Make Songs, Not 'Song Products'
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2023
- This week, inspired by a Billy Corgan interview, I talk about the important distinction between form and emotion in songwriting. We owe it to our audience to bring genuine emotion and heart to the works we present as an antidote to the redundant "song-products" that are floating around the internet. Only when we are truly ourselves, does our work stand out in a sea of emotionless forms. I challenge you to consider risking it all in service of your art. Stop playing it safe! Fail interestingly! Power down the conveyer belt of copied copies and do something from your heart!
Like, comment and subscribe if it feels right, and check out my Songwriting Web Series, Folded In The Pages, here on TH-cam and over at www.foldedinthepages.com -- where you can hear my original songs, read along with the web series videos, and comment as a part of the community of songwriters there.
For more info on me, check out www.jimiwmusic.com
Inspiration for Songwriters, Artist Inspiration, Songwriting Wisdom, Songwriting Philosophy, Talking about how to be a songwriter, how to keep your spirit alive for art and songwriting, Continuing to Make Art, Continuing the Craft of Songwriting, Being a Songwriter, Inspiration for Artists, Advice for Artists to Keep Going, Advice for Songwriters to Keep Writing, How to Keep Pursuing Your Craft as an Artist Musician or Songwriter, Philosophical Discussion of Songwriting and Art, Making Art a Lifestyle, Discussing The Art of Songwriting and Making Music, Music Industry, New Breed of Artists, Songs, Song Products, Writing With Emotion, The Math Of Music, Vulnerability, Failing Interestingly, Billy Corgan Interview on Songwriting, Make Songs Not Song Products - เพลง
Fantastic - this is so much more authentic than almost all of the songwriting videos i saw. Vulnerability and bravery are the portals to a more meaningful life and craft
So true!
your passion and love for this are second to none,Jimi. you are more than just articulate ,you believe in this stuff and understand fully what its like to be a real artist that moves the soul. This is the third comment ive left on your videos. Keep up the good work.
Damn I really needed to hear this, thanks for sharing
My guy, love your perspective. Art is your religion, keep preaching! 🙏🏿👑
Ooohoohoohoo! I LOVE this.
Thank you. I needed this right now.
So good!!
Man I just LOVE everything that comes out of your mouth. ❤❤❤ You express many things I wanted to hear for so long. How come you are so experienced and have so much perspective at your age? How long have you been making music? You sound like an old G who went through his musical career and is ready to die and sends a message to the rest of the world before leaving it😅. Anything is so resonant and spiritual 😳. Did you study psychology and philosophy? Do you like psychotropics? You sound “experienced”…
An excellent musical manifesto! Thanks for the inspiration! :)
Like sting once said in an interview, "NEVER FOLLOW TRENDS, TRENDS COME AND GO..." stay authentic...
Thank you for the facts, keep it going bud x
that's crazy!! you talk to my soul
So glad it resonates ♥️
For those who prioritize being a unique artist, it's important to trust your individuality, providing the person knows what that is. Also, don't be discouraged by those who compare you to other artists / entertainers. If you compromise yourself to be loved, it will no longer be you that they love.
Very very well said --- I may use that
"Don't compromise yourself to be loved, it will no longer be you that they love"
@@jimiwmusic Go for it!! 🎹
@@jimiwmusic Go for it brother!!
Hey, I stumbled across your channel. I'm two videos in and I have to say, I Love what you talk about. Highly encouraging as an independent artist who also had fallen into that trap in this digital age. Its time for a change!
Thanks friend!
God Bless You brother !
thank you for being you
"we help you to make perfect music" became a money making machine itself. The "rawness" is gone.
I am sure that the industry will figure out soon how to make their art products with the perfect amount of "honesty and brokenness".
But I get your message and it's a good reminder to create with honesty and vulnerability the art that life wants to express through me. Sounds cheesy, I know.
I am curious how this channel will develop over time. New subscriber from Germany.
I don't think it's cheesy at all! The antidote to the disingenuous, product-pushing machine of commodified art is to be as real and raw as possible. Be imperfect, be different and above all be honest. Many pop song-products of today sound "like a machine COULD HAVE written it." Now, with artificial intelligence entering the scene, these songs WILL be written by a machine. I think this presents a tremendous opportunity to artists who are paying attention. It throws the power of great songwriting into sharper contrast with the machines that imitate great songwriting. Thanks for tuning in and thanks for your insightful comment!
Hello Jimi, thank you for articulating so beautifully and clearly so many things I feel as an artist.
You are so welcome, I'm so glad it resonated with you ♥️
Thank you algorithm. You have brought me here to the Jimi, and he has given me this much needed pep talk.
Yay!
Modern Popular Music is ALL style and NO substance. I agree with your point of view COMPLETELY
This is the voice inside my head.
haha
Good conversations man. It's good what you're doing, exploring the mind sets that lead us a stray and finding ways of reeling it back in. Very important stuff. Subscribed.
Love this video .. been saying these things for years.. You said it way better then I could .. thanks for this..
Glad it resonated my friend!
One thing i would suggest to anyone stuck would be to stop thinking and writing in genres.
I love your videos..... thanks for the advice!
Glad it resonates ♥️
I listened to no recorded music for over 20 years. I did listen to music that came to mind and I arranged that to bring it out. And so I developed a relationship with music. I'm now buried under a pile of musical ideas; life is not long enough. Regarding these things, I recommend that composers listen to music and respect music, and as she reveals her secrets to you, and you reveal these to your audience, your listeners feel respected 😃
Well said!
To me, he‘s basically saying: Be PunkRock and Metal. 👍
You're a wizard harry
hahaha
I love you.
shiiii
spot on. so few people going back to the roots of music.
You know it 💪💪💪
cool video. great ideas. The age of overproduced corporate mandated entertainment is hopefully on its way out
I am bullish on humanity. I think it will change slow, but it will change and I aim to embody that change! Thanks for watching and commenting 😀
We can start the process by advising musicians on the horror of signing a recording contract and to staying independent. Much of the bland, lifeless music is a product of the major labels. Record labels are now obsolete.
there is a craft of music, but it's not enough to make art. craftsmanship is a tool to express intentions better, but you can be a greatly skilled craftman without a thing to say and you can also say great things without mastering the craft, here lies artistry
What a fantastic video. So well said, thank you, I'm lucky the algorithm showed it to me... I couldn't agree more. Do you think what's killing things is a desire for "career" in the "industry"? And what do you think about sync music... I'm really torn on that.
Hey thanks for watching, glad the message found you! There’s a great quote in David Cronenberg’s 1983 sci-fi masterpiece “VideoDrome” which touches on what i think is “killing” people and their art… (substitute television screen with cellphone screen)
“The television screen is the retina of the minds eye. Therefore the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore whatever appears on the screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore television is reality and reality is less than television.”
Dramatic? Yes. True today? Eerily… People want to be “real” like what they see on their cellphone screens. Too much stimulation not enough quiet contemplation and quiet contemplation is where art that serves mankind comes from.
As far as sync work goes, IMO it falls very cleanly into the category of business. Any artist with efficient work ethic and ability will have to interface with the business world. It is the “math” side of the equation. I do sync work. Just the other week I did a sync pitch for Lexus. Didn’t end up getting the placement but sure could’ve used the payday! Trying to craft an original piece to specific criteria is a unique creative challenge in itself that can improve your skills. The money in sync can be a very solid way to use your “math” skills to fund your art. Hell, I built my home studio from years of grinding as a wedding singer. Business is business. Better to accept that and let the art you make benefit from the resources you can generate through the business you partake in. Sync work is great if you can get it! Each individual will decide how to use their talents and skill, that’s just my 3 cents 🤠🤠🤠
Also, Dig your channel! Very well done 👍👍
@@jimiwmusic Hey thanks so much, great points, I really appreciate that. And it's good to hear that even you do sync... Sometimes I worry about doing too many sync "assignments" and that it would take away too much from the creativity of one's own projects. But it sounds like that you doing the sync thing has actually increased the creativity in your own projects.
I think that's a good way to classify it, that the sync or wedding singer or whatever is in the "math" department, but to remember that what the world needs is in the creativity/muse department. Thank you!
@@rontimus Totally! There's also definitely threshold. You haven't got unlimited energy so you've got to find that balance. You can burn out on syncs for sure. Creative work is energetically taxing. I did weddings for 8 years and burned out pretty bad, so much so I don't do them at all anymore. I think a good rule of thumb is to strike a balance. You want to make enough to survive and conserve enough energy to devote yourself fully to your creative endeavors!
@@jimiwmusic Thank you. So when you say to not make "products", you only mean as an artist then, and if you're working for sync, you're definitely making "products", but that's in a different context
Challenge accepted 🦾
That redundancy trend is too true. especially when it comes to trendy and popular guitar playing. 80s shred and hair metal of the 80s has the asthetic today with polyphia and the like. but the actual musical aesthetic and tech have become tik tok and being cool. hey, at least shred has made a comeback, albeit not as soulful. polyphia's latest single, "reverie" only has soul in the hook and in their ending guest solo by rafa. in my opinion. lol
Excellent points. It's a good reason to do whatever it is that interests you and brings you joy no matter what anyone else is doing. I graduated high school in 2008 when the pop-emo-music wave (which was my favorite thing at the time) was coming to an end in commercial popularity. The band I was in spent years sort of running from that sound in order to better fit into the changing trends, only to find it becoming popular once again; such is the cycle of trends. This cycle has become so accelerated in the last 10 years due to short form content on social media that it makes my head spin. Stick to what you love and dig deep not wide, this is where the good stuff comes from!
What if I feel like the real me is the one behind my eyes, calculating and manipulating pop forms?
valid question...
Here’s the problem I’m having… I’ve made songs for years. 3 albums actually. No one listens. I need to be less selfish and make music people will enjoy. I’m serving them, that’s my job. This mindset can be a bit selfish.
I hear you my friend. The most we can ask of the art we make is to behold and contemplate it's existence. The moment we take it out into the market, it becomes business. Having a creative outlet is a tremendously valuable thing as each individual falls in love with their creation and learns about themselves through the process of making it. The fact that the market doesn't necessarily reflect the value you see in it doesn't diminish the value you received by engaging with the artistic process that brought it to life. Ya dig? It's complicated stuff because we all want recognition. But we must first and foremost be 100 percent true to ourselves, otherwise we risk creating things to receive validation. Our culture right now is obsessed with receiving this validation, which is why everything is so commodified and sanitized and sort of emotionally bald in it's attempt to be adored. I just checked out your music, It's really good man! Don't stop giving the world your art. Most creators who want their works to be more commercially successful (now we are talking business, not art) will have to become 100 times more visible and aggressive with how they market. This often means learning new skills, and being more public facing by generating more content. The competition is extreme to say the least but the tools are there. The creators who learn to make this additional content just another creative exercise and not a burden will be the ones who make commercial strides. At the end of the day though keep doing your thing. It sounds great!
Algorithm is against me.....
He says "anybody can do the math"... and that's true. What he didn't say, though is: Anyone can do the emotions, too. The fact is that music is an interplay between the math and the emotions. No one is devoid of that math, in any song that they've written, whether they are concisously or logically aware of the math or not. Music is a logic system. It's a logic sytem with a dance beat and emotions. There are only 12 notes, so anything that you create, has probably been explored before, with combinations of those twelve notes. Jazz players use the math, and I don't think that their expressions are devoid of emotions. Yes, you're going to sound like someone else. So what ? Where is the problem ? Just put your own little personal twist on it and call it good. It's true: You're not speical. None of us are. We just rearrange the furniture, but it's the same room with the same furniture. Changes in technology is what drives real change. Rock and roll existed before the electric guitar, it was call Jump Blues, but it was the same stuff, basically. The invention of the electric guitar is what changed things. That's a technological development. And that was THE big change in rock music.
True
Ken do make a point tho
I see your point but you ll have a different tone if your music were number 1 in chart ., a bit of both here hypocrisy & truths .. 👋
It's paradoxical for sure, but only if you are aiming at being number 1 on the charts. Making art that releasing your human expression into song is a different thing and it very rarely results in a chart topping hit. That's why as bands get bigger and start approaching that Pepsi arena level fame, their music starts to sound like Pepsi tastes lol 🙃