I've become more and more content with staying in my own lane - just doing the work & honing my craft. My vision for my discography was clear from day 1, and bringing this vision to life via releasing new music has brought me more joy & fulfillment than that touring lifestyle ever could. Whether my music gets 1 or 1 million plays, I'll always cherish the fact that I did what I wanted and dedicated my life to this craft.
Beautifully said
Beautiful
Music is been something, it meant something when i first pressed the play button. I’m making music since 2020 and I don’t have many people who listens but I’m happy with the music i make and I believe in myself that whatever i put out there, it’s gonna be okay!
Glad to know I’m not the only one that feels this way. As someone who is just an average guy with a good job and no plans to make a music career of music, I just want to create and just be.. I dropped out of the social mediasphere to solely focus on life and creating music at my leisure. This vid helps me realize that I’m not the only one and gives me the strength to keep going. Thank you 🙏🏾
I’m kind of in your position. I’m self employed and very fortunate to be doing better than ever, so making money in music isn’t really a goal. Would it be nice? Maybe? Seems like it could be, but then I guess it depends on what that entails later down the line.
Despite the making money part which I’m ok with never doing, I keep finding myself saying, “I don’t care about the money, I just want to know people are listening.” Which seems to be my problem.
I’m currently working on a new project, and like most current/recent projects, I feel like this is the best one yet, lol.
I guess we will see how it goes should I have any official releases.
I will say, the process I’m taking this time around has given me the most joy and fun times of ever making music.
You're not alone in this , thanks for showing up for true creative expression.
This video meant so much to me. It succinctly articulated what I’ve been trying to figure out for a while. What are my motivations for making music? What am I getting out of it?
Life can be an extremely traumatizing thing at times. I discovered late in life that music was one way that I could process all of it. I’ve tried many times to get into meditation and could never quite do it but when I’m playing music I’m in another place and I’m able to be present in a way that is unlike any other activity in my life.
I make the music that I want to listen to, and I mostly share it with family and friends. However, I have found that through my music I have connected to a community of people that gives me energy and a sense of purpose. That’s worth it’s weight in gold!
I recently selected seven of my favorite compositions from the last year and created my first vinyl record. There’s only one copy and it was quite expensive but it’s a gift to myself and a record of my progress. Someday someone else will own it and my hope is that it will bring them peace just as it did when I made it.
That is really cool!
I like your song "Dear Entropy". Your videos are grounding with truth ringing through. Artist be you. Artist just be ...
The moments I always cherish have always been performing to a live audience. Those interactions are memories I will always remember and mean a lot to me. Doesn’t matter if it was 10, 100, or 1000 people.
Every time I stop working on my music and putting it out into the world it’s like an ambivalently malicious/wise ghost begins to haunt me again
As you said, there really isn’t a choice. Put the album out or be haunted for life by the dreams of what could have been
It’s not up to you anymore; you have become a vessel for something new that craves to be born regardless of your desires
There's a melancholic beauty to this video. Your observations are spot on and the way you have shot and produced this video, it feels like watching a documentary. Good luck with your latest production. We are all spinning in the void. Perhaps making music (or creating any art) is a way in which we might feel, however briefly, that we are fully connected with our place in the universe and can reflect our influence on it, no matter how immeasurably small that might be.
Kind of like our art, I almost didn't post a comment here because it might simply fade into the already overwhelming sea of other (probably better) comments from people far more talented than I.
But then, I decided to apply the lesson of your video, and put it out there anyway.
Once again, Cameron, you demonstrate your amazing gift of telling the sometimes dark truths of being a creative person in a way that is compelling and completely relatable, and I hope you continue to share these ideas because I personally feel they're far more valuable than any number of "here's how to make a cool sound thing" that everyone else does. Of course, you do your fair share of those, too, which is great, but they're unique in being told in, well, compelling and relatable ways. As always, you did a stellar job on this difficult and challenging topic.
I'm really looking forward to being able to see and hear the results of your amazing journey when it's available. From the footage you shared, it looks like a great trip. And, if you ever find yourself with time to kill near exit 35 on I-40 in TN, let me know. There may be a cold beer or two in the fridge 🙂
I'm just now putting the finishing touches on songs I wrote and recorded the basic framework for about 12 years ago. The amount of time I've spent in my little home studio in the past few years has affected my life in a negative way, but I refuse to give up. Thanks for spending the time creating this video to help validate the process that I'm sure many artists have to go through.
What do you refuse to give up on? Make music for the sake of enjoyment, anything else is a bonus..
Where where you when I was in my teens? I'm 52 now and still creating. I was miserable back then thinking if I don't achieve or be recognized I failed. You hit every aspect that one would ask themselves,thank you
We are unaware of the true impact we have on others. People care about it and you wouldn't even know. I made a song called You Are A Superhero, for myself, and a girl found it on Spotify and was inspired to make a Playlist called I Am A Superhero, inspired by my song. I didnt even know about this until i randomly found the playlist.
Damn... This video isn't a lesson for music production. It is a lesson for life.
Thanks for this amazing video 🙏
this ^^^^
This. When I started making music, I only had like 200 subscribers. I was terrible at making music on the harmonica. My music was off beat and sometimes in disharmony due to mistakes I've made. I've even received harsh criticism and negativity, but I kept going and didn't let the negativity stop me. After years later just making music not caring about what others think, I now have almost 7K subscribers and growing. Music shouldn't be about trying to get attention or make money, it's about enjoying it and just doing it regardless what level you think you are. Many popular artists have started off bad and worked themselves up. It's all about the determination and enjoying the art of sounds.
Wise words. I think your friend was quite right. When people ask me why I keep composing, my answer is always: "Because I am pregnant with new ideas and I need to give them birth, otherwise I won't get any more". 😉
The older I grow, the less ambitious I get. If I have to accept my role as a "mediocre composer" instead of the genius we all think we are as teenagers, then so be it. In the meantime, I am having a hell of a time creating "mediocre stuff". 😁
🎉
This video is so important. SO IMPORTANT. If all my artist friends watched it, I KNOW it would do them good. You're speaking for so many artists here, man. Thank you so much.
Why is your artist name the same as the name of the city I live in?
I love finding obscure music that is incredible and will most likely never become mainstream.
It feels more pure and real.
There's also something esoteric and mysterious about it too. Not knowing much about the artist can create a totally different perspective of the music. While of course I'd like more people to listen to my music, I also don't want TOO much attention. There can be a sweet spot where the music is still mysterious but there's some form of recognition
My music is off beat and obscure. Often about deeply personal issues no one wants to address social stigmas attached to fringe attempts to be "original".
@@MrDogonjon Neato. Subbed ✅
I feel the same way. That's why I enjoy music by Alexander Scriabin who is one of the rarer classical composers. He created some very mystical piano pieces near the end of his life.
I listen to old video game music all the time, and the musicians were very passionate.
Making music is beautiful. I have, literally, at the tips of my fingertips the means of opening portals to worlds of reverb and emotion and beautiful sonic colors. Even if I'm the only one who hears it, in those moments when the music becomes real to me I'm in communication with something much larger than me, something even more real than me. It's a glimpse into something sacred, and just being able to create music, to tap into this, is already enough of a blessing, enough of a gift.
Some art isn't for everyone, some art is only for the chosen few for whom it's chosen. Make your art, and with luck, precisely the right people will tap into it.
I saw your video where you and Benn Jordan went cave-diving, and I absolutely loved it. And I bought the impulse responses, because I love the idea of having your crazy cave-diving adventures reverberate through my own music. It adds to the magic. Even though that video may not win in the algorithm-wars, it's a piece of art that inspires more pieces of art.
Beautiful words, i feel the same 👏🏻🙏🏻
That's a wonderful way of thinking about it. I feel the same way!
I checked out that beat on your channel & just wanted you to know that shit was flames🔥
Do you post any where else?
Yes❤❤
Think of it as a blessing. If you put your ego in the driver seat, you're bound for an accident. Just be grateful you can and ARE creating.
I make my music for myself, and I listen to my own music more than any others these days! (Can never understand people who say they never listen to their own music, surely your striving to make music that appeals perfectly to you).
Keep creating, keep getting excited over this drop you made, or how you transitioned between parts, or the joy of hearing something emerge unexpectedly when you combine different bits together. That’s the joy, and as you walk around listening to your music on your headphones realise, this is what it’s all about!
Totally agree! ✌️❤
I like to put my music in a playlist with other artists and hit shuffle. When my music comes up I always smile and think that it’s good.
I took some time off making music and started surfing again which I had not done for decades. Many surfers now use cameras to record their rides for tick tock and instagram. It is like the ride itself is not enough for some anymore. Made me realise I was doing same sort of thing with music. So I thought, why not play music in the same spirit as surfing (before all the cameras)? Create and play music just for the thrill of it. The great thing about music is you really need to dig in deep if you want to maintain that thrill. And that can be a very satisfying endeavour.
The first time I approached this channel was for your guides, but I stayed for these contents that cover the hardest part of making music: oneself.
I've read some of the books you've suggested in the past and I love how you've managed to extract the basic concepts and apply them to the world of music production. It's evident that you haven't merely copied and pasted phrases but you speak about feelings you've experienced firsthand. You might not fill an arena with your music, but you've certainly done something good in helping to organize the thoughts of thousands of producers. Thank you from the heart and best of luck in life.
My managers mates released an album over 20 years ago now. A couple years ago, someone found their album in a charity shop and there was a web-wide search to find the origin of the band. They're now pretty famous touring the world and living their teenage dreams.
panchiko!
@@naufal-ut1mh yes sir!
There is a joy in in the creative process that fulfils me , regardless of the outcome. Validation is gratefully accepted.
I needed this right now. I've always been a big supporter of the mindset of ''celebrate the creation, not the numbers'', but it's sometimes hard to practice what you preach. I'm releasing an album after the summer, and no matter how it does, I'll be super proud of it!
Man thank you for this, ive had so many conversations about this and you hit the nail on the head. There have been so many times when I'm in the flow state, jamming to new sounds and loving the process of creating, then the little voice in my head creeps in saying, "no one is gonna hear this, no one cares..." and it zaps my flow. Its time to start enjoying life and the journey, not the result.
I make music to escape reality, hardships and helping those who lost like me.
Music is my only mask where i can be myself and have dark discussion on society and affecting others. I love making music despite it haven't got me nowhere
As a beginner guitarist I never realized how lucky I am to not be an artist until your video. I just wanted to learn how to make music and record it. It's the sonic equivalent of taking family photos. We do it because we want to look back later to connect to a time in our lives and trace how we got to where we are. I intend to create music so I can occasionally open the nostalgia attic and reflect on the difference between then and now. I'm the only person that will truly feel that. I don't really care that my music will be forgotten because it was for me and if I'm not around then it doesn't matter. Just being alive and interacting with people is enough of a legacy for me. Thank God I'm not an artist. You have my sympathies.
Every note of every melody and chorus and bridge and solo has a beginning and an end . But there is something that did not begin and will not end . Something that is conscious and eternal.
Music, art and my dumb TH-cam videos became my way of dealing with my inner turmoil and depression and underhandedly tossing in some thoughts for people about the world we live in. I have 11 subscribers on TH-cam and even less followers on SoundCloud. I would love to have more people give a crap about what I do, some of my videos I think are hilarious, some of my music gives me chills (or goosebumps… which to me is the ultimate sign of musical awesomeness) it would be great to have some people feel the same… if they do or don’t I will continue to do so because it helps me… it saved me to be honest. But I really appreciate what you did with this video, it touched me in a totally appropriate way and I just wanted to say thanks for putting it out there. I had one random person from Europe say “so good” about one of my songs and it felt great.
Aah yes. I used to feel a lot happier making music when SoundCloud still had groups. People used to comment more on my music. It used to give me some positive feedback to try make more. I have slowed down a lot after they stopped groups. I tried TH-cam too.. no one will ever find me there randomly. And even if they do.. I feel only a good music video with the music will draw people.. something I am unable to do. So... I tell myself that I make it for myself.. but.. still.. some feedback is nice...or it's just shouting into the void. It gets pointless after a while.
I agree with you its like shouting into the void... especially when you yourself are mediocre at best, and everything else out there is so much better than your work...when i started out i had or at least i was cajoled, into believing i could make it big in Bollywood, so then i was a starry eyed teenager and for a few years i did actually believe in the Bollywood dream...then i realised that that was not my thing, and then the internet happened, so i tried to find my own niche, i knew that theres a lot to learn and that the technical side of it interested me more than the performance side of things, so then i studied sound engineering and electronic music software etc, and started a small bedroom studio, because i knew that i can't really make it as an artist alone...so for i while i did recordings for other artists, but kept on making music on the side...i still had faith...that maybe there will be an audience for my work...and that it indeed could earn a few bucks, but then quickly found out that the internet was flooded with all sorts of music and most of it was free...so then i kept on going thinking at least my friends and family would appreciate it, for a while i did get a lot of praise and comments, but as time went on even those started dwindling, only a few close buddies would bother enough to appreciate it, then the replies became thumbs up smileys...so basically it was like a pretty thankless and non monetary endeavour...but now i have a tiny bedroom setup... i switch on the computer when i feel like and just enjoy the process of making a track... I've even stopped telling my friends when i upload new stuff...i do it just for the pleasure of the process now and only once in a while when i really feel like taking the trouble to turn on the setup and work for a while...
But I'm still very grateful for the journey, i got a lot to learn about so many things connected to music production and recording.
@@visheshl ah thank you for replying and telling your story. In some ways very similar to mine. I smiled when you said you stopped sharing with friends etc.. 🤣... I also stopped sharing. I'm down to one person, and I can tell they try their best to be positive. 🤣. I am starting to look at sharing as some kind of torture for the poor people who has to receive it. So I rather don't. Not sure if you also am like me.. after a song, I kind of do not want to touch anything for a while, but then a new idea hits me maybe months later, and I have to get the darn thing out. And this part is enjoyable.. the creation part.. even if only I like the end result. And maybe that is enough. I have another problem that holds me back.. and it's writing lyrics. I can produce a million nice melodies, but finding words for the bloody things takes me forever. How do you deel with this problem?
It's only bots in soundcloud. Also everyone is posting but not willing to listen to other people's tracks.
I agree with you, Soundcloud killed the joy of sharing when it trashed the groups : no more listening to the others. Their radios sucks !
I was there at the very beginning of soundcloud, the glory days of it are long long gone, when it was brand new you'd get loads of organic plays, I have built up quite a following on there but am seriously considering just deleting my profile for good, at one point I was getting 600+ plays a day and it got up to 16,000 plays, and when they removed groups I knew what would be the nail in the coffin, it's a shame because it really was a great platform and all they would have to do is bring back groups and make some minor adjustments.
You’ve clearly touched many people with content like this. It may not be music, but it is your creation. Keep creating, man. You’ve got heart and people need to feel that.
Agree with what you said: art is an expression of self. Nobody can take away from that.
Excuse you, I care about my music.
That's the spirit
You clearly didn’t watch the video before commenting. The message was do it for yourself not others and that’s music by an artist with integrity. You just agreed with him 😂
@@DimensionFlux of course I didn't watch before commenting. I responded to the video in like 30 seconds
@@AndreasR86 based af?
LOL
I stopped showing my stuff to people a few years ago, since then I can just do what I want. Making music calms me down in the moment I make it, and listening to a song from 15 years ago just makes me realize how amazed my younger self would be, how self decided I am now and how much of my own sound I developed.
I've released over 50 albums in the last five years. I still find myself loving the process and loving that I'm advancing and evolving as a person and an artist. I'm proud of myself and I hope that my work inspires others. Even if I make it to 500 albums and nobody to hear, I think I'll still be happy that I spent the time to create soundtracks to my own life. Ive had meaningful moments with people I've collaborated with, I've had a few shows and a couple people who genuinely said my music helped them. Some times it's hard but then I remember how much music and art have kept me going and kept me searching for a deeper meaning of life. No matter what I'll keep doing what I was born to do: create, evolve, and explore.
bro you make good music you just need to promote it better
Omg 50 albums that’s crazy. What do you play?
@@keilanscott1098 I play piano, guitar, rap and sing!
I began making music in the era when we shared with audio cassettes, I was just a kid and I wanted others to step into my inner world through my music. Over time, I realized something, it's people's inner worlds that enter into my music, which essentially has nothing of me in it, because I obviously didn't invent music. This realization led me to develop a sense of respect and gratitude both towards the artists who made me dream and, above all, towards the people who allow my music to become part of their imagination. If you think about it, it's an extremely intimate thing, perhaps more so than sex.
Yup, been at it since I ping ponged cassettes back and forth myself.
It’s something you HAVE to do! I’m 64 now, and I’m still at it.
Never stop!
Thank you so much for raising such philosophical and existential questions on your channel.
A very relevant topic indeed. As a person who has been making music since 2004 when I was only 14, I have always wondered: Why do I keep doing this? I've since accumulated over 900 original tracks across all platforms that get a tiny bit of listening. I got as many rejections from all the labels in the world as I have tracks. Another person would have given up a long time ago, like one of my former musician friends who went full-time into dentistry. He simply stopped seeing the point in this "complete waste of time for him without any desirable feedback". Another friend just got married and quit singing, although he has an amazing voice and great potential.
However, I continue to write music, because for me, it is a matter of Self-determination, as for a tree to bloom in the forest.
Don't overthink. Just write and play and live in the beauty you create
I really appreciate these reminders. After 15 years of doing it, I pretty much up and quit music almost a year ago for many of these reasons. I just felt overwhelmed and unhappy since it didn't seem like anyone would listen to what I was doing. I've been sooo much happier since I've left, but I still look forward to the day when I can be the amateur, in the words of the stoics, and just love every second of making music. Probably won't be any time soon, since my priorities have changed, but I'm okay with that. I've had time to just enjoy this life. Thanks for the words :)
This really helped me get a better perspective. I’m at the lowest point in my life I’ve ever been. It feels good to remember the making process is there for me to express and soothe myself
Excellent. Making music is personal first and everything else second. I love that old saying, 'a bird sings because it has a song'.
I love this video. I love a lot of the points you made and I really need to hear them. One thing I might add as well - he impact, the mark we make, may well be forgotten, but things don’t have to be remembered to last. There is a quiet, lasting impact each of us leaves on the world even if not remembered. Your ancestor hundreds of years ago maybe wrote a song that affected the popularity of a certain kind of music in one region of the world, which maybe allowed that to morph into some other music which evolved again and again until this day. We all leave a mark. We all matter. The quiet “faceless” people of history are what everything that exists today is built upon. We are the foundations of the future. People are already standing on our collective shoulders. Like the cave print on the wall - we exist. We are here. We matter. Go make your cave print.
This hit deep. I compose music because it’s the only way I can really say what I need to say. I have no other way to express the pain, thoughts, emotions inside of me. My 6 year old daughter is my biggest fan and all 19 subscribers I have on my composition channel are family. I don’t care. I need to let out the turmoil inside of me. I try to give up music because I know it’ll never go anywhere, costs money, whatever it is, but try as I might, I can never shake it from my life and always end up back at the board.
You hang in there man. Your words found me at the perfect time. Thank you.
Thanks for making this video. I’ve spent 35 years making music and never released more than a few tracks for backing tracks. I’ve pumped thousands of dollars into hardware, software and instruments all in the hope of having a studio and the time to just create music. Something has always held me back from finishing tracks but tbh just sitting down and creating something for me has always been the fun part. Just to vibe out and have it recorded is enough. Maybe I’ll release more one day but as you point out that’s not the important bit. Just expressing yourself and hopefully connecting with someone who listens to your music is the best part.
I mostly just make music for myself, and I listen to it alot, it carries a sense of accomplishment and memories of making and discovering the track. I have some stuff that has been sitting for years without no-one but me listening to it, and I honestly just fear to publish it. Publishing and failing to get any reach, or having just lack of interest, is the reminder that eventually one is alone with his thoughts, emotions and music.
If creating music brings you joy and fulfillment, keep going.
Any positive comment, like, or stream that comes after releasing your work to the world are bonus points. I truly believe the stake we put in being heard stems from the tried and true existential battle we're all up against. The facade of fame and artistry has changed so drastically over the past 20, let alone 10 years.
You don't hear about *the process* anymore. It's as if it doesn't exist at all. You consume the perfected product. By all accounts of supreme marketing tactic and timely posts, you'd assume the single was made last week.
tldr:
Stop comparing, keep creating.
this really hit home. I'm making the best music of my life it seems and finally developed some originality. the only people i can get to listen to anything is some family members and a handful of friends.
I do it because I don't have a choice. I wake up and start at 6am. I work until lunch, then back to the studio after lunch until 4p. It doesn't matter if anyone besides me hears it, I just have to create. Would it be cool if people really liked what I did - of course. But regardless - I will just keep doing this until I can't anymore. I have been making music on computers since 1985 - it is what I do... They say you die twice - once is the death, the 2nd is when the last person says your name...
This was big and very important. I have to tell myself no matter how good or bad I am, no one will ever love my music more than me. My tracks began as a another way to self-deprecate, I've finally began to love myself in a different way through them. Thanks for this.
I've quite literally been sitting on a completed track for over a year specifically for this reason. I've released it in demo form on soundcloud but not final because I want to sing over it. I know nobody cares because anyone I've shown it to hasn't said more than "nice" or "sounds good" and at the same time I don't want to promote it on social media because it doesn't feel good enough (an artist is their own worst critic). This video has given me some motivation to dig out the Ableton project again and start scribbling some lyrics with fresh ears!
If you ever release it, send it over to me. I'm always looking for new music man, I don't even care if it's "good enough" lmao. Always something to learn from someone else
Just between you and me, people are idiots. They don't appreciate art based on itself. The average person needs to be told that something is fantastic to consider the possibility- like Beatlemania, or Van Gogh's starry night. Most of the greatest artists died before anyone figured out their stuff was incredibly great. That's how slow people are. I've been making music in a band for many years, and if we gave an ounce of credence to people's reception of our songs, we would have assumed we suck eggs and quit a long time ago. People's indifference to art is so extreme that it's laughable. You can't take it seriously.